Customer Reviews

The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John Keegan has turned his formidable talent to analysing some of the most famous naval battles of the last 200 years. For each, he gives an insightful look into the recent history of the times, emphasising technological aspects of ship handling and weapons. He then breaks down the battles into easy-to-comprehend chunks, followed by an analysis of the consequences (usually political) and the more immediate cost in terms of the sailors and ships involved.

While all 4 battles are famous examples of their type, Keegan seems to waffle between choosing battles that were decisive and those that were stalemates. Trafalgar was a decisive battle, but it was unusual in the Age of Sail that one navy enjoyed such a complete victory over its enemy. Alternatively, Jutland was a large battle, but the battle itself was a tactical draw in that both sides left the battle with their proportionate strengths intact. A far more decisive ironclad battle occurred at Tsushima Bay, so why didn't Keegan choose that (admitedly less famous) battle instead?

The remaining two battles are from WWII - Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic. Midway was a clear U.S. victory, and the purest example of carrier-based naval conflict. The Battle of the Atlantic was ultimately decisive as well, but due to the seesaw of technological advancess, the outcome was very much in doubt for 4 years. Although the submarines lost the Battle of the Atlantic, Keegan concludes submarines are the ultimate naval weapon available today, and points to the success of the U.S. submarine offensive against Japan. If that is his conclusion, why not give an account of the Japan-U.S. conflict instead of the Battle of the Atlantic?

This is nitpicking, however. The strength of the book is the masterful analysis of each individual battle. While I question the overall theme and choice of battles, each chapter in and of itself is fantastic. Therefore, it gets 4 stars, as it is inferior to Keegan's Face of Battle and Mask of Command in maintaining an overarching theme.

This was a book, cohorts asserted, that was certain to disappoint those smitten with aircraft carriers and battleships. After all, Keegan's central conclusion about the evolution of the capital ship (which will not be revealed here) seems anathema to those who have devoted their lives to surface warfare.

However, `The Price of Admiralty'- with its soaring prose, penetrating gaze, and inescapable logic - is a classic in the canon of naval history. Keegan is an unconventional historian who offers an original thesis on naval warfare not by assessing the gains of victorious navies, but rather through the emerging trends in each era. In this sense, it is more than straight history. `Admiralty' is a compass point for the future.

Keegan explores the meaning of the term `command of the seas' and strives to discern whether any navy throughout history could lay claim to it. The influence of technology on the outcome of the four major battles covered in the book - Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway, and the Battle of the Atlantic - is demonstrated, to great effect.

Perhaps the most important contribution of `The Price of Admiralty' is its implicit exhortation to think beyond the present and into the future. Through the examples of four naval engagements, Keegan demonstrates the grasp governments had on developing technology, and how this affected war aims. Keegan's conclusions point to the necessity of `thinking outside of the box' and applying the emerging technological trends to war on the high seas. Have we run aground on outdated and outmoded strategy? Or will we think ahead to battles not yet fought, and train future captains in forward-thinking tactics?

This is a remarkable book and a worthy successor to the works of Alfred Thayer Mahan.

John Keegan's Price of Admiralty includes all that a volume of subject history should contain. There are short biographies of the major players, anecdotes that lighten as well as enlighten otherwise dry history, good overviews of the naval periods under inspection, descriptions of the major battles, facts and figures to back up his thesis, and perhaps most crucial a nearly seamless transition from period to period. Keegan examines naval warfare from the Napoleonic Wars through both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns of the Second World War. I personally enjoyed the earlier quarter of the book pertaining to the Age of Sail- the great victories of the Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar. This is a great book if you are interested in expanding your understanding of the development of naval strategies or merely any one of the periods covered: Age of Sail and Napoleonic Wars, Transition to Steam & Ironclads, Age of Battleships and WWI, and both the Atlantic and Pacific Campaigns of WWII. Keegan is always a good read in history and this book is no exception.

This was one of John Keeegan's early classics. Like Face of Battle, this book closely analyses three distinct naval battles from history. The first chapter on Trafalgar is very appropriate for the recent 200th anniversary. The description of the planning, events leading up to and the action itself are first-rate. I doubt one could find a better account of this battle even with all the recent interest in Nelson and Trafalgar.

Keegan excels in presenting clear and concise descriptions. For land-lubbers like me it was indeed pleasant not to be burdened with a lot of nautical terms which one expects with naval stuff.

Keegan also excels in analysis and comparative studies. In this work you get a pretty good picture of how naval technology has developed from 1805 to 1945. Some generalizations are no doubt present, and for those more knowledgeable than myself in naval warfare I leave to them the details of correcting those mistakes.

For the general reader of this subject this is a great work, and in keeping with Keegan's studies on warfare. This and his early work The Face of Battle completely revolutionized how warfare could be studied. Many since have used the systematic approach that Keegan first devised in these ground-breaking works.

Keegan does not provide the minute detail on these battles that some might desire, but there is good, solid research and thought provoking statements on how each enegagement was unique for its time and place. He provides a chronological study of the development of warfare and shows us that examples from past and present each have their place in the understanding of military science. Even after 20 years, Keegan's work remains as fresh today as it down when first introduced. This is a classic study which will always have a place on one's shelf. Highly recommneded for the general reader as well as military history buff.

I have to say right off the bat that I learned a lot reading this book. I've always been a land based military reader, and this was my first adventure to the ocean. I'm glad I went along.

Mr. Keegan is by far one of the best history writers around. I didn't think that at first, but after this book I do. Just the section about Trafalgar is enough to convince me of that. WOW! Mr. Keegan appears to know everything there is to know about ships of the line, men of the ship, and every last detail of those magnificent sailing ships of long ago. The best words I can say is read this, it is worth every minute you spend. A new world awaits, and it's full of naval splendor. But wait..

There's also Jutland, Midway, and of course the Battle of the Atlantic. Prepare for a lesson is economics, human sacrifice, and the value of flour. The entire early years of WWII are cleared and described via the convoy. Amazing! And the best part, it all goes back to Trafalgar.

Thank you Mr. Keegan for this book. My wooden model of the "Victory" is soon to arrive. I truly enjoyed your nautical world.

The thing about British historians that I have found refreshing is that they actually analyze the subject they write about and don't just chronicle events. John Keegan is tops when it comes to history, and gives the reader added value with his analysis. One doesn't have to agree with his findings based on trends and patterns of history he's reported, but one is forced to consider seriously the results he presents.

In "The Price of Admiralty," Keegan recounts the pinacle events of two naval eras--Trafalgar at the height of wooden ships and sail; and Jutland at the peak of iron ships and steam. He then delves into the two transformational events leading to the next two eras of sea warfare--carrier-based air power at Midway; and the advent of effective submarine operations in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Describing the constriction of surface ships between the "upper pincer of the aircraft carrier and the lower of the submarine," Keegan points to the future competition between carriers and subs. Although it is not clear which platform will come to predominate in the future, Keegan makes a strong argument that tomorrow's sea actions will belong to the submarine.

There is rich detail among the pages of "The Price of Admiralty," and, like other Keegan masterpieces ("The Mask of Command," and "The Face of Battle"), this work will stand the test of time.

In history, many find facts and figures that seem to be meant to daunt the average reader into instantaneous boredom. But, with this book, not only is the reader given a grand veiw of formative battles in Naval warfare, but a magnificent stroll through history that promises to keep the reader enthralled in the material. Informing and entertaining at the same time. You are not just reading about the melee amongst the French, Spanish, and British ships off the Spanish coast in the Napoleonic Wars, but you are there, with Nelson as he is picked off by a French sniper in the rigging of the Redoutable. You are in one of the British battlecruisers as they charge in the infamous 'Death Ride' at Jutland, steeming into the jaws of the Devil himself. The reader is left excited, not comatose, drooling for more of what this writer has to offer and what history can teach them, not dry in the mouth and searching for a bed and pillow.

As a military history buff who hasn't read much about naval combat I found this informative and entertaining. There is plenty of background and tactical information and Keegan offers plenty of insight as an accomplished historian, but all of this contributes to a real feel of the battle at sea. You smell the black powder and hear cannonball tear through a wooden frigate, see the burning oily flotsam in the wake of doomed ship and feel the anxiety of a merchant marine in convoy being stalked by a wolfpack.

The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare by Sir John Keegan. Like many wargamers and history buffs, I practically cut my teeth of Keegan's Face of Battle, which was somewhat revolutionary when it first came out. It is therefore kind of sad to see an author who I once held in such high regard sliding downhill, but I'm afraid that seems to be what's happening here.

This book seems to attempting to recreate the experience of Face of Battle for naval warfare. Keegan has taken four decisive naval battles; Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic and attempted to discern from them some sort of "evolution" of naval warfare. The sections of Trafalgar and Jutland are pretty good. Keegan does a good job both of setting up the context of the actions and of describing the combatants. He also, as in Face of Battle, provides a good overview of what it was like for the average participant, what they saw, heard, and experienced in the battles. He then follows up each section with the effect of the battle on the overall war situation. Nicely done.

It is in Midway that things begin to come off the rails. Keegan relies heavily on Morison's WWII naval history for the narrative of Midway and Morison's work has been almost completely superseded by newer scholarship, especially Parshall and Tully's Shattered Sword. Second, Keegan kind of abandons the idea of describing the experience of the average participant in the battle. There are occasional flashes of it describing the experiences of the aircrew, but nothing about what it was like to be once of the other 10,000 sailors in the two fleets.

Keegan's decision to use the battles of convoys HX 229/SC 122 to encapsulate the Battle of the Atlantic is kind of bizarre. While it was a very successful German attack on an escorted convoy, the real turning point in the U-Boat war came later that spring when the surface forces began to consistently beat the U-Boats. Since the U-Boats lost the battle of the Atlantic, it seems weird to highlight one of their victories, especially once so close to their ultimate defeat.

Lastly there is Keegan's final conclusion in the last chapter of the book "The Empty Ocean". In this chapter Keegan predicts essentially the ultimate demise of surface combatants as they become ever more vulnerable to ever more sophisticated and capable submarines. Now, I'm not saying Keegan isn't right, I'm just saying that his conclusion in no way proceeds from, or is demonstrated by, the preceding material in the book. In fact, since the U-Boats ultimately lost the battle of the Atlantic, Keegan's conclusion seems to be contradicted. It seemed like a strange way to end the book.

So, in the final analysis, Price of Admiralty isn't a great book, and it certainly isn't a naval version of Face of Battle.

An interesting foray by the famous military (read "land warfare") historian. An examination better than most, though there are better ones. Keegan's tendency to occassionly utter explicably silly and/ or stupid aphorisms (e.g., "there is no real difference between strategy and tactics" ??--strategic command and control schools would be interested in his rationale for this) is witnessed here by his conclusion that naval surface vessels are a thing of the past as submarines are increasingly rendering them useless. Many professional naval officers raised a ruckus about this when the book first came out, and well they should. The surface/submarine vessel competion is constantly changing due to new, more sophisticated technology. The nation with the most wealth and technological research will have the advantage; in this context, the surface/sub contest is irrelevant. There is no known substitute (yet) for the mobile, floating airfields known as aircraft carriers. I still have to give this an extra star for Keegan's usual great job of writing.