War at Sea in the Age of Sail (History Of Warfare) [Paperback]

Prof. Andrew Lambert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2003 | Series: History Of Warfare

One of the world's leading maritime experts traces the path that led to European supremacy on the high seas, with detailed accounts of each of the key naval conflicts from the highest strategic level right down to the experience of the ordinary sailor. At the end of the 17th and throughout the 18th century, oceangoing forces developed into instruments of worldwide control. At first, Spain, France, Holland, and Britain headed the pack, but eventually the struggle for domination at sea culminated in Britain's triumph during the Napoleonic Wars and the elevation of the Royal Navy to global domination.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Every library requires a basic source on sailing ship warfare, a need solidly met by Lambert's profusely illustrated survey of the two centuries of naval dominance, ending about 1850, by the triple-masted, multidecked, heavily gunned ship of the line. Lambert, a naval historian in Britain, efficiently economizes his text, wasting few words to narrate the geopolitical framework for the expensive construction and maintenance of fleets, of strategies for their operation, and, ultimately, of their tactics in battle. Making the important point that few battles between the days of de Ruyter and those of Nelson were decisive, Lambert impresses upon the reader the appreciation strategists reached that naval warfare was characterized by attrition, rarely by the cataclysmic victory a la Trafalgar. And so most naval operations were those of convoy, pursuit, blockade--things rather less exciting than the climax of broadsides in battle, the moment depicted in most of the dozens of paintings reproduced in Lambert's book. Twenty maps and perspective schematics of key battles support this able introduction to the warfare of wooden ships. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Every library requires a basic source on sailing ship warfare, a need solidly met by Lambert's profusely illustrated survey of the two centuries of naval dominance. Lambert efficiently economizes his text. Twenty maps and perspective schematics of battles support this able introduction."--Booklist

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (April 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304363510
• ISBN-13: 978-0304363513
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,648,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting survey of a rich topic, September 2, 2000

By 

Julian Wan "wanchob" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War at Sea in the Age of Sail (Cassell History of Warfare) (Hardcover)

The War at Sea in the Age of Sail is part of the Cassell History of Warfare series, edited by John Keegan. Andrew Lambert, an expert in English naval history during the age of sail, takes on the formidable task. The age of sail is defined for the purposes of this work as being from 1650, [the start of the First Anglo-Dutch war, notable in being nearly exclusively a naval affair and one which blockade and control of merchant shipping was crucial], to 1850, when steam propulsion and iron plating began to appear. It has as its major strengths an excellent survey of the anglo-dutch wars, the organization of the British and French navies (the major navies of the day), and the great naval struggles between first Bourbon France and later Napoleonic France and Great Britain. It is well illustrated and a very attractive book. It would be ideal gift for the military history buff or the C.S Forester Hornblower, or Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin fan.

The weaknesses of the work are as follows. It is quite Anglocentric and much attention is given to English commanders. Arguably this is because many of the dominant figures of the era were English: Hood, Rodney, Howe, Cornwallis, Jervis, and most of all Nelson. The book is beautiful but the battle plans and maps are not that useful. They use a mixture of illustrations and tactical plans which end up being neither revealing nor artistic. They sort of look like what a small child would draw of a battle! The one exception is a well laid out map showing Villeneuve's attempt at a breakout and Nelson's pursuit from the Mediterranean to the West Indies and back to Spain.

Because of the limited space (~210 pages) many details are skipped over - we are told that Nelson played an important role at the battle of Cape St. Vincent, but there is no actual battle plan or description. The construction of naval ships is discussed in detail at the beginning of the age, but then little mention is made of later developments, prior to the advent of steam and iron. Such improvements in diagonal cross bracing for example are not mentionned. For these greater details, however, an excellent bibliography is supplied.

In short, a beautiful book, which surveys the era of the fighting sail. It is a bit Anglocentric, but forgivably so. Maps could be improved. An excellent gift choice for the military history buff or naval fiction fan, but not for the hard core experts.

The rest of the series should be interesting, especiallyt the forthcoming War at Sea in the Iron Clad Age, and War at Sea: 1914-1945.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very well written overview, August 7, 2006

By 

Tim Martin (South Bend, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War at Sea in the Age of Sail (History Of Warfare) (Paperback)

Mr. Lambert does a very fine job of outlining the history of maritime conflict between 1650 and 1850. Granted, given the size of the book (both dimensions and pages), Mr. Lambert only has time to provide quick overviews of each of the several eras he breaks his history into; he usually provides an introduction and then gives some specific examples to illustrate his point.

The book does mainly deal with the history of the Royal Navy but, for most of the period in question, the Royal Navy was the only navy of consequence. The French, Russian, Spanish and Dutch navies are also dealt with in the narrative.

The book is richly illustrated and the paper is of fine quality. It is a small book (5"x8") but the quality of illustrations and paper make up for the price. Mr. Lambert includes a very good section of further reading; it includes references to every one of the topics that he covers.

If you are looking for a short introduction of this subject for this time period, I don't think you can do any harm in buying and reading this book. It is well written, finely illustrated. Buy it!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good work, October 5, 2004

By 

Jason Kleps (Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War at Sea in the Age of Sail (History Of Warfare) (Paperback)

O.K., the author is British, he loves his country, and this is reflected in the text. I, too, felt the urge to sniff about this "England and St. George!" attitude.

Let's be honest, though, the Brits, after their rivalries with the Dutch had subsided, had the best navy in the world. The record clearly indicates that they were quite comfortable on a ship. No matter how much you want to 'balance' British dominance on the high seas with, say, the effectiveness of French privateering, or the U.S. victory on Lake Erie (a victory of which i am proud, since the lake is 25 miles away from my home), or the triumph of the U.S.S. Constitution over her British rival, the truth is that nobody could touch the British navy. So don't complain that the author merely recounts (with pride, and dare I say, glee) British triumphs while dismissing the successes of other navies because - let's be honest - from 1700-1900, there was the British Navy and then there was the rest of us ... and nobody could touch 'em.

Moral of the story:'Unbalanced' history is not necessarily incompatible with historical veracity.