The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain: 1815 – 1945

The first two volumes of N A M Rodger's magisterial Naval History of Britain were published in 1997 and 2004. In his foreword, Nicholas Rodger explains that his serious ill-health was part of the reason for the long delay before part three of his trilogy was published. Those of us with an interest in the history of the Royal Navy can be grateful that Professor Rodger has survived and that we might benefit from reading this splendid 934-page book.

And what a book it is. One can understand the breadth of Rodger's knowledge and understanding of the UK's Senior Service when the index contains words such as airship, alcohol, artificer, barbers, barracks, bell-bottoms, boys, breech-loading guns, buttercup, canteens, carpenters, chaplains, show more coal, cofferdam, concert parties, cooks, copper, corruption, coxswain, dead-reckoning plotter, dhobey firms, discipline, ditty box, duff, engine room, fish-head, flogging, gambling, In Which We Serve, Alphonso Jago, ships' libraries, marriage allowance, mechanic, Nicholas Monsarrat, naval science, purser, refuelling, tiddly and venereal disease. The bibliography alone is 71 pages long!

The appendices include a Chronology of important events affecting the Royal Navy from 1815 to 1945 and, for completeness, from 1946 to 2024; a brief summary of naval strength during the 130 years this history covers (72 battleships and 122 cruisers in 1915!); fleets in key years of the 19th Century; key appointments - a list of First Lords, First Naval Lords and, from 1904, First Sea Lords; a graph showing manpower - seamen and marines (78,891 in 1815 + 406.977 at the height of the First World War + 781,000 by the end of the Second World War + some 70,000 in 1982 + 30,000 in 2025).

The text is about two-thirds of the pages. Some 15 excellent maps, 64 black and white illustrations and an English Glossary and a Foreign Glossary, as well as notes on tonnage, all serve to complete this superb book. A salute to N A M Rodger!

I know it's impossible to mention everything, even in such a large and comprehensive tome as this, but there are surprising omissions, No reference to War Memorials (such as those in the depots - Chatham, Devonport and Portsmouth) and no mention of the Royal Naval Division, deployed to Antwerp in 1914, to Gallipoli in 1915 and to the Western Front in 1916 as the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. No mention of the only-ever action between Armed Merchant Cruisers, in 1914, between HMS Carmania and SMS Cap Trafalgar or the loss of RMS Lancastria in 1940 during Operation Aerial. No mention of the Band of HM Royal Marines or of British poets and writers who were inspired by the men and exploits of the Senior Service and, surprisingly, no mention of the NAAFI or Naval Canteen Service.

I would like to have seen mention of the start of awarding battle honours and the popularity of books about the Navy in the first half of the 20th Century as well as mention of Navy Weeks and Navy Days, visits by the public to ships, and the using of warships for diplomatic purposes ('flying the flag' - ship visits, cocktail parties and so on) and for humanitarian aid and disaster relief and also on the loss of ships in peacetime, such as the loss of HMS Valerian in a hurricane in 1926. Perhaps mention, too, of famous members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines - royalty and others.

No mention of the White Ensign in the index (or Blue Ensign and so on) - that is a surprise. Is there mention of ships' bells, the RN Service Certificate for naval ratings, medals for campaigns, for valour and for long service? The Victoria Cross is mentioned. show less

Well worth the wait. A truly masterful work of great scholarship and insight. This book shines light into many dark corners of 19th/20th century naval history and debunks many myths. I thought I knew a bit about naval history in this period until I read this book.

My final recommendation is made speculatively, since N.A.M. Rodger’s The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain 1815-1945 (Allen Lane) is still days away from publication as I write these words. But we have waited 20 years for the final instalment of his trilogy on the naval history of Britain from the seventh century to the 20th, and I have no doubt it will be just as thrilling as the two previous volumes.

Read History Today’s Books of the Year 2024 at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/review/books-year-2024-part-1

Yuan Yi Zhu is Assistant Professor of International Relations and International Law at Leiden University