The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815

The alternative title for this work could be "The Impact of Politics and Social Change on the Royal Navy," as Rodger argues that without the need to secure religious liberty and Parliment's ultimate adoption of the fleet it is unlikely that the will would have been found to develop the service most symbolic of Britain, with additional profound results for the building of the British state and the evolution of British society. Which is to say that Protectorate and Restoration England, as authoritarian polities, were not unusual in creating efficient naval power on the fly, but it would seem to take a society-wide commitment to sustain such naval power. This you can learn from reading the conclusions, the rest of the work is a show more exhaustively detailed examination of the contingincies encountered on the way to the zenith of British naval power. show less

Since this book's based on better documentation than its predecessor, it's more certain of its arguments and more convincing in its conclusions.

Roughly speaking, this book covers the period from Pepys through Nelson--the period when the Royal Navy came into its own as a world institution. Really a wonderful book; Rodger is (as always) a careful and lucid historian, with a good sense of what's important and what's trivial-but-intereresting. Well worth a read if you're interested in any aspect of naval or British history.

This review is also available on a dabbler's journal.

An excellent read that does not bore the reader to tears as many history books are want to do. The author did his research, as expected from a professional researcher/historian, and writes with authority about one of the most important naval chapters of our world. As a fan of fictional history, this non-fiction book helps fill in details of series by O'Brian, Forrester, and Kent. Well done.

Easy to read survey of the height of British sea power. The scholarship is extraordinary, and thankfully it is combined with an ability to write in the English tongue. It goes far to explain not only the power of the 18th and 19th Century Royal Navy, but also the strengths and the rise of Great Britain.

Read most of this book during my elective, War at Sea in the Age of Sail, in the fall trimester of 2023 at the Naval War College. Very well researched and detailed book that served as the course textbook.

The first part of NAM Rogers's definitive history of Englands Navy. Long overdue and it will be a long time before it is superceeded. Rogers is professor at Exeter University, UK (http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/history/staff/rodger/index.php)

Another Royal Navy work.