To Rule the Waves : How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World - Arthur Herman

Worth the read, but...

Others have covered the factual errors that exist in this book (I suspected as much, that they existed, but didn't have the time or motivation to pursue the matter), but overall it is well worth reading. Exciting, sweeping -- Herman clearly loves his subject. There are so many books written these days that purport to show how the actions of X individual or X civilization nearly single-handedly brought us to where we are today, and Herman enthusiastically joins their ranks; but he also stakes out a claim better than most.

Many Americans will be surprised to hear that the Revolution was founded almost solely to protect the illegal smuggling networks enriching all of our Founding Father -- Herman makes a number of such claims that seem to possibly be motivated more out of love for England than scholarship. He consistently, I think, overplays the role that the British Navy played (he tries to give them a starring role in the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific, nearly equal to that of the U.S.).

Love for the object of one's labors, however, is not the worst sin in the world, and I would still happily recommend this book. The amount of work this book must have taken staggers the imagination, and Herman admirably takes on the challenge.

An excellent, thought provoking read

Arthur Herman brings an obvious love of his subject, as well as the ability to convey history in an entertaining and concise manner, to an examination of the Royal Navy, and its effect on world geo-political history.

Herman begins his tale with a lively and very entertaining recount of the incident at San Juan de Ulloa in the 16th century. At this point, there was no Royal Navy per se, merely a collection of private adventurers out for plunder and glory raiding Spanish treasure ships and settlements in the New World. At this time, England was an afterthought in European power politics. The nations of the Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal, were in the driver's seat.

Herman carries the tale of the Royal Navy from these humble beginnings through the defeat of the Spanish Great Armada, two victories over the Dutch Navy, a century of struggle with the French which culminated with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, and the struggle with the German Kreigsmarine in the two world wars of the 20th century, finally culminating with the Royal Navy's scrappy, against all odds defeat of the Argentines in the Falkland Islands in the 1980s.

Throughout the work, Herman does two things exceptionally well. First, he does an excellent job showing the men who manned the "wooden wall" in all their honor, glory, and occasionally, shortsigtednes. From Hawkins, Drake, and Raleigh, through Nelson in the Age of Sail, to the commanders of the 20th century, Herman shows the centuries of honor and tradition that made the Royal Navy the world's foremost naval force.

Secondly, Herman does an excellent job showing how the strategic missions of the Royal Navy changed over the centuries, and how this affected Britain, and the world. From merely serving as raiding privateers, to chokeing the economies of Britan's enemies via blocade, and to preserving the flow of trade around the globe which allowed England to not only survive, but to stand alone at the pinnacle of world power, Herman shows how England adopted sea power to forge an empire unique in history.

This book also offers lessons to American readers. For centuries, the Royal Navy controlled the seas, and was thus able to preserve the Pax Brittania. The story of the rise, and ultimate fall, of British sea power is highly relevant to the continued success of its successor, the Pax Americana.

Accessible and fun

As popular history, this succeeds; I can't speak to the errors others have found. This is a long story that moves the way Herman describes his subject, in fits and starts and in multi-directional webs. Yet it carried me along without the battle descriptions getting boring, and I learned a bit... about ships and nautical word etymologies at the very least.

The book could have used some editing for mechanics and sentence structure, though. Articles are dropped all over the place, unless it's a matter of style to refer to "French navy" rather than "the French navy," and the author's nontraditional use of commas is a little jarring. But I'm a mechanics nerd, and if such things don't distract you too much, this is a fun and informative read.

Useless

This book has more than 600 pages.
To the worst defeat of the British Navy in history, the siege of Cartagena, the author devotes exactly 6 lines.

The British Navy Saves the World...

Arthur Herman's "To Rule the Waves" is the best kind of popular history: a thrilling narrative wrapped around an interesting idea and punctuated with lots of the kind of human-size details the average reader will enjoy.

Herman's subject is the British Navy, from its origins among Elizabeathan sea dogs little removed from pirates, to the professional Navy that helped beat Napoleon and Hitler while holding together Britain's far-flung empire, to the twilight triumph in the Falklands in 1982. Herman's thesis is that the Royal Navy's control of the seas helped make possible the modern world, with its global trade ties, international order, and the survival and success of democratic government.

Herman's efforts to explain everything in terms of sea control is inevitably a little strained in places. Also inevitably, in a single volume history covering some 400 years of crowded history, some of the details get stretched or misplaced. These faults aside, this is fun history.

Herman takes an unflinching look at such successful but tough-minded mariners as John Hawkins, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, Jack Fisher, and Sandy Woodward. Familiar historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill appear at the appropriate moments, along with a slew of lesser-known but equally important persons. The battle vignettes, from Panama to Trafalgar to Jutland to the North Atlantic to the Falklands, are crisply and concisely written, allowing the reader to grasph the tactics and outcome, without becoming bogged down in detail.

The descriptions of life aboard ship from age to age are simply fascinating. The repeated innovations in naval architecture as the world moved from wooden walls and sails to steel hulls and coal or oil-fired engines help explain how Britain stayed in the forefront as a naval power for so long. Along the way, it turns out that the British naval establishment was just as bureaucratic as any other large institution.

This book is highly recommended as an entertaining and educational experience for the average reader with any interest in naval matters and especially in the British Royal Navy.

Worth the read, but...

Others have covered the factual errors that exist in this book (I suspected as much, that they existed, but didn't have the time or motivation to pursue the matter), but overall it is well worth reading. Exciting, sweeping -- Herman clearly loves his subject. There are so many books written these days that purport to show how the actions of X individual or X civilization nearly single-handedly brought us to where we are today, and Herman enthusiastically joins their ranks; but he also stakes out a claim better than most.

Many Americans will be surprised to hear that the Revolution was founded almost solely to protect the illegal smuggling networks enriching all of our Founding Father -- Herman makes a number of such claims that seem to possibly be motivated more out of love for England than scholarship. He consistently, I think, overplays the role that the British Navy played (he tries to give them a starring role in the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific, nearly equal to that of the U.S.).

Love for the object of one's labors, however, is not the worst sin in the world, and I would still happily recommend this book. The amount of work this book must have taken staggers the imagination, and Herman admirably takes on the challenge.

An excellent, thought provoking read

Arthur Herman brings an obvious love of his subject, as well as the ability to convey history in an entertaining and concise manner, to an examination of the Royal Navy, and its effect on world geo-political history.

Herman begins his tale with a lively and very entertaining recount of the incident at San Juan de Ulloa in the 16th century. At this point, there was no Royal Navy per se, merely a collection of private adventurers out for plunder and glory raiding Spanish treasure ships and settlements in the New World. At this time, England was an afterthought in European power politics. The nations of the Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal, were in the driver's seat.

Herman carries the tale of the Royal Navy from these humble beginnings through the defeat of the Spanish Great Armada, two victories over the Dutch Navy, a century of struggle with the French which culminated with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, and the struggle with the German Kreigsmarine in the two world wars of the 20th century, finally culminating with the Royal Navy's scrappy, against all odds defeat of the Argentines in the Falkland Islands in the 1980s.

Throughout the work, Herman does two things exceptionally well. First, he does an excellent job showing the men who manned the "wooden wall" in all their honor, glory, and occasionally, shortsigtednes. From Hawkins, Drake, and Raleigh, through Nelson in the Age of Sail, to the commanders of the 20th century, Herman shows the centuries of honor and tradition that made the Royal Navy the world's foremost naval force.

Secondly, Herman does an excellent job showing how the strategic missions of the Royal Navy changed over the centuries, and how this affected Britain, and the world. From merely serving as raiding privateers, to chokeing the economies of Britan's enemies via blocade, and to preserving the flow of trade around the globe which allowed England to not only survive, but to stand alone at the pinnacle of world power, Herman shows how England adopted sea power to forge an empire unique in history.

This book also offers lessons to American readers. For centuries, the Royal Navy controlled the seas, and was thus able to preserve the Pax Brittania. The story of the rise, and ultimate fall, of British sea power is highly relevant to the continued success of its successor, the Pax Americana.

Accessible and fun

As popular history, this succeeds; I can't speak to the errors others have found. This is a long story that moves the way Herman describes his subject, in fits and starts and in multi-directional webs. Yet it carried me along without the battle descriptions getting boring, and I learned a bit... about ships and nautical word etymologies at the very least.

The book could have used some editing for mechanics and sentence structure, though. Articles are dropped all over the place, unless it's a matter of style to refer to "French navy" rather than "the French navy," and the author's nontraditional use of commas is a little jarring. But I'm a mechanics nerd, and if such things don't distract you too much, this is a fun and informative read.

Useless

This book has more than 600 pages.
To the worst defeat of the British Navy in history, the siege of Cartagena, the author devotes exactly 6 lines.

The British Navy Saves the World...

Arthur Herman's "To Rule the Waves" is the best kind of popular history: a thrilling narrative wrapped around an interesting idea and punctuated with lots of the kind of human-size details the average reader will enjoy.

Herman's subject is the British Navy, from its origins among Elizabeathan sea dogs little removed from pirates, to the professional Navy that helped beat Napoleon and Hitler while holding together Britain's far-flung empire, to the twilight triumph in the Falklands in 1982. Herman's thesis is that the Royal Navy's control of the seas helped make possible the modern world, with its global trade ties, international order, and the survival and success of democratic government.

Herman's efforts to explain everything in terms of sea control is inevitably a little strained in places. Also inevitably, in a single volume history covering some 400 years of crowded history, some of the details get stretched or misplaced. These faults aside, this is fun history.

Herman takes an unflinching look at such successful but tough-minded mariners as John Hawkins, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, Jack Fisher, and Sandy Woodward. Familiar historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill appear at the appropriate moments, along with a slew of lesser-known but equally important persons. The battle vignettes, from Panama to Trafalgar to Jutland to the North Atlantic to the Falklands, are crisply and concisely written, allowing the reader to grasph the tactics and outcome, without becoming bogged down in detail.

The descriptions of life aboard ship from age to age are simply fascinating. The repeated innovations in naval architecture as the world moved from wooden walls and sails to steel hulls and coal or oil-fired engines help explain how Britain stayed in the forefront as a naval power for so long. Along the way, it turns out that the British naval establishment was just as bureaucratic as any other large institution.

This book is highly recommended as an entertaining and educational experience for the average reader with any interest in naval matters and especially in the British Royal Navy.

Worth the read, but...

Others have covered the factual errors that exist in this book (I suspected as much, that they existed, but didn't have the time or motivation to pursue the matter), but overall it is well worth reading. Exciting, sweeping -- Herman clearly loves his subject. There are so many books written these days that purport to show how the actions of X individual or X civilization nearly single-handedly brought us to where we are today, and Herman enthusiastically joins their ranks; but he also stakes out a claim better than most.

Many Americans will be surprised to hear that the Revolution was founded almost solely to protect the illegal smuggling networks enriching all of our Founding Father -- Herman makes a number of such claims that seem to possibly be motivated more out of love for England than scholarship. He consistently, I think, overplays the role that the British Navy played (he tries to give them a starring role in the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific, nearly equal to that of the U.S.).

Love for the object of one's labors, however, is not the worst sin in the world, and I would still happily recommend this book. The amount of work this book must have taken staggers the imagination, and Herman admirably takes on the challenge.

An excellent, thought provoking read

Arthur Herman brings an obvious love of his subject, as well as the ability to convey history in an entertaining and concise manner, to an examination of the Royal Navy, and its effect on world geo-political history.

Herman begins his tale with a lively and very entertaining recount of the incident at San Juan de Ulloa in the 16th century. At this point, there was no Royal Navy per se, merely a collection of private adventurers out for plunder and glory raiding Spanish treasure ships and settlements in the New World. At this time, England was an afterthought in European power politics. The nations of the Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal, were in the driver's seat.

Herman carries the tale of the Royal Navy from these humble beginnings through the defeat of the Spanish Great Armada, two victories over the Dutch Navy, a century of struggle with the French which culminated with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, and the struggle with the German Kreigsmarine in the two world wars of the 20th century, finally culminating with the Royal Navy's scrappy, against all odds defeat of the Argentines in the Falkland Islands in the 1980s.

Throughout the work, Herman does two things exceptionally well. First, he does an excellent job showing the men who manned the "wooden wall" in all their honor, glory, and occasionally, shortsigtednes. From Hawkins, Drake, and Raleigh, through Nelson in the Age of Sail, to the commanders of the 20th century, Herman shows the centuries of honor and tradition that made the Royal Navy the world's foremost naval force.

Secondly, Herman does an excellent job showing how the strategic missions of the Royal Navy changed over the centuries, and how this affected Britain, and the world. From merely serving as raiding privateers, to chokeing the economies of Britan's enemies via blocade, and to preserving the flow of trade around the globe which allowed England to not only survive, but to stand alone at the pinnacle of world power, Herman shows how England adopted sea power to forge an empire unique in history.

This book also offers lessons to American readers. For centuries, the Royal Navy controlled the seas, and was thus able to preserve the Pax Brittania. The story of the rise, and ultimate fall, of British sea power is highly relevant to the continued success of its successor, the Pax Americana.

Accessible and fun

As popular history, this succeeds; I can't speak to the errors others have found. This is a long story that moves the way Herman describes his subject, in fits and starts and in multi-directional webs. Yet it carried me along without the battle descriptions getting boring, and I learned a bit... about ships and nautical word etymologies at the very least.

The book could have used some editing for mechanics and sentence structure, though. Articles are dropped all over the place, unless it's a matter of style to refer to "French navy" rather than "the French navy," and the author's nontraditional use of commas is a little jarring. But I'm a mechanics nerd, and if such things don't distract you too much, this is a fun and informative read.

Useless

This book has more than 600 pages.
To the worst defeat of the British Navy in history, the siege of Cartagena, the author devotes exactly 6 lines.

The British Navy Saves the World...

Arthur Herman's "To Rule the Waves" is the best kind of popular history: a thrilling narrative wrapped around an interesting idea and punctuated with lots of the kind of human-size details the average reader will enjoy.

Herman's subject is the British Navy, from its origins among Elizabeathan sea dogs little removed from pirates, to the professional Navy that helped beat Napoleon and Hitler while holding together Britain's far-flung empire, to the twilight triumph in the Falklands in 1982. Herman's thesis is that the Royal Navy's control of the seas helped make possible the modern world, with its global trade ties, international order, and the survival and success of democratic government.

Herman's efforts to explain everything in terms of sea control is inevitably a little strained in places. Also inevitably, in a single volume history covering some 400 years of crowded history, some of the details get stretched or misplaced. These faults aside, this is fun history.

Herman takes an unflinching look at such successful but tough-minded mariners as John Hawkins, Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson, Jack Fisher, and Sandy Woodward. Familiar historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill appear at the appropriate moments, along with a slew of lesser-known but equally important persons. The battle vignettes, from Panama to Trafalgar to Jutland to the North Atlantic to the Falklands, are crisply and concisely written, allowing the reader to grasph the tactics and outcome, without becoming bogged down in detail.

The descriptions of life aboard ship from age to age are simply fascinating. The repeated innovations in naval architecture as the world moved from wooden walls and sails to steel hulls and coal or oil-fired engines help explain how Britain stayed in the forefront as a naval power for so long. Along the way, it turns out that the British naval establishment was just as bureaucratic as any other large institution.

This book is highly recommended as an entertaining and educational experience for the average reader with any interest in naval matters and especially in the British Royal Navy.