From Baird Maritime
Britannia truly began to "rule the waves" in the middle of the eighteenth century. While the trend started earlier with Drake and his contemporaries, the real naval power that made Britain "great" for two centuries was consolidated in that period.
The War of 1739-1748 has not generally been recorded as one of the more glorious aspects of British military or naval history. It was, however, as the author explains very clearly, a critical time for the British as well as for their near perpetual enemies, the French.
Coinciding with the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, it was a time of political, domestic and diplomatic turmoil in both kingdoms. What Britain, and most particularly its Navy, established in this period really provided the foundation for the rapid expansion of its colonial empire. It also provided the basis of the Royal Navy as the world's first global power.
The intellectual quality and the bravery and innovation of the British leadership was outstanding. An exciting and fascinating book.
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