The Age of the Ship of the Line: The British and French Navies, 1650-1815 (Studies in War, Society, and the Militar) Review

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The Age of the Ship of the Line: The British and French Navies, 1650-1815 (Studies in War, Society, and the Militar) ReviewFor almost 200 hundred years the British and French navies dominated the world. As two of the world's leading industrial economies of the day, their wealth permitted them to produce fine ships with the dual purpose of protecting their own shores and seeking out new lands as part of their respective imperialist dreams and this book is the story of those navies.
Author Jonathan R. Dull is the retired senior editor of the series "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin" whose previous works include the award-winning "The French Navy and American Independence; A Study in Arms and Diplomacy, 1774-1787" and "The French Navy and the Seven Years War." It was because those previous works both involved the French Navy (whereas this particular book includes the French and British navies) I was concerned that Mr Dull may have come to this work with a bias towards the French (be that bias for or against!) but was delighted to learn this was not so.
With the emphasis always remaining on the effect of global events on the navies in question, the chapters commence with the origins of the "Ship of the Line" (so called because these fleets sailed in single file or, in a straight line - one behind the other). We then learn about Louis XIV and his wars, the age of peace, the outcome of the seven years war, the war of American Independence, French Revolution, Napoleonic wars and finally, supremacy in the age of sail.
Then, as now, warships were vastly expensive and, in this first-ever joint history of both navies, we find a completely impartial view of the various shipbuilding programmes, campaigns, strategies, battles and even the diplomacy of the day. The author also draws the interesting conclusion that the greatest tragedy for both nations was the Franco-British wars which stood to destroy both their common security and the economic prosperity both had enjoyed during their brief period as Allies!
There are two maps (Europe and the Caribbean) and seven battle diagrams. I have to add that I found the latter to be so simple as to be quite excellent with my favourite - the Battle of Aboukir Bay (sometimes called the Battle of the Nile), reproduced exactly as I have described that scene so many times.
Whilst the lack of pictures (there are none at all) does not detract from the overall impact of this important work, some images of either important ships or portraits of the leading protagonists would have improved the book.
Altogether, however, a first rate work.
NM
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