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The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 | 
 enlarge | Author: N. A. M. Rodger
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 166300
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 976
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.8
ISBN: 0393328473
Dewey Decimal Number: 359
EAN: 9780393328479
ASIN: 0393328473
Publication Date: May 15, 2006
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Product Description
An Economist Best Book of 2004: "Destined to remain the reference on the subject for the coming generations."—U.S. Naval Institute
The Command of the Ocean describes with unprecedented authority and scholarship the rise of Britain to naval greatness, and the central place of the Navy and naval activity in the life of the nation and government. Based on the author's own research in a dozen languages over more than a decade, it describes not just battles, voyages, and cruises but also how the Navy was manned, supplied, fed, and, above all, how it was financed and directed.
N. A. M. Rodger provides convincing reassessments of such famous figures as Pepys, Hawke, Howe, and St. Vincent. The very particular and distinct qualities of Nelson and Collingwood are illuminatingly contrasted, and the world of officers and men who make up the originals of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower is brilliantly brought to life. Rodger's comparative view of other navies—French, Dutch, Spanish, and American—allows him to make a fresh assessment of the qualities of the British. 24 pages of illustrations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 October 31, 2008
I expected nothing less from N.A.M. Rodger, but he has exceeded even himself. I love maritime/naval history and he continues to stoke my enthusiasm. This is a must-have for any history buff.
Superb October 8, 2008
Rodger follows "The Safeguard of the Sea" with this, Volume II in his history of the English/British navy. Although difficult to believe, it is actually better than its predecessor. Superbly written, researched, and organized, it is the best overview of the Royal Navy from the mid-17th century to the early 18-th century that exists today.
 We'll all be going back to this one... June 17, 2008
for decades to come, whenever we look at the development of the Royal Navy. It is an excellent book in so many ways. But I have to echo an earlier reviewer who was miffed by the politics of the book. Reading it, one is struck by how the author sees certain things. For him, beating and flogging people was, well, understandable, and kidnapping via the Press Gang was, just necessary, and the judicial murder of Admiral Byng was, well, justified, because the ends justify the means, and his execution did put some life into those admirals, didn't it? If the author is not a pure reactionary, he is certainly utterly amoral in his approach to the past. Perhaps that is acceptable to some, but for this military historian, such an approach does not pass muster. Nevertheless, this is a great work of research and synthesis, essential reading for any student of the era, naval historian or not.
Generally a resonse to negative reviews February 3, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Generally I think the negative reviews of this book can be lumped together as the product of a rather triumphantilist strain of American History teaching that treats the Glorious Revolution, the American War of Independence etc. as a glorious chain of events in the march of liberty that are not only undoubtedly good and of immense import, but also predestined. This strain of pedagogy ignores the great deal of ambiguity that existed about these events as they happened and in the process distorts our vision of history by making it decidedly one-sided.
To answer a few objections offhand: The War of 1812 was not important for anyone that didn't live in North America. Period. The only British subjects for which that conflict was of great importance were the Canadians, and that's because in the war of 1812 we Americans tried and failed to invade their country for the last time. A few frigate actions do not make the creation of a great naval power--that would take the Spanish-American War and a couple of World Wars to do, and furthermore it is not the American Navy's history that is being recorded in the chapters in question, nor the history of the war of 1812 as such, but the history of the Royal Navy during the period, and for the Royal navy battles of scratch-built boats on lakes, however courageously fought, or frigate-duels, however inspiring, were not particularly important compared to Napolean.
The same can be said of the War of Independence: the actions of John Paul Jones were courageous and inspiring, but how important were they or anything else the Continental Navy's rather paltry fleet did in comparison to the thirty some ships of the line that were ready to invade England? Or the fact that by 1781 Britain was at war with every major naval power in Europe? Again, it's the Royal Navy we're talking about, not the American War as such, and it's what's important to the Royal Navy that's important to Rodger.
As to the Glorious Revolution, I suspect that when you take Locke not as a timeless champion of liberty but as a political partisan writing on behalf of a foreign usurper, that things will indeed look quite a bit like they did to Rodger. Though one does wonder if James' Catholicism is played down in order to play up the drama of the coup, ultimately the glorious revolution is not Rodger's subject here.
In general, I'd say Rodger tries to explain and clarify the prevailing sentiments of the time when he touches on larger events of British and World History, and that negative reviewers are offended that this does not accord with their perception of the same events, viewed from a contemporary (often American-centric) perspective. Most other objections can be countered by saying that Rodger isn't writing about XY and Z, he's writing about the Royal Navy, and if one keeps this in mind I find it hard to imagine that you won't have the greatest appreciation for this book.
 An excellent read, but biased and lacking in some key areas December 20, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have read many outstanding, comprehensive works by British historians, but I cannot recommend this one for a history of British naval operations due to its point of view. Despite being a voluminous work that is organized superbly and is full of value, too often events are judged through the eyes of a staunch British subject rather than a balanced historian. The Glorious Revolution and thoughts on Franklin and Jefferson has already been mentioned, but many more examples exist. John Paul Jones is casually mentioned in one sentence during action in the 18th century. The American War of Independence is skimmed over as compared to action against Spain, Louis XIV, and Napoleon. The events of Yorktown are considered to be the fault of Hood and Graves, and the parliament lost their nerve rather than anyone on the other side given credit for their strategic victory. The War of 1812 is shrugged off as a fly is swatted at by its human target- the battles on Lake Champlain are given passing mention, and the events in Washington, D.C. are treated as if the United States was on the verge of collapse and Britain happened to be distracted enough in Europe to give up their gains. These glaring biases are just too much for me to ignore, and they are very evident. I just cannot understand why such a praised book can have such glaring omissions- as I said, it was very dissapointing.
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