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.
- ISBN10 0393328473
- ISBN13 9780393328479
- Publish Date 11 May 2006 (first published 1 January 1989)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 16 October 2013
- Publish Country US
- Imprint WW Norton & Co
- Format Paperback
- Pages 998
- Language English