Royal Historical Society Studies in History

1 total work

The English Ordnance Office, 1585-1625 A Case Study in Bureaucracy

by Richard W Stewart

Published 9 May 1996

This book analyses the methods used for the procurement, storage and supply of arms and armaments for the English military establishment during the period of hostilities with Spain in the late sixteenth century and the following period of peace until the renewal of the war in 1625. The Ordnance Office -with power based on individual prestige, riddled with inefficiency, and slow to change its procedures -provides an excellent case study of an early modern bureaucracy in a transitional period between the personal and household offices of the crown and the growth of modern concepts of civil service based on merit. This book was awarded the 1997 Templar Medal for the best contributionto Army Historical Research. Dr RICHARD W. STEWARTis Director of History and Museums for the US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg.