Download or read book The Glorious First of June written by Sam Willis and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: France, early summer 1794. The French Revolution has been hijacked by the extreme Jacobins and is in the grip of The Terror. While the guillotine relentlessly takes the heads of innocents, two vast French and British fleets meet in the mid-Atlantic following a week of skirmishing. After fierce fighting, both sides claim victory. In The Glorious First of June Sam Willis not only tells, with thrilling immediacy and masterly clarity, the story of an epic and complex battle, he also places it within the context of The Terror, the survival of the French Revolution and the growth of British sea-power.

Download or read book In the Hour of Victory written by Sam Willis and published by Atlantic Books Ltd. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2013 MARITIME MEDIA AWARDS Between 1794 and 1815 the Royal Navy repeatedly crushed her enemies at sea in a period of military dominance that equals any in history. When Napoleon eventually died in exile, the Lords of the Admiralty ordered that the original dispatches from seven major fleet battles - The Glorious First of June (1794), St Vincent (1797), Camperdown (1797), The Nile (1798), Copenhagen (1801), Trafalgar (1805) and San Domingo (1806) - should be gathered together and presented to the Nation. These letters, written by Britain's admirals, captains, surgeons and boatswains and sent back home in the midst of conflict, were bound in an immense volume, to be admired as a jewel of British history. Sam Willis, one of Britain's finest naval historians, stumbled upon this collection by chance in the British Library in 2010 and soon found out that only a handful of people knew of its existence. The rediscovery of these first-hand reports, and the vivid commentary they provide, has enabled Willis to reassesses the key engagements in extraordinary and revelatory detail, and to paint an enthralling series of portraits of the Royal Navy's commanders at the time. In a compelling and dramatic narrative, In the Hour of Victory tells the story of these naval triumphs as never before, and allows us to hear once more the officer's voices as they describe the battles that made Britain great.

Download or read book The Billy Ruffian written by David Cordingly and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-10-04 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A portrait of a British warship that played a key role during the wartime years of the Napoleonic era describes the ship's service in three crucial sea battles--the Glorious First of June (1794), the first action against revolutionary France; the 1798 battle of the Nile; and the battle of Trafalgar (1805)--as well as its role in Napoleon's ultimate surrender. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Download or read book The British Navy Book written by Cyril Field and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Howe Dynasty written by Julie Flavell and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist • George Washington Book Prize New York Times Book Review • Editors’ Choice Finally revealing the family’s indefatigable women among its legendary military figures, The Howe Dynasty recasts the British side of the American Revolution. In December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British General Sir William Howe and Richard Admiral Lord Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess.” But as historian Julie Flavell reveals, these meetings were about much more than board games: they were cover for a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of the American War of Independence. Aware that the distinguished Howe family, both the men and the women, have been known solely for the military exploits of the brothers, Flavell investigated the letters of Caroline Howe, which have been blatantly overlooked since the nineteenth century. Using revelatory documents and this correspondence, The Howe Dynasty provides a groundbreaking reinterpretation of one of England’s most famous military families across four wars. Contemporaries considered the Howes impenetrable and intensely private—or, as Horace Walpole called them, “brave and silent.” Flavell traces their roots to modest beginnings at Langar Hall in rural Nottinghamshire and highlights the Georgian phenomenon of the politically involved aristocratic woman. In fact, the early careers of the brothers—George, Richard, and William—can be credited not to the maneuverings of their father, Scrope Lord Howe, but to those of their aunt, the savvy Mary Herbert Countess Pembroke. When eldest sister Caroline came of age during the reign of King George III, she too used her intimacy with the royal inner circle to promote her brothers, moving smoothly between a straitlaced court and an increasingly scandalous London high life. With genuine suspense, Flavell skillfully recounts the most notable episodes of the brothers’ military campaigns: how Richard, commanding the HMS Dunkirk in 1755, fired the first shot signaling the beginning of the Seven Years’ War at sea; how George won the devotion of the American fighters he commanded at Fort Ticonderoga just three years later; and how youngest brother General William Howe, his sympathies torn, nonetheless commanded his troops to a bitter Pyrrhic victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill, only to be vilified for his failure as British commander-in-chief to subdue Washington’s Continental Army. Britain’s desperate battles to guard its most vaunted colonial possession are here told in tandem with London parlor-room intrigues, where Caroline bravely fought to protect the Howe reputation in a gossipy aristocratic milieu. A riveting narrative and long overdue reassessment of the entire family, The Howe Dynasty forces us to reimagine the Revolutionary War in ways that would have been previously inconceivable.

Download or read book The Age of the Ship of the Line written by Jonathan R. Dull and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly two hundred years huge wooden warships called ships of the line dominated war at sea and were thus instrumental in the European struggle for power and the spread of imperialism. Foremost among the great naval powers were Great Britain and France, whose advanced economies could support large numbers of these expensive ships. This book, the first joint history of these great navies, offers a uniquely impartial and comprehensive picture of the two forces their shipbuilding programs, naval campaigns, and battles, and their wartime strategies and diplomacy. Jonathan R. Dull is the author of two award-winning histories of the French navy. Bringing to bear years of study of war and diplomacy, his book conveys the fine details and the high drama of the age of grand and decisive naval conflict. Dull delves into the seven wars that Great Britain and France, often in alliance with lesser naval powers such as Spain and the Netherlands, fought between 1688 and 1815. Viewing war as most statesmen of the time saw it as a contest of endurance he also treats the tragic side of the Franco-British wars, which shattered the greater security and prosperity the two powers enjoyed during their brief period as allies.

Download or read book Nile 1798 written by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osprey's examination of one of the great sea battles of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). On the night of August 1, 1798, a British fleet under the command of Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson met a French fleet under the command of Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers. By morning the British had won a near-complete victory: only two of the 13 French ships-of-the-line escaped and the rest were either captured or destroyed. It was the first major independent victory of Nelson's career but more importantly it crippled the French effort in Africa by denying them access to the suplies and support from the sea.

Download or read book Welsh Ballads of the French Revolution written by Ffion Mair Jones and published by University of Wales Press. This book was released on 2012-02-15 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welsh Ballads of the French Revolution provides for the first time an edition, with parallel English translations, of Welsh-language ballads composed in reaction to the momentous events of the Revolution in France and the two decades of war which followed. Ballad writers were first spurred to respond in 1793, when the French monarchs were executed, France declared war upon Britain, and paranoia regarding the possible threat of internal revolt in Britain reached a crisis point. As the decade proceeded, ballads were sung in thanks for the victory of British forces and local people against an invasion of Pembrokeshire by French troops, and in reaction to key naval battles and to the extensive mobilization of militia and volunteer forces. Scholars working on the British response to the Revolution have showed increasing interest in exploring the contents of ballads and songs. The ballad in particular is seen as a vital source of information, since it represents ordinary people's awareness of the developments of the period. Balladry is also subject to continued research within Welsh scholarship, and this volume, with its focus on a clearly defined historical period and its revelation of new voices within the canon of Welsh ballad writers, will drive this field of study forwards. Regional reactions to the Revolution within the British Isles are also now seen as crucially important, but Wales, partly because of the inaccessibility of material composed in the Welsh language, has repeatedly been omitted from the general picture. This volume aids in rectifying this situation, ensuring (by use of translation, copious contextualizing notes, and a lengthy introduction) that both the ballad genre and Welsh reactions receive the attention they deserve from the wider scholarly community.

Download or read book French Warship Crews 1789 1805 written by Terry Crowdy and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gives a detailed and authentic account of the life and experiences of French warship crews from the Revolution up to Trafalgar. It describes the recruitment and composition of crews, the different duties performed and the living conditions they had to endure at sea. Their experiences of fighting the British are covered in depth; from preparing the ship for action, to the violent discharges of heavy calibre guns, the often gruesome realities of sea warfare are revealed through pictures and contemporary testimonies.

Download or read book The Glorious First of June 1794 written by Mark Lardas and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As 1794 opened, Revolutionary France stood on a knife's edge of failure. Its army and navy had been shaken by the revolution, with civil war and famine taking its toll on their resources. Seeking to bring a revitalizing supply of food from its Caribbean colonies and the United States, the French government decided to organize a massive convoy to bring the New World's bounty to France. However, in order to succeed in their mission, the French Navy would have to make a deadly crossing over the North Atlantic, an ocean patrolled by the Royal Navy, the most powerful navy force in the world, whose sailors were eager to inflict a damaging defeat on Revolutionary France and win their fortune in prize money. Illustrated throughout with stunning full-colour artwork, this is the full story of the only fleet action during the Age of Fighting Sail fought in the open ocean, hundreds of miles from shore. Taking place over the course of a month, the inevitable battle was to be a close-run affair, with both sides claiming victory. To the French, it was le Bataille du 13 prairial, a notable day in their new, scientific Revolutionary calendar. For the British, it was the Glorious First of June.

Download or read book Physician to the Fleet written by Brian Vale and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2011 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details Thomas Trotter's important contributions, as a naval surgeon and after, to the eradication of scurvy and typhus, to the study of addiction, and to improved health and safety in mines. Thomas Trotter, after studying medicine at Edinburgh, began his naval career as a surgeon's mate in 1779 and saw continuous service up to the peace of 1802, rising as a result of great abilities and the right patronage to become Physician to the Channel Fleet, and being present at the great battles of Dogger Bank in 1781 and the Glorious First of June in 1794. As Physician to the Channel Fleet, he was a major player in the conquest of scurvy and the control of typhus and smallpox in the navy. After the peace he settled in Newcastle where he produced pioneering work on alcoholism and neurosis, as a result of which he is regarded as one of the founders of the field of addiction studies. This book provides an intimate account of naval life in the great age of sail from the perspective of a surgeon, describing the impact of Enlightenment ideas and new medical techniques, and showing how improved health was a crucial factor in making possible the British fleet's great victories in this period. BRIAN VALE is a maritime historian, whose books include Independence or Death: British sailors and Brazilian Independence (Tauris 1996), A Frigate of King George, Life and Duty on a British Man-of-War (Tauris 2001) and The Audacious Admiral Cochrane (Conway 2004). GRIFFITH EDWARDS, Emeritus Professor at King's College, London, is one of the country's leading experts on addiction. His publications include Alchohol: the Ambiguous Molecule (Penguin 2000) and Matters of Substance (Penguin 2005).

Download or read book The Late Lord written by Jacqueline Reiter and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham is one of the most enigmatic and overlooked figures of early nineteenth century British history. The elder brother of Pitt the Younger, he has long been consigned to history as 'the late Lord Chatham', the lazy commander-in-chief of the 1809 Walcheren expedition, whose inactivity and incompetence turned what should have been an easy victory into a disaster. Chatham's poor reputation obscures a fascinating and complex man. During a twenty-year career at the heart of government, he served in several important cabinet posts such as First Lord of the Admiralty and Master-General of the Ordnance. Yet despite his closeness to the Prime Minister and friendship with the Royal Family, political rivalries and private tragedy hampered his ascendance. Paradoxically for a man of widely admired diplomatic skills, his downfall owed as much to his personal insecurities and penchant for making enemies as it did to military failure. Using a variety of manuscript sources to tease Chatham from the records, this biography peels away the myths and places him for the first time in proper familial, political, and military context. It breathes life into a much-maligned member of one of Britain's greatest political dynasties, revealing a deeply flawed man trapped in the shadow of his illustrious relatives.

Download or read book The Napoleonic Wars A Very Short Introduction written by Mike Rapport and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Napoleonic Wars have an important place in the history of Europe, leaving their mark on European and world societies in a variety of ways. In many European countries they provided the stimulus for radical social and political change - particularly in Spain, Germany, and Italy - and are frequently viewed in these places as the starting point of their modern histories. In this Very Short Introduction, Mike Rapport provides a brief outline of the wars, introducing the tactics, strategies, and weaponry of the time. Presented in three parts, he considers the origins and course of the wars, the ways and means in which it was fought, and the social and political legacy it has left to the world today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book Jutland written by Nicholas Jellicoe and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-30 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A compelling, dramatic account of the Royal Navy's last great sea battle.” —Robert K. Massie, Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times–bestselling author of Dreadnought More than a century later, historians still argue about this controversial and misunderstood World War I naval battle off the coast of Denmark. It was the twentieth century’s first engagement of dreadnoughts—and while it left Britain in control of the North Sea, both sides claimed victory and decades of disputes followed, revolving around senior commanders Admiral Sir John Jellicoe and Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty. This book not only retells the story of the battle from both a British and German perspective based on the latest research, but also helps clarify the context of Germany’s inevitable naval clash and the aftermath after the smoke had cleared.

Download or read book Bretons and Britons written by Barry Cunliffe and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-10 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is it about Brittany that makes it such a favourite destination for the British? To answer this question, Bretons and Britons explores the long history of the Bretons, from the time of the first farmers around 5400 BC to the present, and the very close relationship they have had with their British neighbours throughout this time. More than simply a history of a people, Bretons and Britons is also the author's homage to a country and a people he has come to admire over decades of engagement. Underlying the story throughout is the tale of the Bretons' fierce struggle to maintain their distinctive identity. As a peninsula people living on a westerly excrescence of Europe they were surrounded on three sides by the sea, which gave them some protection from outside interference, but their landward border was constantly threatened - not only by succeeding waves of Romans, Franks, and Vikings, but also by the growing power of the French state. It was the sea that gave the Bretons strength and helped them in their struggle for independence. They shared in the culture of Atlantic-facing Europe, and from the eighteenth century, when a fascination for the Celts was beginning to sweep Europe, they were able to present themselves as the direct successors of the ancient Celts along with the Cornish, Welsh, Scots, and Irish. This gave them a new strength and a new pride. It is this spirit that is still very much alive today.

Download or read book Admiral Lord Howe written by David Syrett and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword by James Bradford Admiral Lord Howe's long and honored career as a naval commander and diplomat made him a significant figure in eighteenth-century England, yet until now there has never been a comprehensive biography about him. This fascinating and thoroughly researched book fills a large gap in Royal Navy history as it examines Admiral Howe's life from his days as a midshipman through his service in four wars: the Seven Year War where he led the attack on Quiberon Bay, the American Revolutionary War where he commanded the British squadron, the Third Relief of Gibraltar, and the French Revolutionary War where he defeated the French fleet on the Glorious First of June. This long overdue biography also takes a careful look at Howe the skilled diplomat as he sought to forestall the American Revolutionary War through negotiation with Benjamin Franklin and served as First Lord of the Admiralty in the government of Pitt the Younger. It is essential reading for age-of-sail enthusiasts.

Download or read book The Old Regime and the Revolution written by Alexis de Tocqueville and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: