Since this book’s based on better documentation than its predecessor, it’s more certain of its arguments and more convincing in its conclusions.
Roughly speaking, this book covers the period from Pepys through Nelson–the period when the Royal Navy came into its own as a world institution. Really a wonderful book; Rodger is (as always) a careful and lucid historian, with a good sense of what’s important and what’s trivial-but-intereresting. Well worth a read if you’re interested in any aspect of naval or British history.
This review was originally posted on LibraryThing.