From the Tudor monarchs through the glorious defeat of the Armada, the triumphs of Nelson and the battles of the First and Second World Wars, this history describes how the Royal Navy turned this country into the world's foremost sea power. Based on rare material from the archives of the National Maritime Museum, including letters, journals and despatches, we see life in the navy as it was experienced by commanders and ordinary seamen alike.
More than just a story of battles, this book shows how changes in technology were key to the development of the navy's power, from broadside gunnery, copper sheathed hulls, paddle steamers and iron dreadnoughts to the invention of submarines and aircraft carriers. We learn how the navy played a key role in exploration, from Drake's circumnavigation of the globe and Cook's voyages of discovery to Franklin's search for the North-West Passage.