Overview

Originally published in 1959, this volume covers the history of the Service which has been through the centuries the first, and often the last line of British defence, and the spearhead of Britian’s imperial expansion. In the book Professor Lewis puts the Royal Navy into its true perspective in history in general and maritime history in particular. He shows its origin in the Crown’s personal sea-force, still blended with, and largely reliant upon the United Kingdom’s total sea-force; and relates how it emerged as the principal fighting element in her sea-strength; principal, but not sole fighting element, because the reserves of the Royal Navy are an integral part of the entire Navy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Lewis
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.640kg
ISBN:  

9781041126430

ISBN 10:   1041126433
Pages:   258
Publication Date:   10 October 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Part 1: The Old Navy 1. Pre-Tudor: Seed-Time 800-1485 2. Henry VII: The Growth of a Sea-Policy, 1485–1509 3. Henry VIII: The Coming of the Warship, 1509–47 4. Elizabeth I: Trade and War, 1547–1603 5. The Early Stuarts: The Failure of the Old Navy, 1603–49 6. The Commonwealth: The State Navy, 1649–60 Part 2: The Royal Navy 7. The Later Stuarts: The Coming of the Royal Navy, 1660–88 8. William and Anne: The French Wars First Phase, 1688–1714 9. Peace and War: Dark Days, 1714–48 10. The Seven Years’ War The Winning of Empire, 1748–63 1. American Independence: ‘The Navy in Adversity’, 1763–83 12. The Revolutionary War: The Navy Against the World, 1783–1802 13. The Napoleonic War: The Triumph of the Royal Navy, 1802–15 Part 3: The New Navy 14. The Nineteenth Century (1): ‘Pax Britannica’, 1815–1900 15. The Nineteenth Century (2): The Great Transition, 1815–1900 16. Total War (1): The New Navy Finds Itself, 1900–18 17. Total War (2): Sea and Sky, 1918–45.

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Author Information

Michael Arthur Lewis (1890-1970) read history at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a year at Grenoble University (and would have played in the French national rugby team had the authorities not discovered that he was British). His subsequent academic career was spent wholly in naval education, teaching at the Royal Naval College Osborne (1913-20, serving as lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery in World War I), at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth (1920-34) and finally as Professor of History and English at the Royal Naval College Greenwich (1934-55). A fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, he was active in the Navy Records Society (vice-president) and the Society for Nautical Research (president). In 1952-3 he introduced all 26 episodes of the American documentary series Victory at Sea on BBC television, earning the public soubriquet of ‘the TV Prof’. He authored or edited 22 books: two of light verse, six thrillers (‘clutch and throttle’ as he called them), thirteen on naval history, and one on genealogical gleanings from his own family tree. He retired in 1955, having been awarded a CBE for services to naval education.

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