Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind: Naval Campaigns That Shaped the Modern World
by: Peter Padfield

Hardcover. Woodstock NY, Overlook Books, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 340 pages. In the great wars of modern history maritime powers have always prevailed over land-based empires, whether Habsburg, Napoleonic, Nazi or Soviet. This extraordinary book charts the growth of these powers in various western countries, while also revealing the way in which supremacy at sea freed thought and society itself. As noted historian Peter Padfield demonstrates, those nations attaining mastery at sea have been distinguished by liberty, flexibility and enterprise, a historical lesson of burning relevance today. Maritime Supremacy details the struggles of the first supreme maritime powers of the modern age, the Dutch and the British, and ends with the emergence of the ultimate successor, the United States of America. Changes in society, politics, trade--including the slave trade--and in naval capability are interwoven with descriptions of the great sea battles by which world power was won. Bringing the characters vividly to life and immersing the reader in the drama of events, Padfield challenges our view of the evolution of today's world. Clean copy.