The Foundations of British Maritime Ascendancy: Resources, Logistics and the State, 1755-1815

by Roger Morriss

Overview

British power and global expansion between 1755 and 1815 have mainly been attributed to the fiscal-military state and the achievements of the Royal navy at sea. Roger Morriss here sheds new light on the broader range of developments in the infrastructure of the state needed to extend British power at sea and overseas. He demonstrates how developments in culture, experience and control in central government affected the supply of ships, manpower, food, transport and ordnance as well as the support of the army, permitting the maintenance of armed forces of unprecedented size and their projection to distant stations. He reveals how the British state, although dependent on the private sector, built a partnership with it based on trust, ethics and the law. This book argues that Britain's military bureaucracy, traditionally regarded as inferior to the fighting services, was in fact the keystone of the nation's maritime ascendancy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521768092
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/16/2010
Series:	Cambridge Military Histories
Pages:	458
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Roger Morriss is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Exeter, and General Editor of the Navy Records Society. His previous publications include Naval Power and British Culture, 1760–1850: Public Trust and Government Ideology (2004).

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The British state in evolution; 2. Defence and expansion; 3. Economy and finance; 4. Naval growth and infrastructure; 5. Ordnance and technology; 6. Manpower and motivation; 7. Foodstuffs and victualling; 8. Shipping and transportation; 9. The supply of land forces overseas; 10. Conclusion.