Prince Henry "the Navigator"

by Peter Edward Russell, Peter Russell, MD Frcpa, Sir Peter Russell, Frc

2000 · Yale University Press

Henry the Navigator is a legendary, almost mythical, figure in late medieval history. Together with Columbus he was considered one of the progenitors of 'modernity', a man who dared to challenge the scientific assumptions of his age and by so doing was responsible for liberating Europeans from the geographical constraints which had bound them since the collapse of the Roman Empire. His image as imperialist and, above all, maritime, mathematical, and navigational pioneer has been slow to die. Yet there has been no English life of this 'hero of both science and of action' since Beazley's of 1895. This book, therefore, represents the first re-evaluation of his life in over a century. Peter Russell has made use of much recently published documentary evidence to provide an eloquent, sophisticated and highly readable account of Henry's life. While full attention is given to all aspects of his voyages of discovery in the African Atlantic, including their economic and cultural consequences and the difficult questions of international law and papal jurisdiction, Russell also examines in detail the other spheres of activity which contributed to his fame, or sometimes brought it into question

England in the Seven Years War – Vol. II

by Sir Julian Stafford Corbett, LLM.

2012 · Normanby Press

The Seven Years War (1756-1763) was the one of the truly world-wide conflicts, with engagements spanning from India to Canada. The causes, as with so many of the European wars, was a question of land and legitimacy, the ever present simmering tensions between England and France, and the newly emergent Prussia and Austria, leading to a conflict that dragged many other nations into the strife. Notable in this war were the brilliance of Frederick, who would earn his title "the Great" during these wars; and the eclipse of Spain, Portugal and Sweden as powers of the first rank. However, the policy of England - that of Pitt - was to limit the commitment in terms of men; priority was given to the Royal Navy, and an indirect form of colonial warfare allied with blockade was established. The naval intricacies, along with their political and land-based military corollaries, are illuminated in Corbett's two volume history of the English contribution to the Seven Years war. The second volume carries the narrative on into 1760: an abortive counter-attack by French forces in Canada; further pressure in Germany thwarted by Frederick and his generals; and the catastrophic intervention of Spain into the war. Sir Julian S. Corbett was a prolific author and authority on British warfare and more particularly the naval aspects; he was also lecturer in history to the Royal Naval College.Author — Sir Julian Stafford Corbett, LLM. (1854-1922) Illustrations – 4 maps and plans.

The Successors to Drake

by Sir Julian S. Corbett

2016 · Tannenberg Publishing

The present work is designed as a sequel to Drake and the Tudor Navy (1898), to which it practically forms a third and concluding volume, carrying the reader through the period of hostilities with Spain which extended from the death of Drake in 1596 to the conclusion of the war at James I.'s accession. It is a period which, if we except the operations of Essex at Cádiz in 1596, has been much neglected by historians and as much misunderstood. [...] Mainly the work is concerned with naval history, hut not so exclusively as the two previous volumes. Military affairs begin to intrude themselves. Indeed it is doubtful whether the naval and the military history of England should ever be written apart. The real importance of maritime power is its influence on military operations. This is the thesis which lies at the bottom of all the teaching with which Captain Mahan's name is pre-eminently associated. [...] The direction of a great war can only be followed out in the mutual reaction of the two forces, and how closely they are inter-dependent nothing shows more emphatically than the last years of the Elizabethan war. It is impossible to deal adequately with the naval operations without understanding what the soldiers were doing. To treat, for instance, of the action of the fleet during the Spanish descent on Ireland in 1601 without following the strategy ashore might be naval chronicling. It would not be history. WITH PORTRAITS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS.