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The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery Paperback – October 30, 2006

by Paul M. Kennedy (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
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First published in 1976, this book is the first detailed examination of the history of British sea power since A.T. Mahan's classic The Influence of Sea Power on History, published in 1890. In analyzing the reasons for the rise and fall of Great Britain as a predominant maritime nation in the period from the Tudors to the present day, Professor Kennedy sets the Royal Navy within a framework of national, international, economic, political and strategical considerations.

To this new paperback edition the author has added a new introduction that brings the discussion of naval power up to date, with special emphasis on today’s enormous U.S. Navy as the prime contemporary example of the use of naval forces to wield global influence.
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  1. Print length
    405 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Humanities Press
  4. Publication date
    October 30, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    9 x 1.11 x 6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1591023742
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1591023746
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Editorial Reviews

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"As soon as it appeared in 1976, Paul M. Kennedy's magisterial survey of the historical role and significance of British seapower was recognized by serious naval historians as a work of the first importance. The book's publication in paperback provides an opportunity to recommend it to students of international relations, for its main objective is to place British naval power in broad geopolitical context. This is by far the most important survey of British naval history since Sir Herbert Richmond's Statesmen and Sea Power (1946) and in some ways it is more important."

—International Historical Review

About the Author

Paul M. Kennedy is J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History at Yale University. He regularly publishes in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times Book Review, the Atlantic, and many other periodicals and scholarly journals. The author of thirteen books, he is perhaps best known for The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. His most recent publication (2006) is The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Humanities Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2006
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 2nd
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 405 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591023742
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591023746
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.26 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 1.11 x 6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • D. Chapman
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Disturbing Book, in Many Ways
    Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Without taking a definite position on Mahan or geopolitics,
    the book presents British naval power as a textbook example
    of how an island nation became first a regional naval power
    and then rose to global pre-eminence. The parts about how
    the first wave of global trade interacted with the Industrial
    Revolution are especially interesting.

    It then goes on to describe how a mixture of politics, social
    problems, and economic neglect weakened the British Navy, at
    a time when newly industrialized countries like Germany,
    Japan, and America were becoming stronger.

    The end of the story is well known, as two Pyrrhic Victories
    against Germany shattered the British Empire in the 20th century.

    ---

    As an American, I find the description of how Britain in the late
    1800s neglected its education system and engaged in trade policies
    which destroyed the physical economy to be much too close to home.
    This book can be read as a cautionary tale of what could happen to
    the United States is we are not careful.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • harleyman
    4.0 out of 5 stars Review
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Good review of British naval sea power both it's rise and fall. Easy to understand does not read like a textbook
    2 people found this helpful
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  • James Levy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb work by Kennedy
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2006
    Format: Paperback
    First, a couple of notes on earlier reviews. Kennedy wrote this book ten years before Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, not as a compilation afterwards. Second, he doesn't talk about the US Navy because it is not the subject of his book. He is not biased by writing a history of the Royal Navy and sticking to the Royal Navy--the reviewer who imagines the US Navy as so important as to need discussion in a book about the RN is. Third, US monitors were, compared to the broadside ironclads like HMS Warrior being built across the sea, a joke.

    The book's strength is in ascribing the interplay of finance, trade, and strategic necessity their rightful place at the center of both British history and the history of the Royal Navy. Britian had the best navy for much of the period 1588-1942 because it needed it, could afford it, and could lavish money on it because it didn't have to simultaneously maintain a large army. What killed the Royal Navy was not just industrial decline, but also the need to create a first-class air force because the navy could no longer defend the metropole on its own. By 1938, the RAF supplanted the RN as the biggest beneficiary of defense spending. That was the point of no return.
    33 people found this helpful
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  • The Scottish Cafe
    3.0 out of 5 stars MISLEADING, BIASED, YET INFORMATIVE.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The title of this book, in my opinion, is misleading. I was expecting Specifications of British Naval Vessels, Research & Development in Vessel Engineering, Naval Strategy, Naval Tactics, Seamen's skill sets & equipment vis-a-vis their main opponents during periods of peace & war etc during the rise & fall of British Naval Mastery. Instead this book was about British Geopolitics & Macro-economics & the British Navy's role within that framework. As interesting as this topic is, I was disappointed because I wanted to read a different book. However, this book does a decent job in addressing what this book is really about, albeit it being biased towards Britain being some kind of Holy Nation. The Author doesn't even mention once the term "Opium War(s)" or "Concentration Camps" which the British invented during the Boer War. The Author comes across as if Britain was doing the whole World some kind of favour by expanding & consolidating her interests. Very little was mentioned that Britain was emulating Portugal's & Holland's lead, they were the real pioneers of Colonialism & International Finance. Give me a break!

    I will now succinctly describe Britain's geopolitical strategy during their rise & zenith: Assuming Britain was one of the top three nations in Western Europe, if the number one nation was in conflict with the number two nation, Britain would support the number two nation. If the number two nation was in conflict with the number three nation, Britain would support the number three nation. If the number one nation was in conflict with the number three nation, Britain would support the number three nation. If two out of the top three nations formed an alliance & there was a conflict between them & some other nation(s), Britain would support the weaker nations. While this was going on or not, Britain would expand & consolidate her overseas Empire whilst always either developing the strongest Navy on the planet or maintaining the strongest Navy on the planet. Throw in some skewed diplomacy, an obsession with Naval Blockades & voila, you have an enormous Empire while the rest of Western Europe was too busy asleep at the wheel to realise what was going on, even though they themselves were losing colonies all around the World to Britain. If you are wondering, how did they afford all this, the answer is that they had a very small Army, constructing vessels was not as expensive as in modern times, they invented Central Banking in 1694, the public accepted fiat currency once it was introduced & no nation came even close to them in the magnitude of international trade once they got to the zenith. Pretty simple if you ask me & you probably do not need to read the book anymore.

    On the positive side, this book is well written, broken up in chapters that are logical i.e. the different periods during the rise, zenith & fall of the British Empire. Some interesting tables in regards to nation comparisons, vessels, macro-economic data etc during different periods. The improving & then decline in Britain's macro-economy is also well described, discussing inflation, national debt, trade deficits/surpluses & comparisons with other nations. For the Naval Strategists out there, the Author does sprinkle Mahan & Mackinder throughout this book, however I found it superficial & it left me wanting more. The Author also gets into the pivotal agreements over a short period of time which secured American hegemony, the passing of the baton, if you wish. Thank you Mr Kennedy for your contribution in this field, even though the title of your book was misleading & you are biased.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Quentin T McMahon
    1.0 out of 5 stars Great book, terrible book binding
    Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is not a review of the actually content, I think the material is superb and gives great incite into the change of perceived and real projection power of the Royal Navy and its influence on world events. This is a voicing of my frustration with the quality of the book binding. By the second day of reading this book it split in two, and by completion of reading it is in several sections. I have never had this happen with a new book and I am not sure if this is a systematic or isolated issue.
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  • Cliente Amazon
    3.0 out of 5 stars Meh!
    Reviewed in Spain on June 11, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Well researched but tedious to read.
    Report
  • Antonio Maiorca
    5.0 out of 5 stars British seamanship
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2013
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    A
    wonderful essay written as a novel lasting over four centuries. An English language very fine for a not British reader too. Very pleasant an teaching lecture: grateful to author , pubblisher, and Amazon.
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  • 佳少爺
    4.0 out of 5 stars 海洋覇権と大陸コミットメントの絡み合い
    Reviewed in Japan on February 19, 2005
    Verified Purchase
    　「大国の興亡」で名高いポール・ケネディ教授の手になる英国の海洋覇権史です。17世紀から冷戦期に至るまでの約５世紀間を対象として、英国による海洋覇権が貿易や帝国統治を如何なる形で支えていたかを論ずるものです。特筆すべき点は概ね以下のとおりでしょうか。
    (1)　特定の海域・航路における洋上優勢としての「Sea Power」とは別に、一国全体ベースでの世界的規模の戦略的海洋支配を表す「Maritime Mastery」なる概念を用い、従来の海軍論よりも広い視野から帝国と海洋との関わりを論じています。
    (2)　マハンを代表とする洋上権力万能論を排し、英国の覇権は海洋覇権と大陸へのコミットメントとのバランスの中で達成されたとの立場から、マハン的思考・マッキンダー的思考の対立や、英国政治における植民地派・大陸派の緊張関係をフォローすることにより、大英帝国興隆の秘密をダイナミックに説き明かしていきます。
    (3)　いかにも「大国の興亡」の著者らしく、海洋覇権と産業力との関係の論証に大きな重点が置かれています。
    　このほか特に興味を引いたのは、今からちょうど百年前に行われた英国海軍の「態勢見直し」に関する分析です。米国やドイツによる海軍力の大拡張が進む中、新たな戦略環境への適合という観点から海軍首脳部が断行した改革ですが、その背景や意義は、今日の米国世界覇権の方向性を考えていく上で重要な手がかりを提示しているように思えます。古い本ですが、新しい示唆に富んでいます。
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  • Michael Oulton
    5.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    excellent book
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  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    excellent historical investigaion
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