Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind

Maritime Trilogy Series, Book 1

De: Peter Padfield

Narrado por: James Cameron Stewart

In the great wars of modern history, maritime powers have always prevailed over land-based empires, whether Habsburg, Napoleonic, Nazi, or Soviet.

In contrast to the rigid hierarchies and centralization of land-based empires, those nations attaining mastery at sea have been distinguished by liberty, flexibility, and enterprise. The 17th-century Dutch were the first to achieve naval and trading dominance and, exploring the effects on daily life, industry, art and thought, finance and power politics, Peter Padfield reveals the Dutch in their golden age as the heralds of modern Western society.

The British took over the Dutch system of naval, trading, and world supremacy in the 18th century and were, in their turn, displaced by the United States in the 20th. This book carries the story from the defeat of the Armada in 1588 to the American Revolutionary War and Rodney's victory.

Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind charts the growth of linked strengths - sea-fighting, trading, financial, and constitutional - that made empires so formidable and reveals how supremacy at sea freed thought and society itself.

©1999 Peter Padfield (P)2021 Tantor

Superb naval history!

A superb history of the great naval campaigns of the Age of Sail, coupled with an engrossing discussion of Western development & the associated personalities, theories & technologies

Two books in one.

One book is a reasonably well done description of important naval engagements involving the Dutch and English in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The second shorter book describes changes in politics and culture in the Netherlands and England during this period. In a few places, the author tries to tie these two books together. He claims naval supremacy leads to freedom, riches and democracy. But he never really proves that and it is hard to see why we need to understand the details of the naval battles he describes to be convinced of his point. This book does work well though as a series of short stories and vignettes. It also works well as a sugar-coated pill. For some readers, the battles will be the sugar coating and the social and political material will be the necessary medicine.