Tempest

The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions

By: James Davey

Narrated by: Philip Battley

A major new history of the Royal Navy during the tumultuous age of revolution

The French Revolutionary Wars catapulted Britain into a conflict against a new enemy: Republican France. Britain relied on the Royal Navy to protect its shores and empire, but as radical ideas about rights and liberty spread across the globe, it could not prevent the spirit of revolution from reaching its ships.

In this insightful history, James Davey tells the story of Britain's Royal Navy across the turbulent 1790s. As resistance and rebellion swept through the fleets, the navy itself became a political battleground. This was a conflict fought for principles as well as power. Sailors organized riots, strikes, petitions, and mutinies to achieve their goals. These shocking events dominated public discussion, prompting cynical—and sometimes brutal—responses from the government.

Tempest uncovers the voices of ordinary sailors to shed new light on Britain's war with France, as the age of revolution played out at every level of society.

©2023 James Davey (P)2023 Tantor

The Royal Navy Without Excitement or Personality

I've read probably 30 books on the Royal Navy in the age of sail and this is easily the dullest. it is actually a story of the politics of the sailors in the Royal Navy from 1792 to 1801 and one of the things that jumps out is it really doesn't have enough documents to support the full book in any detail.This should have been an article.

Beyond that, when the documents do exist the author focuses on postulating about potential political movements instead of telling a good story. There are lots of interesting personalities that pop up, but you wouldn't know it from reading this.

From a strictly academic point the book's okay. it did add a bit to my knowledge of the royal Navy social structure, but beyond that God it was dull. but there was just enough to it that I actually plowed through the entire book. So, if you already know a ton about the Royal Navy and have read everything else there is enough here to justify reading this but beyond that it's just not worth the trouble.