To Rule the Waves

How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World

De: Arthur Herman

Narrado por: John Curless

To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy - of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world.

This P.S. edition features extra insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

©2004 Arthur Herman (P)2016 Recorded Books

Superb and easy to listen to.

Manages to bridge the gap between heavy intense history and a superb adventure story. One of the best general histories of the Royal Navy I have yet read. Much easier to listen to, and obviously less detailed than Massie's books but also far broader in scope.

Nice

Well done, but the Brits didn't take Baltimore. Oh say can you see by the dawns early light?

Good listen...very interesting and informative.

Did seem to in the later years become less informative and not as well written.

Best ever

Wonderful book. Entertaining and enlightening. Perhaps best history book I've ever encountered and I've read a lot of them

excellent history

only one gripe: The history flowed well except for a portion in the 1820s thru 1890s where all the technological changes were discussed. some of theseninvolved a lot of jumping backward or forwards in time.

Aside from that this was one of the most interesting books I've listened to.

Great history of the making of the British Navy !

I served in the Army , so I didn't know alot about Naval History . Loved documentaries/movies (historical) about ships and naval warfare . Maybe something to do with touring the Battle Ship Texas so much . ( The world's last WW1 Dreadnought) .
This book is very informative . It also explains how Britain became an Empire , because of that navy . A navy that started out as basically pirates for the state ! And just laden with dates and places . Some of the things people experienced on this early ships and trips . Especially to the tropics ! From Hawkins and Drake , Cook and Bligh , to Admiral Nelson . A personal background on the times and people , and battles . Excellent narration !

Surprisingly entertaining

These types of books can easily turn dry and a chore to finish but there is a healthy amount of narrative for each era. Turns on the history go by really quickly since it couldn’t add all the details for 400 years. It covered everything in a good balance between detail and moving the book along.

Better Than Expected. Don't Miss it!

What made the experience of listening to To Rule the Waves the most enjoyable?

Balanced, intelligent, honest;

What other book might you compare To Rule the Waves to and why?

There are a host of books on the Royal Navy, some that go into significantly more detail; but the author of this one selects just the right balance of detail to show how the institution developed and what it has done to help create some of the better features of the current global system.

Which scene was your favorite?

Nelson at Trafalga.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It gave me a more nuanced appreciation of the Royal Navy as an institution.

Any additional comments?

I would like to take the author to dinner.

An interesting slightly biased overview narrative

The narrative starts with the Elizabethan "navy" of pirates and continues until the Falkland Islands War. The information is generally correct although the author is unambiguously pro-British and pro-navy. This dictates a lot of the material covered with victories covered exhaustively and defeats skated past like the Battle of the Chesapeake.

Fabulous if you're a nautical junkie. A favorite!

What made the experience of listening to To Rule the Waves the most enjoyable?

The author's absolute familiarity with a huge subject yet never tedious in the details. Riveting, but again, mainly for sailing ship/war/history junkies. Will make you want to read more about Drake, Hawkes, Bing, Nelson.

What does John Curless bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It's like he wrote it, with an immense tapestry of interesting detail at his fingertips.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How Britannia Ruled the Waves. And why Western Civilization owes so much to the Royal Navy.

Any additional comments?

Do you have more by this author?