When you’re in the mood for definitive history, pick up N. A. M. Rodger’s The Command of the Ocean, subtitled “A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815.” Like most of the non-historian audience for this book, my entrypoint to the “wooden world” was Horatio Hornblower and, more recently, Jack Aubrey. (The Wooden World is the title of an earlier book by the same author.) I’ll admit that this one sat on the bedside table for almost two months, as I nibbled at it from time to time. Maybe it would be less daunting to alert the potential reader that over one-third of the 900 pages are devoted to bibliography, index, glossary, and appendices which would make useful historical additions on their own, from my quick scan. After the main reading, I didn’t delve into the historical asides or facts (chart of different ranks across different navies during the period, for instance). But the sheer authority conveyed by these appendages doesn’t drag down the actual history.
This tome is well written, not lost in academic dribble, and smartly organized into what the author calls “parallel streams” of administration, operations, social history, and ships. In the introduction, Rodger states his goal:
The purpose of this, the second of three volumes of a Naval History of Britain is to put naval affairs back into the history of Britain.
I’m already pre-disposed to think of the navy when thinking about British history from my historical fiction interests. Rodger supports these links going much deeper into the political and industrial fabric of the nation. The rise of the navy – with its tremendous logistical needs – prefigured the industrial revolution, and Rodger makes forceful arguments that (in some respects) arming the navy drove the centralization of markets, finance, and government. Without that impetus, British industrial might was no certainty. I’m certainly overstating the thesis, or at least putting it less elegantly. Yet it’s believable.
Telling from the social history chapters was the rise of class distinctions in the 18th century navy. More than other parts of English society, per Rodger, the navy was a meritocracy early on. However, as the 18th century wore on, and the navy became more successful (and therefore more fashionable), being a gentleman became more of prerequisite for becoming an officer. It never became a total glass ceiling, even by 1815, to which some of the success is still attributed.
I’m off to lighter fare again, but this is a reference worth reading.