England as a Maritime Power

Sir Julian Corbett was the seminal thinker on British strategy. His great asset was the historical rigour he brought to his subject and his ability to draw out the larger patterns and ideas that informed the past. Corbett's work provides the first reliable overview of the development and application of strategy. The works that make up this set occupy a significant place in the evolution of his distinctive approach to his subject. Drake and the Tudor Navy and Successors of Drake are among the first truly modern naval histories, shifting the focus away from chronicles of smoked -filled battles full of heroics, to the interplay of national strategy, policy and operations. England in the Mediterranean stresses how a relatively small naval presence had exerted an influence far greater than mere numbers or battles would suggest. It establishes the key theme of Corbett's later thinking - the wider diplomatic importance of naval activity and the relative unimportance of fleet battle. The volumes contain an extensive introduction by leading scholar Professor Andrew Lambert.