An authoritative account of the maritime history of the British Isles
over the last 1500 years. Ian Friel defines 'maritime history' broadly
to encompass naval developments, sea trade, exploration and
colonization, fishing, social history, the technology of shipbuilding
and a host of other themes related to the ways in which maritime
activity has affected the history of Britain. Conversely, he examines
the ways in which British seafaring enterprise has affected the world,
for good and ill. Beginning with the maritime world of late Roman
Britain, Ian Friel reviews seafaring in the Celtic world, Viking raids
and settlement, and the Norman invasion and conquest. The second chapter
studies England as part of the 'cross-Channel kingdom', the wars with
France 1204-1453 and the rise and fall of English naval forces. Chapter
three deals with the early British voyages of exploration, the Tudor and
Stuart navies, and the first permanent naval dockyards. Following on
comes the rise of empire and a growing public consciousness of the sea
in national affairs: the defeat of piracy, the establishment of English
colonies abroad and the growth of economic structures that supported
empire, such as the slave trade. Chapter five describes the Pax
Britannica, with England becoming the greatest naval and mercantile
power in the world, until she fell into war in 1914. This period saw the
development of the steamship and motor vessel and the establishment of
major commercial docks; also the growth of trade unionism,
class-consciousness and labor disputes in the maritime industries. The
final chapter describes the rapidly changing technology of naval warfare
in the two World Wars, and the decline of Britain as a naval power and
as a shipbuilding nation. Offshore oil and gas industries signaled major
changes in maritime trade and industry; traditional ports declined, and
the European Union had profound effects on British maritime industries.
