A survey of the activities of the British navy in the Caribbean from the
voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins
and Francis Drake through the great wars of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries against the Dutch, Spanish and French and Britain's
declining role thereafter.
This book charts the involvement of the British navy in the Caribbean
from the earliest times to the present. It recounts the voyages of
sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis
Drake and their attacks on Spanish territories, outlines the capture of
Jamaica during the time of Oliver Cromwell's rule and describes the
growth of the British slave trade. It goes on to discuss the late
seventeenth century and eighteenth century conflicts and wars with the
Dutch, Spanish and French and the War of American Independence, analyses
the effect of the abolition of the slave trade and explores the British
dominance which prevailed throughout much of the nineteenth century. The
book concludes by examining how in the twentieth century the British
navy withdrew almost entirely from the Caribbean, tacitly ceding control
to the United States. Throughout the book relates developments in the
Caribbean to developments in Britain and in the British navy more
widely. John D. Grainger is the author of numerous books for a variety
of publishers, including eight previously published books for Boydell
and Brewer, including The British Navy in the Baltic, Dictionary of
British Naval Battles and The First Pacific War: Britain and Russia,
1854-56.
