Whether in peaceful trade or warlike attack, the sea unites more than it divides. Even if it were possible to treat England, or the British Isles, as a single, homogenous, united nation, it would still be impossible to write its… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
Naval dominance of European waters was the largest, longest, most complex and expensive project ever undertaken by the British state and society. — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
Medieval England was a great military power with a sophisticated machinery of government, but her naval administration, at best improvised and for long periods missing altogether, pointed to a grave weakness: the lack of any reliable means of putting a force of warships at the disposal of the crown. Only Richard I and Henry V of all the kings of… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share
It is well known that we fight in God's cause... but unless God helps us by a miracle the English, who have faster and handier ships than ours, and many more long-range guns, and who know their advantage just as well as we do, will never close with us at all, but stand aloof and knock us to pieces with… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share
Whether in peaceful trade or warlike attack, the sea unites more than it divides. Even if it were possible to treat England, or the… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
The common sense of the word (navy) as we use it today refers to a permanent fighting service made up of ships designed for war, manned by professionals and supported by an adminsistrative and technical infrastructure. A navy in this sense is only one possible method of making war at sea, and by some way the most difficult and the… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share
It is not surprising that only one medieval state, Venice, long possessed anything clearly identifiavble as a navy in this sense. We shall see… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
In every age states of varying size and constitution and at every level of development have found naval warfare to be one of their… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
The impossibility of keeping Englishmen sober ashore was a constant source of complaint, It was the great weakness of 16th century English infantrymen, whose… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
'A Naval History of Britain' which begins in the 7th century has to explain what it means by Britain. My meaning is simply the… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
The arrival of the Barbary pirates radically changed English attitudes. Instead of patriotic pirates plundering foreign cargoes and bringing them homes to enrich their… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
Its subject is the slow and erratic process by which the peoples of the British Isles learnt - and then for long periods forgot… — Nicholas Rodger Copy Share Image
