Product Description

The Seven Years' War was the world's first global conflict, spanning five continents and the critical sea lanes that connected them. This book is the fullest account ever written of the French navy's role in the hostilities. It is also the most complete survey of both phases of the war: the French and Indian War in North America (1754-60) and the Seven Years' War in Europe (1756-63), which are almost always treated independently. By considering both phases of the war from every angle, award-winning historian Jonathan R. Dull shows not only that the two conflicts are so interconnected that neither can be fully understood in isolation but also that traditional interpretations of the war are largely inaccurate. His work also reveals how the French navy, supposedly utterly crushed, could have figured so prominently in the War of American Independence only fifteen years later. A comprehensive work integrating diplomatic, naval, military, and political history, "The French Navy and the Seven Years' War" thoroughly explores the French perspective on the Seven Years' War. It also studies British diplomacy and war strategy, as well as the roles played by the American colonies, Spain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Portugal. As this history unfolds, it becomes clear that French policy was more consistent, logical, and successful than has previously been acknowledged, and that King Louis XV's conduct of the war profoundly affected the outcome of America's subsequent Revolutionary War. Jonathan R. Dull is a senior associate editor of "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin" series and author of the award-winning history "The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774-1787".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #559542 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 445 pages

Review
"There are a great many books for English-speaking readers concerning the British Royal Navy in the 18th century, but not many that provide solid, well-researched material concerning its greatest rival, the French Navy. Dull helps fill in that gap and provides some much-needed balance with this work. Overall, this is a much-needed study for any scholar interested in this time period or in western naval and maritime history." CHOICE "A magnificent book, another tour de force in combined diplomatic, political and naval history."--N. A. M. Rodger, author of The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain

Customer Reviews

Faultless horizons
Putting a firm "edge" to historical writing can be difficult. If your topic is the church-brasses of Hampshire what do you do, for example, about the Dorset brasses that were often imported? Jonathan Dull's topic is the French Navy and the Seven Years War but in order to place the activities of the Navy firmly in context he needs to discuss the run up to the French and Indian War, the financing of the Navy, the "Secret du Roi", the aims of France and Britain, and the aims of Prussia, Austria and Russia (engaging in a parallel war). The French Navy is so small compared to the British Royal Navy that it cannot possibly win, yet if it can keep France in the game in Canada, then the French Army may yet capture Hanover and knock out Britain. Wider still and wider do our two antagonists circle. The end result was that France salvaged sufficient of a naval base from this war (the fishing grounds) to allow it to defeat Britain in the American War. Even within a single set of wars the "edge" is hard to find. Perhaps if Pitt had prevailed and France had not assisted the American rebels there would still be Bourbons on the throne of France?

This is good strong academic history but it has a good story to tell and tells it well. I will be buying more of Dull's books.

The historical howdunit
I love mysteries, whodunits, and I was gripped by this book in the same way but by the "how" rather than the "who." How did the apparently doomed French Navy survive the Seven Years' War to be a force in the American Revolution, and how did the author combine the monumental mass of information into such a coherent and compelling book? It at first seems a bit intimidating and difficult, but I was swept along by the stunning scholarship and spellbinding story. It's economically written, with not a word wasted, but all even an untutored reader needs to know is there, helpful and fascinating tidbits tucked into parentheses just when you need them. You think the world is complicated now? It looks pretty simple compared with the middle of the 18th century, but maybe if this author were to apply his military/diplomatic/political historian's tools to produce a whydunit on today's maneuvers and intrigues we'd find it far more labyrinthine than it appears.