Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/October 2014/Book reviews


 * By Nick-D

Britain Against Napoleon is an innovative history of how the British government sustained its military over the course of almost 20 years of fighting during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Its author, Roger Knight, is a naval historian who has previously written an excellent biography of Horatio Nelson.

Knight's focus is how the British state managed the extremely difficult task of funding its war effort, and ensuring that the military was effectively led. While most histories of the wars focus on the heroics of Nelson and Wellington, this book covers the little-known work of administrators and institutions back in England who made their victories possible. Knight covers these topics through detailed thematic chapters which cover subjects such as "Whitehall at war", "Transporting the Army by Sea" and "Blockade, Taxes and the City of London". I have to confess that my interest varied from chapter to chapter, and I imagine that other readers' will as well: I really enjoyed the chapters on communications, intelligence and how England responded to the invasion threat, but found the detailed coverage of the Royal Navy's administration to be heavy going and somewhat over-detailed (conversely, the coverage of the British economy and government finances felt under-done). However, each chapter is a highly valuable summary of its topic, and provides an excellent source of references for Wikipedia articles.

The great strength of the book is that Knight clearly explains just how difficult the task the British Government faced was, and the skillful way in which the capabilities of the state were built up over time. As well as providing good explanations of the evolution of British institutions, he makes his case through well chosen comparisons between how the British Government solved the problems it faced with the approaches used by France. To my eyes, the main difference is that Britain evolved into something resembling a modern state during the wars, while French institutions changed little and were considerably less efficient than their British equivalents by the end of the wars.

Overall, this is a very interesting book and I hope that it inspires similar works on other wars and nations.

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