REVIEWS BILL CORKHILL OVER 4,000 NAUTICAL BOOKS Send Wants List • No Catalog 21 Country Club Rd. Groton CT 06340 Tel : (203) 445-0883
Classic Knotwork Traditional knotwork, fenders , mats & other salty sai lor stuff. For illus. catalog send SASE to THE KNOTTED LINE 9908168th Ave., NE Redmond WA 98052-3122 Tel: 206-885-2457
TANGO Around Tlze Horn The World War II Voyage of America's Last Large Sailing Ship Chronicled · by men who sailed her.
TANGO
AROUND THE HORN
by
Larry Barber 255 pages 35 original photographs
rh~
WruJC' Wai IC
V0!.~79e
of ArnettCO -~ LOS~ Large So1lll'IO Ship
\ '
\
.
\\
'
$13.95 To order:
1-800-858-9055 ISBN: 1-880827-01-8 Published by
Oregon Maritime Center & Museum 113 SW Front Ave. • Portland OR 97204
STEAM ENGINE KITS Made
in
U.S.A.
DR. W. M. P. DUNNE
PM #1 1" Bore 1 1/2" Stroke 6 1/2" Diameter Flywheel Aluminum $62.00 U.S. Bronze $88 .50 U.S. (Sh ipping continental U.S. included) For Full Line Catalog Send $2.00 to :
Department 80 411 O Niles Hill Road Wellsville, NY 14895
PM RESEARCH
46
tions is concise and correct, later confli cts have some minor problems. For example: The Island of Hispan iol a was part French (St. Domingue) and part Spanish (Santo Domingo) during the Quasi-war with France , a nd thu s Constitution 's cutting out of the privateer Sandwich from Porta Plata, a Spanish harbor, caused considerable diplomatic problems between the US and Spa in . How Navies Fight presents well-balanced accounts , analyses and conclusions for the Mexican War, the Civi l War, and the Spanish-American War. Writing w ith confidence, the author moves into the far more complex multinational aspects of World War I. The only caveat here is that he fail s to cred it Wil son 's 1916 battleship-building program, which not only underwrote the United States 's growing role as a lead ing international sea power, but a lso establi shed a position of diplom atic strength at the postwar Washington Armaments Conferences in the earl y 1920s. Uhlig, who ma intains a live ly pace throughout hi s text, rams hi s throttles to the firewall with hi s 183-page section on World War II. It is a superb effort and reflects the know ledge ga ined from the author's own service at sea, combined with the ro le of seagoing observer he enjoyed during hi s years at Annapoli s. The closing sections on Korea, Vietnam , the Levantine War, the Falklands War, and the Persian Gulf conflict are equall y conv incing. A fina l chapter, " How Navies Fight, and Why," offers a construct that so many authors of simil ar books fail to provide. Given the analyses and conclusion s in the preced ing pages, thi s section shapes the entire 215 -year mosaic into a clear and conv incing picture. This volume should become a standard reference work for all types of nava l hi storians.
(716) 593-3169
Long Island University Southampton , New York The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History, 1870-1982, by John Wells (Royal Naval Museum , Portsmouth UK , 1994, 306pp, illus, notes, biblio, index; $40hb) This carefull y researched book presents in live ly fashion, often in the words of the ship 's people themselves, the ways of life and work in what was , in the pa lm y days of Queen Victori a, the world 's most powerful navy and potent
peacekeeping force . It tracks changing conditions afloat and ashore through decades of unparalle led social reform and technological upheaval and the strains of the two world wars of thi s century , whose outcome depended on the Roya l Navy 's successfu l battle to secure the North Atlantic lifeline. I t ends appropriately with the experience of the Falklands War of 1982, in which thi s venerable institution showed that despite Britain 's eclipse as a major world power, her men cou ld still drive Her Majesty's Ships with skill and spirit, though failing some tests of the new techno logy. The a uthor does full justice to the condition s of someti mes unnecessary hardship and maltreatment of the sailor, but he does not fa ll into the too-common trap of thinking of the British sa ilor as victi m. Victim , Jack Tar most certainl y was not, as hi s robust spirit, fierce independence of outlook and commitment to ship and shipmates testify in thi s book, in which Captain We ll s conveys the spirit as well as the material conditions of the floatin g world that is one of HM ships of war. PS A tellinf!. citation ji-om this book is off ered on page 33 of this Sea History. The Spanish Treasure Fleets, by Timothy R. W a lton (Pineapple Press, Inc. , PO Drawer 16008, South s id e Station , Sarasota FL 34239, 1994, 256pp, photos, maps, appen , glossary, notes, index; $24.95) Walton is a CIA analyst, a US avy veteran , and a hi storian with a PhD. He does an admirable job of painting, with a broad brush, the hi story of the flow of gold and silver from the New World to Spain. The analysis is parti cularly good on the economics of the production and transport of precious metal s and the economic re perc uss ions on Spain and Europe, colonial policy , naval technology and strategy, and international re lations and riva lries. The book is divided into six chapte rs: Conquest, 1492- 1544; Consolidation , 1545 - 1579; Ascendancy, 1580- 1620; Decli ne, 162 1-1715; Recovery, l 716- 1790; and Red iscovery , 1791present. As a summary of the subject, this book may be adeq uate, but 1 cannot recommend it for the serious scholar. Two exampl es of serious lacunae illustrate 1the point. On pages 4-5 in discussing g;a lleys the author fai ls to cite John Guilrmartin 's (1980) excellent stud y, and SEA HISTORY 71 , AUTUMN 1994