REVIEWS nian through the eyes of you ng H enry Allen. We see such fa mous battles as T rafalgar and Copenhage n with Lo rd N elson through M aples's participation. And, finally, the two captains co me togeth er in a sea battl e off the coas t of England where Al len is in command of the US brig Argus and Maples commands the Royal Navy brig Pelican. Life in the navies ofboth co untries, real, unvarnished men, wo unds and disease, ship damage, and co ntemporary culture provide a superb backd ro p for the tale, and add immeasurably to its authenticity-making this a must-read fo r anyo ne even mildly interested in the Age of Sail , and a joy for afi cionados of th e period . WILLIAM H . WHITE Rumson, New Jersey
T h e Great Ad m irals: Command at Sea 1587-1945, edited by Jack Sweetman (Naval lnstim te Press, Ann apolis MD , 1997, 535 pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 0-8702 1229-x; $49.95hc) This book wo rks well at two levels, providing interesting reading about notewo rth y naval leaders, and provo king a desire to learn more about a subj ect closely linked to US global strength: command at sea. Individual essays about 19 successful admirals-with six interspersed surveys that pos ition the admirals in a naval-histo ry context-are the means to those ends. So me of the subj ects' names will have a fami liar ring for readers-Drake, Nelson, Farragut and H alsey. Others, like Tromp, Juel and Tegetthoff will be new fo r many. T he va riety of national iti es represented (nine) and span of history covered (five centu ries) bring an exceptionally wide variety of perspectives ro the subject of command leadership . T he individual contribu to rs add further to the breadth of perspecti ve; th eir backgrounds range from profess ional military to history teaching, representin g ten different nations. One of the important feamres of th e boo k is that it gets beyo nd anal yses of winning naval tactics. Each of the indi vidual essays also goes beyond ch ro nology and the recounting of events with attention to the personas of the admi rals. For example, it's poi nted out th at Drake was "endowed with a natural gifr . . . for the exploitati on of the spoken wo rd." Observa tio ns like that invoke mental pi cmres of 46
individuals in action, rather than frozen images of ships and battl es. T he collecti on also serves as a kind of literary laboratory in which the reader can discover enduring principles of exceptional co mmand leadershi p. For example, an obvious co mm on denominator among the admirals that emerges is the willingness to risk heavily in military conflict and organizational infighting. O ther common characteristics are less obvious, and are lefr fo r the reader to seek out. For example, how far did each admiral go in imprinting a combat doctrine on his subordinates? T he challenge fo r th e navalist who understands the crucial signifi can ce of the human element in the command equation is-notwithstanding the tremendous personality diffe rences invo lved-to find the essence of leadership among the book's 19 subjects. To aid in fu rther study on that question each m inibiography is fo llowed by a helpful "No te on Sources." Perhaps the bes t reason fo r reading The Great Admirals is as a powerful reminder of the crucial importance of leadership in battle. In an era of high-tech, networkcen tric warfa re, that commanding element of com bat isn 't getting the attention that it should. Admi ral Bull H alsey, quoted in the Halsey essay, nails it in fo u r words: "[C]ommand controls the war. " RADM JOSEPH F. CALLO, USNR (RET) Kansas C iry, Misso uri T h e Chatham Directory of Inshore Craft: Traditional Working Vessels of the British Isles, edited by Julian M annering (Chathan1 Publishing, London U K, 1997, 239pp, illus, index, ISB 1-86 176029-0; ÂŁ35 hc) T his comprehensive survey and cLscussion of the small craft that have clustered aro und England, Sco tl and, Wales and Ireland is wo rth the price of admission just for the wonderful photographs of vanished crafr and their surroundings in the old working ports of Britain-and indeed, the open beaches-from which many crafr operated . The accompanying discussion is lively, colorful and full ofobserva tions that get yo u into the wo rking lives of these craft and their peo ple, go ing beyond static observations of hull fo rms. An d it is good to read such notes as Robert Simper's observation that the Eastbourne spra t punt is fi n er-lined than co mpara bl e craft at Brighton and H as tings-because it oper-
ates under the sheltering arm of Beachy H ead. T h us speaks a m an who's been there! D avid M cG rego r fo r the Emsworth oys ter dredger and M ichael Stammers for the craft of N orthwest England are lumin aries who b ring valuable insights as well as fac ts to bear o n their subjects, and the who le p roceeds under the general co ns ultin g PS edi to rship of Basil G reenhill. USS C onstitution: Living the Legend (An chors Aweigh Productions, Bainbridge Island WA, 1997, VHS , 55m in; $ 19.95) T hi s video recounts the story of USS Constitution from her conceptio n i n the mind of designer Joshua Humph reys to her recent rebuilding and successful sailing in 1997. Joshua Humphreys' s design innovations are well explained and illustrated (n ot an easy task), and many of the successes of her caree r, enli ve ned with helpful a nimated battle sequences, are related back to his successfu l des ign. An interesting seq uence of photos leads us through her 19th-ce ntury career, the 1927 rebuild and rh e national cruise that fo llowed. In 1992 it was decided to acc urately resto re the vessel's original structure . Over th e decades fea tures "unnecessary" to an imm obile display ship had been eliminated and th e strength of Constitution's hull , so critical to her function as a warship, had been greatly reduced . Years of th orough research led to the reinstatement o f diagonal riders, through-bolted spirkerrin g and other structural members which m ad e her the "O ld Ironsides" of historic fa m e. T here is unfortunate un evenness in th e so und level and too many interview s with yo uthful Navy personnel who hav e difficul ty putting their thoughts into wo rds. On e or two good co mments wo uld have sufficed . H owever, the video has much ro offer and is an excellent way for students and adults unfamiliar with her story ro learn abo ut "An1 erica's ship. " NORMA STANFORD The Lighthouse Stevensons, by Bella Bathurst (H arper Collins, New York N Y, 1999 , 304pp , illus, biblio, ISBN 0-0601 9427-8; $24hc) In the twilight of the 18th cen tury the Sco ttish coas tline was notorious fo r shipwrecks. T he coastal population, far from
SEA HISTORY 90, AUTUMN 1999