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CDR Hendrix tells us of Roosevelt's use of th e naval services in support of the Panamanian independence movem ent of 1903 (thus facilitating his plans for the Panam a Canal), the Morocco-Perdicaris kidnapping incident of 1905, and in negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War (1905), as well as of the stunning diplomatic, technological and public relations achievement Theodore Roosevelt scored with the round-the-world voyage of the Great White Fleet of sixteen Atlantic Fleet Battleships in 1907-09 .
Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy: The US Navy and the Birth ofthe New American Century is thoroughly researched with new primary sources and is a co mpelling read, documenting how one m an almost single-handed molded the modern US Navy. No wonder, as C DR Hendrix indicates, we celebrate Navy Day on October 27, Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. PHILIP]. WEBSTER St. Michaels, Maryland
Sir Francis Drake: The Construction of a Hero by Bruce Wathen (D .S. Brewer, 2009, 200pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 9781-84384- 186-9; $95hc) This is anew look at a well-worn subject. However, it is not about the life of Drake but a careful review of the image of Drake as continually constructed and reconstructed by success ive generations of his countrymen ro reflect the needs and anxieties of each new era- often to justify the existing order. There is Drake rhe self-made man, explorer, slaver, circumnavigaror, pious churchgoer, hero of the Spanish Armada bat tles, supporter of the Crown, warrior founder of British sea power, leader of co mmercial enterprise, forefather of Nelso n and The Grand Flee t, political leader in the West Country and Parliamenr, and civic benefacto r who brought good wate r to Plymouth-all true to a greater or lesser degree, all seen through different lenses over rime. Drake folk tales, legends and quasilegends have been told and re-told over the years: Drake's Drum , his supernatural powers, the Game of Bowls before setting out to defeat the Armada, and Drake's Prayer, whi ch helped rally a beleag uered Britain in World War II . Then the re is Drake's spirit supporting English freedom, nationalism, SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010
Protestantism, heroic endeavor, colonialism as a liberating influ ence, perso nal character development, moral superiority, racial tol erance-and even tourism! Woven throu gh these attributes is Drake's transformation from sailor-warrior to secular saint. The methods of keeping the Drake story in the public eye are covered well, with written biographi es in the forefront, but including poetry, music, drama, pageants, movies, statuary, and paintings, with a few creations, such as Sir Henry Newbolt's poem "D rake's Drum," having particular power and longevity. Ihe author mines a remarkably wide range of sources and m entions the development of serious biographi cal studies over the past two ce nruries . Howeve r, he shows only a modest interest in the real Drake, makes little effort to separate high-quality writings from pot boilers and distortions, emphasizes chan ges rather than continuities in the perception of Drake, and fails to recognize the accomplishments of researchers who have progressively given us more realistic views of Drake and his times, such as the superb life-and-times biography by John Sugden, which is mentioned only in passing. While clearly not a Drake-basher, he seems to delight in the eccentri c views of such writers as H arry Kelsey, and his repeated simplistic use of the term "p irate" sugges ts a lack of subtlety in his understanding of the real politics of the late sixteenth century. Eventually Wathen, a strong relativist, concludes that "there is no 'authentic' Drake," a sentimenrwith which this nautical hisrorian begs ro differ, while he also states that Drake will not fade away but will be reshaped in the years ro com e, perhaps in terms of race and slavery srudies. Nevertheless, this is a good, albeit pricey, analysis for those willing ro read critically. EDWARD VON D ER PORTEN San Francisco, California
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GALVESTON'S THE ELISSA T1 IE T/\LL SJ llP OF TEXAS By Kurt D. Voss A new pictorial history tells the amazing sto1y of one ofAmericas finest maritime restorations.
Published by Arcadia Pub lishing and Galveston Historical Foundation $2 1.99. 128 pages, 200 photographs Autographed copies available at (409) 763-1877, or on line at:
www . tsm-elissa . o r g
The Age of the Ship of the Line: The British and French Navies, 1650-1815 by Jonathan R. Dull (Unive rsity of Nebraska Press, Lincoln , 2009 , 25 0pp, ISBN 978-0-8032-1930-4; $29.95 hc) The Age ofthe Ship ofthe Line is a scholarl y, but compressed survey of 165 years of European struggles for the balance of power around the world, largely through the use 53