News, Articles and Comment

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the 2025 edition of Osprey’s annual Warship publication, covering a diverse range of naval history topics.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a book exploring the relationship of geography to seapower through the lens of the Western exploration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, and their subsequent incorporation into the British Empire.

Ed. An important retrospective on the RN’s role in the Pacific, revealing patterns in the history of the last 150 years. Delivered originally as a Royal Navy Club speech onboard HMS Belfast, 6 June 2025. A 20 minute read.

Ed. The author, seeking explanatory narrative frameworks in the tradition of Hobsbawm’s ‘Short Twentieth Century’, applies the geopolitical lens of Halford Mackinder to draw parallels between the world at the turn of the 20^th century and our world today. Originally published in The Article. A 10 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a book exploring the British and American use of steam yachts in naval service, from the 1898 Spanish-American War through to the First World War.

Ed. The author provides a comparison of Mahanian and Jominian thought with respect to naval and military Lines of Communication (LOCs), and emphasises the institutional, strategic nature of Mahan’s approach contrasting Jomini’s focus on operational art. A 20 minute read.

Ed. Originally published in 1949-1950, this three-part series on Admiral Charles Napier and his controversial command in the Baltic in 1854 during the Crimean War is here compiled as a complete text. Reproduced from the NR’s archives [37/4, p. 381; 38/1, p. 65; 38/2, p. 125]. A 60 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the two-volume The Cambridge History of Strategy, which across both volumes, explores the history of strategic theory and practice from the dawn of recorded history to the present.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the latest edition of The Trafalgar Chronicle, exploring naval history in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.