News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Sixteen years ago, in response to a History Today article for the 66^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Rules of the Game author Andrew Gordon examined the question of the strategic significance of the air battle (in which FAA pilots took part), and emphasized the RN’s role in stopping the German invasion before it could begin. Republished here from NR 95/1 for the 83^rd anniversary of the Battle. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author argues that the ‘art of Admiralty’ represents more than simply a debate over force structure or naval tactics, but instead embodies the cultural ethos of an island seapower state, and – crucially – the vehicle by which maritime thinking is cultivated and disseminated in government and to the broader population as a whole. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The first of a two-part series, as a diversity and inclusion resource for Black History Month, the author examines the role of black labour in the Atlantic maritime system, from which the Royal Navy’s black sailors were drawn during the 18th century. This instalment focuses on the tragedy of black slavery as a component of the Atlantic system, and the remarkable achievements of those slaves who nevertheless became Royal Navy sailors. A 30 minute read.

Ed. Not too unlike the Hellenstic inventor Archimedes and his patron Hiero II of Syracuse, or 20th century technologists such as Bob Noyce and William Shockley, brothers Samuel and Jeremy Bentham were a pair of functionalist Georgian characters. While Jeremy is well known for his contributions to the Reform Movement and utilitarian philosophy, the younger brother Samuel, a prototypical early steam-era inventor and Royal Navy engineer, in the mold of predecessors such as Thomas Slade and Charles Middleton, or successors like Sir Robert Seppings and Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, is less well known. The authors herein examine Samuel Bentham’s life and work. A 30 minute read.

The latest book reviews have been published, covering a history of those ships named HMS London, a two-volume look at the […]

Ed. The author surveys the naval career of John Perkins, a black Jamaican and contemporary of Nelson, whose buccaneering career in the Caribbean met with considerable success and embodied the Royal Navy’s trade interdiction mission in those waters. A 15 minute read.