CORBETT, Sir Julian Stafford.

The successors of Drake.

London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1900. 8vo (225 x 145 mm), pp. xiv, 464, 32, with 14 plates; originalblue cloth; a little worn, spine slightly faded. First edition. In The successors of Drake, Corbett began to diverge from accepted ‘blue water’ assumptions associated with Mahan concerning the exercise of naval power. It covers ‘the period 1596–1603, generally regarded as an anticlimax to the victory over the Armada. The victory had not led to the total destruction of Spanish naval power, or to a blockade of the Spanish ports aimed at cutting off the flow of bullion from America, as people like Drake, Hawkins, and Raleigh had recommended. The continuation of the war had seen the revival of the Spanish navy and, on the English part, the war had seemed to degenerate into mostly unsuccessful raids. For navalists both then and later, the blame for this development fell mainly on the queen’s over-cautious attitude and on her continental strategy, which wasted resources and diverted attention from the naval campaign. But for Corbett the matter was far from clear-cut. He pointed out, as later historians of the period would do, that Elizabethan England had still been a relatively poor and weak country, bearing no comparison with the mighty and wealthy Spanish Empire. It had probably been beyond her power and would have been too risky a policy on her part to aim at overthrowing Spain. He also pointed out that the queen had given her naval commanders many opportunities to carry out their plans. Most of these plans had failed, however, principally because the navy had not carried sufficient troops on board its ships to support its actions. Here was a lesson which Britain still had not learned. People forget that what Nelson started, Wellington ended. While talking much about sea power, they forget that its real effect is in determining the extent to which armies can be transported freely by sea’ (Gat, History of military thought p. 483).NMM V 326; Read 3212a.

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• Bestellnummer: T2410

• Antiquariat: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)