Empire of the North Atlantic : the Maritime Struggle for North America, Second Edition

This book is an exploration and interpretation of three centuries of European rivalry and expansion in and around the North Atlantic. Professor Graham tells the story from the first conquest of the ocean by the armed sailing ship at the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the wooden ship of the line in the nineteenth. Gradually, in competition with Spain and then with Holland and finally with France, England achieved command of the seas, until, by the time of the Napoleonic Wars, despite her relative weakness in manpower, she was able to extend her Empire from its centre in the North Atlantic to the distant reaches of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Preface 7 Contents 15 Maps 17 I. The Supremacy of Spain 19 II. Foundations of French Sea Power 39 III. The Rise of English Sea Power 59 IV. The War of the League of Augsburg 76 V. The War of the Spanish Succession 101 VI. Beginnings of the Duel for Empire 121 VII. The First Conquest of Louisbourg 134 VIII. Prelude to Conquest 1749-1757 161 IX. From Louisbourg to Quebec 187 X. The Break-Up of the First Atlantic Empire, 1775-1782 211 XI. The Outskirts of War, 1793-1812. 235 XII. The American Adventure of 1812 255 XIII. The Age of Iron and Steam 280 XIV. The End of Pax Britannica 307 Appendices 331 Index 345