Imprint:
United Kingdom : Leo Cooper, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books, 2000
Notes:
Britain may indeed have `ruled the waves' for much of the last 400 years but this was not achieved effortlessly. by the end of the nineteenth century, the Royal Navy's supremacy was deemed, rightly as it transpired, to be seriously challenged principally by Germany and Russia. Furthermore, far-sighted sailors and politicians recognised the pressing need to embrace emerging technology in design, fuel and gunnery.
Among the radical thinkers was `Jacky' Fisher who represented the new breed of naval officer. Ranged against him and other modernisers were the `old school', the embodiment of which was the ultra-reactionary Lord Charles Beresford. The latter drew on and used ruthlessly the influence that his breeding, contacts and wealth gave him; Beresford sat as an MP at the same time as holding flag officer rank. Fisher, without such advantages, relied on his professionalism, intellect and tenacious enthusiasm. While it was inevitable that these two strong-willed figures would clash, the outcome was by no means a foregone conclusion. Their titanic struggles, conducted with a passionate intensity of patriotic fervour and at a highly personal level, make for fascinating reading.
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