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(More customer reviews)Roy Adkins has previously published a history of Trafalgar, the most famous sea battle in history. Now, with his wife Lesley, he has written "The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo". The subtitle pretty well sums up the book's scope: the Royal Navy's war against Napoleon from 1798 to 1812 (plus the War of 1812), a history of the blockade against France as well as great fleet battles and spectacular single ship actions. The narative is vividly illuminated throughout with generous excerpts from first hand accounts, making for absorbing reading. Colorful characters such as Thomas Lord Cochrane and Sir Sidney Smith, as well as many lesser known officers, abound. At times the coverage is not wholly even; the conquest of Mauritius is passed over in only two short sentences, but the disastrous expeditions to the River Plate and Walcheren are given their sorry due. If I were to offer a criticism it would be that the Adkinses could have started their history a little earlier (1793) to cover the whole of the naval war against France, including the beginnings of the continental blockade and such great sea battles as the Glorious First of June and Cape St. Vincent. Even though the book cannot lay claim to giving a history of the entire naval war against France, it nonetheless should find a welcome home on the bookshelves of almost anyone interested in the subject.
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