Maritime Dominion

MARITIME DOMINION
AND THE
TRIUMPH OF THE
FREE WORLD:
Naval Campaigns
that Shaped the Modern World
1852-2001

REVIEWS

Saul David in The Sunday Times, 25.1.2009
Maritime Dominion is the final volume of Peter Padfield's ambitious, hugely enjoyable naval trilogy, more than ten years in the making. The first book described the Dutch republic's rise to financial and maritime trading supremacy in the 17th century, and its eclipse by Britain in the 18th. The second charted the final, epic rounds of the contest between Britain and France, and Britain's emergence in the 19th century as the supreme trading, financial and industrial world power. This instalment brings the story up to date, with America picking up from Britain 'the baton of maritime and world supremacy, while Germany and Russia replaced France as expressions of territorial power and extreme martial values'.
    All three books are underpinned by the same compelling central thesis: that naval dominance is the key determinant for great power status...Padfield is forced to admit that Japan, one of the three great seafaring powers of the 20th century, does not fit this pattern, in the sense that its warrior ethos was never softened by liberal merchant values; and in ending his narrative in 2001, he strays into the dangerous waters of recent politics where a historian is in danger of losing his perspective and objectivity.
    All of which is a shame because, for the two previous voulumes and much of this one, Padfield is a persuasive and beguiling guide through 400 years of maritime history. This book opens in 1852 with Britain the world's pre-eminent industrial and trading nation, the ruler of the waves and standing alone as the only superpower, a position analogous to America today...
    Padfield is at his best when recounting momentous battles at sea...He is less sure-footed on recent political events, particularly Britain's post-1945 decline and the decision to join the EEC in 1973. 'This was the great betrayal', he writes with more than a hint of Europhobia. 'It was not the rush to join - Heath's motives were idealistic - it was the deliberate deception played on the British people...' And, in the light of recent events, Padfield is no longer certain that the triumph of the maritime powers has been a good thing, observing, 'Now that their economic system has brought the world to the edge of the abyss, some humility is due.'
    This uncharacteristically weak conclusion should not detract too much from the overall magnificence of Padfield's trilogy. Notwithstanding the flaws of its final volume, this lucid, passionately argued and beautifully written history ranks among the finest of recent times.

Ashley Jackson in BBC History Magazine, February 2009
All-in history, like all-in wrestling, is fascinating to behold, but can get a bit messy. Padfield's latest work, which completes his trilogy on the role of naval power in shaping the modern world, reaches heights of brilliance, combining thrilling narrative with razor-sharp insights into underlying historical trends. But it struggles for consistency and sometimes gets diverted, passages of detail or rumination appearing cut adrift from the book's central themes. But this is insufficient to dent its allure.
    Chapters range from dramatic descriptions of sea battles to elegant summaries of trends in geopolitics and the societal determinants of national fortunes. Maritime Dominion is an exhilerating fusion, classic naval history colliding with the grand sweep of Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, underpinned by the 'gentlemany capitalism' thesis of Peter Cain and Tony Hopkins.
    Padfield's overarching theme is that freedom of expression and individual enterprise, flowing from merchant and maritime imperatives, have distinguished powers dominant at sea; and, since supreme maritime nations have prevailed over their territorial rivals in the great wars of the modern era, it is they who have most decisively shaped the world...
    This is a fascinating study with a strong central thesis but a delivery that slews from side to side, a series of essays brilliantly written though not always brilliantly connected. Padfield's conclusions are strident and pessimistic, as he surveys the nature of the world order inherited by the Americans, casts doubt on the renovation of Japanese society since the end of the war, and laments Britain's surrender of historic freedoms as it deepens its commitment to the European Union. This is a big ideas book, and though the big ideas are sometimes sotto voce as case studies take over, it is still a joy to read.

Good Book Guide, March 2009
...the final part in Padfield's excellent trilogy of naval campaigns that shaped the modern world...