Joseph F. Callo in Sea History 96, Spring 2001
Peter Padfield's Maritime Supremacy is an eye- and mind-opener. In the first sentence of his Introduction Mr Padfield establishes just how expansive the parameters of his exposition are going to be: 'Maritime supremacy is the key which unlocks most, if not all, large questions of modern history... how and why we - the Western democracies - are as we are.' Then in 14 chapters that begin in the 15th century and end with the founding of the Uniteed States... he pays off what at first seems to be the book's extravagant promise. And he does so with an engaging style.
... as he progresses through his work, he skilfully illuminates how trade, finance, geography, political freedom, a merchant class and even cultural tone must be interwoven to reach an adequate understanding of maritme power ... what emerges is a fascinating analysis of how the most fundamental elements of maritime strength, 'liberty, tolerance and wealth', in timely combination,'unlocked natural genius.'...
Reading Maritime Supremacy will be an enjoyable and mentally stimulating experience for anyone interested in the pervasive infulence of the sea on our lives and fortunes. And even those who are merely fascinated by the sea will find that this illuminating work establishes a rich intellectual context for the stories of writers like C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian.
David Saul in The Sunday Times 9.5.1999
'Maritime supremacy' declares Peter Padfield in the opening sentence...'is the key which unlocks most, if not all, large questions of modern history, certainly the puzzle of how and why we - the western democracies - are as we are.' This, he goes on to explain, is because in modern times maritime powers have always prevailed over their land-based foes, causing their 'system of beliefs and of government' to prevail.
...If the author had confined his study to the 'ships, weapons, tactics and strategies with which the maritime powers overcame their territorial opponents', the result would have been impressive (the battle scenes alone are worth the book's cover price). But by also analysing the effect that trade and naval supremacy had on government and society, he has produced a work of stunning originality. Cogently argued and superbly written, this book confirms Padfield as a historian of the highest order.
Stephen Howarth in United States Proceedings, October 2000
Coming from one of Britain's leading naval historians, Maritime Supremacy presents a mighty thesis: that all civil liberties essentially derive from sea power...
... his introduction - a beautiful, elegant, focused piece of writing ... by itself is almost worth the price of the book ...
... even a soldier-dictator would have found much to ponder fearfully in Padfield's chapter on 'The Dutch Golden Age' and much to admire in the thrilling and compulsive 'Quiberon Bay'. Together, those chapters demonstrate powerfully the theory and practice of a sea power which, simultaneously growing from and creating a desire for commercial, political and religious freedom, led in 1787 to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
N.A.M.Rodger in The Times Literary Supplement, 21.5.1999
...General readers will certainly find this a stimulating introduction to the importance of seapower in history - well written, handsomely produced and illustrated, with admirable maps - but there is some risk that the professionals will pass it by.
This would be a mistake, for Peter Padfield's subject and claims deserve to be taken seriously, and taken further. His thesis could and should be more closely and deeply argued; it should be pondered even by those who will not agree with it; it ought to arouse attack and defence. Naval campaigns really did shape the modern world in many ways, and this stimulating book should be only the first of many to explore how and why seapower influenced political history; how it favoured and was favoured by open societies, but ruined the autocracies whether they embraced it or opposed it.
Nigel Jones in BBC HISTORY Magazine, August 2000
Padfield's thesis is revolutionary. Land-based empires are dinosaurs: rigid, over-centralised, slow-moving and doomed. Maritime powers are as fast-moving as ships before the wind: flexible, innovative, energetic and liberty-loving... The main focus of his attention concentrates on the astonishing story of Dutch sea power - how this humble collection of polders, themselves snatched from the sea, rose to world power based on their maritime acumen; and how this in turn spawned a society centuries ahead of its time...One of the main strengths of this magnificent book is the ease with which Padfield swims from politics to economics, culture and gung-ho accounts of sea battles.
Ludovic Kennedy in The Daily Telegraph, 1.5 1999
...this original and illuminating book...
Peter Padfield's virtues as a naval historian are in giving us the rounded picture, both large and small. He is as good on strategy and tactics as on the technicalities of signalling and gunnery. He is as much a master of sailing ship language as an observer of the crews that manned them...
John Lehman in The Wall Street Journal, 14.3.2000
'In the unrelenting struggle of peoples, writes Peter Padfield...'those ascendant at sea have, at least in the modern era, proved consistently successful against those with a territorial power base.' Mr Padfield's outstanding book is an attempt to document that thesis and to show how maritime power has affected not only geo-politics but also governing principles. Along the way, he offers up naval campaigns and sea battles as vivid as any you will find in Patrick O'Brien.
Paperback reviews in The Sunday Times, 30.7.2000
This stimulating history is worth reading alone for the exhilerating set piece descriptions of key naval battles over the ages, as nations battled for maritime supremacy to conduct trade. But beyond this is Padfield's well-argued thesis that maritime power has a beneficial effect on the societies that wielded it...A fascinating answer to anyone who ever wondered how a small island such as Britain could end up ruling the waves.