Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail : The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815

by Brian Tunstall

This title traces the evolution of fleet tactics from the Dutch wars of the 17th century to the defeat of the French Empire. It emphasizes the importance of signals and fighting instructions as a key to the way the fleets were actually employed and provides insights into well-known battles.

Genres: History, Military History, Research, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

The son-in-law of Sir Julian Corbett, Brian Tunstall taught at the Royal Naval College at Greenwich and at the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[Nick Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life work of father and son - and it shows. Superbly in-depth, with beautiful colour plates and clear diagrams that helped explain tactics and how they evolved from the Anglo-Dutch wars to the Napoleonic Era.

Relatively easy to read with many documents to back the authors up. This is a very informative piece, and to someone writing nautical novels like me, it is essential!

[Rick Brindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I got a bit bogged down with this, lots of numbers, 80's, 74's, first rate, third rate. Excellent pictures, but sometimes the author's opinions of the naval characters of the time got a bit ahead of me actually reading about them. Good summaries of the actual events, but my nautical noviceness made it a bit difficult for me to keep up at times.