Synopses & Reviews
Winston Churchill had a longer and closer relationship with the Royal Navy than any British statesman in modern times, but his record as a naval strategist and custodian of the nation's sea power has been mired in controversy since the ill-fated Dardanelles campaign in 1915. Today, Churchill is regarded by many as an inept strategist who interfered in naval operations and often overrode his professional advisers - with inevitably disastrous results.
Churchill and Seapower is the first major study of Winston Churchill's record as a naval strategist and his impact as the most prominent guardian of Britain's sea power in the modern era. Based on extensive archival research, the book debunks many popular and well-entrenched myths surrounding controversial episodes in both World Wars, including the Dardanelles disaster, the Norwegian Campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the devastating loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse in 1941. It shows that many common criticisms of Churchill have been exaggerated, but also that some of his mistakes have been largely overlooked - such as his willingness to prolong the Battle of the Atlantic in order to concentrate resources on the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany.
The book also examines Churchill's evolution as a maritime strategist over the course of his career, and documents his critical part in managing Britain's naval decline during the first half of the twentieth century. Churchill's genuine affection for the Royal Navy has often distracted attention from the fact that his views on sea power were pragmatic and unsentimental. For, as Christopher M. Bell shows, in a period dominated by declining resources, global threats, and rapid technological change, it was increasingly air rather than sea power that Churchill looked to as the foundation of Britain's security.
Review
"Bell combines archival and published material to make a convincing case for Churchill's reputation as a naval strategist...the author shows Churchill's approach to naval power to be unsentimental and pragmatic in his views on sea power...But Churchill also met the navy's most important needs and protected its long-term interests as well as possible in the context of changing strategic requirements, concludes Bell in this illuminating study." -Publishers Weekly
"Even Churchill's greatest critics will have to make some revisions of their opinions after reading this important book." -Eric Grove, author of The Royal Navy Since 1815
Review
"Bell's important study leaves the reader with a sense not just of Churchill's prowess as a naval strategist but of his wisdom as a grand strategist. In taking the long view of Churchill's career, Bell puts Churchill's views on sea power, whether operational or strategic, into a larger context. In the many positions he held, Churchill evaluated what the nation needed for its national security in a world of rapid geopolitical and technological changes, and he accepted that those needs went far beyond sea power." --Journal of British Studies
About the Author
Christopher M. Bell is Associate Professor of History at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the author of
The Royal Navy, Seapower and Strategy between the Wars and co-editor of
Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Sea Power in the Age of Churchill
1. Apprenticeship: 1901-1914
2. Learning Curve: The First World War
3. Adjusting to the Post-war World, 1919-24
4. The Treasury Years: The Ten Year rule, the Japanese 'Bogey', and the 'Yankee Menace'
5. Disarmament, Rearmament, and the Path to War: The 1930s
6. First Lord of the Admiralty, 1939-1940: The Phoney War and the Norwegian Campaign
7. The War against Germany and Italy, 1940-1941
8. Courting Disaster: The Deterrence of Japan and the Dispatch of Force Z
9. The Battle of the Atlantic, the Imports Crisis, and the Closing of the 'Air Gap'
10. The Defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan
Epilogue: The Verdict of History
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index