Struggle for Sea Power

A Naval History of the American Revolution

By: Sam Willis

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

The American Revolution was a naval war of immense scope and variety, including no less than 22 navies fighting on five oceans - to say nothing of rivers and lakes. In no other war were so many large-scale fleet battles fought, one of which was the most strategically significant naval battle in all of British, French, and American history. Simultaneous naval campaigns were fought in the English Channel, in the North and Mid-Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, off South Africa, in the Indian Ocean, in the Caribbean, in the Pacific, in the North Sea and, of course, off the Eastern Seaboard of America. Not until the Second World War would any nation actively fight in so many different theaters.

In The Struggle for Sea Power, Sam Willis traces every key military event in the path to American independence from a naval perspective, and he brings this important viewpoint to bear on economic, political, and social developments that were fundamental to the success of the Revolution. In doing so, Willis offers valuable new insights to American, British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Russian history. The result is a far more profound understanding of the influence of sea power upon history, of the American path to independence, and of the rise and fall of the British Empire.

©2016 Sam Willis. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A great listen.

One of the best naval warfare stories of all time. The epilogue is a great look at what followed at the conclusion of the war.

A great book on a little known subject

This book is well worth reading if one is interested in naval history, especially that of the American Revolution.

An Important but misunderstood topic,

Book is very good on the political, diplomatic and strategic importance of sea power from the American point of view. Not so good on technical and tactical detail. There is a lot of both technical and tactical information regarding naval weaponry and their application as well as tactics in the age of sail, so its hard to understand how badly he get tactics and weaponry wrong. On the other hand he quotes from primary sources when discussing the political, diplomatic and strategic ball of wax which are all so intertwined, that it is impossible to separate out with a lot of fresh information.

Definitely not taught in BigFedGov schools

A fascinating read the beginnings of our Navy how the American revolution, fought on many fronts in multiple parts of the world.

Seapower redefined

I learned much especially since the author presented a global perspective of the war. I was amazed to learn of the foreign powers involved around the world.

Intricate and Intriguing

Loved this book. The focus on the small details that effected the big picture was not too dry. Having never read much about this period of naval history, I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I listened to the book twice and enjoyed it more the second time.

Our contemporary Samuel Eliot Morison

As an avid reader of naval history, I found this book to be superb. I look forward to reading anything this author writes in the future.

Fascinating perspective

This is a far-reaching discussion of the uses, and the limitations, of sea (used to include oceans, bays, harbors, rivers and lakes) power during the American Revolution. Willis describes not only the movements of the fleets and the battles between them, but also the strategies of politicians, admirals and generals based on the use, or lack of availability, of their own ships and the threats or absence of the enemies’ ships. He also explains the strategic choices that nations had to make in deploying their fleets and the tradeoffs such choices entailed.

Willis further describes the logistical challenges of creating, outfitting and crewing ships and then of keeping the ships and their crews in fighting condition.

Most impressively, he explains how the use or misuse of sea power affected the plans and operations of the armies on the ground.

Willis has employed a fascinatingly grand perspective on the global developments that helped lead to the success of the Revolution. In retrospect, it seems like an obvious perspective, but I am unaware that such a global, strategic perspective has been used before. It is a refreshing and welcome addition to the literature.

Very fine

This book explores aspects of the American Revolution not addressed in most American curricula. I can only wish that it had been longer and more detailed...

Fantastic perspective on American Revolution

I hung on every word in this Audible book. The narration was great as is expected from Derek Perkins. To me,, this book widened the lens on the events just before and during the American Revolution. The scale and scope of everything I once understood increased or expanded significantly. Like going from 35mm to IMAX. The American Revolution once bored me (for whatever reason). Well not anymore. I plan to read (or listen to) considerably more histories on the time period because of this book. I bought the next Sam Willis book and look forward to his other works.