The Great Ship: How Battleships Changed the History of War

Few historians immersed themselves in their topics like bestselling, noted author Ernle Bradford. Specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval topics, Bradford was an enthusiastic sailor himself and spent almost thirty years sailing the Mediterranean, where many of his acclaimed books are set. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, finishing as the first lieutenant of a destroyer, and afterward worked as an editor and correspondent for the BBC. Now, his engaging series of military histories is available to a new generation of readers. "It was the most powerful individual weapon of war in the world . . . it determined the outcome of wars . . . it dominated sea battles" Though the great ship no longer dominates the high seas, its impact on the struggle of world powers for hegemony cannot be overestimated. During its reign from the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth, it dominated every significant sea war. Both protector and destroyer, the great ship either kept peace or wreaked utter destruction. In World War II, aircraft carriers demonstrated their new power and began to overshadow battleships. Ernle Bradford narrates the epic saga of these gone but not forgotten war machines. From the building of the ships to the horrendous-and sometimes mortal-clashes with their foes, Bradford leads the reader through history, covering the noble ships that changed the face of history.

Ernle Bradford was born in 1922 and died in 1986. He was a noted British historian specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval topics. Bradford was an enthusiastic sailor himself and spent almost thirty years sailing the Mediterranean, where many of his books are set. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, finishing as the first lieutenant of a destroyer. Bradford lived in Malta for a number of years. He did occasional broadcast work for the BBC, was a magazine editor, and wrote many books, including Hannibal, Paul the Traveller, Julius Caesar: The Pursuit of Power, Christopher Columbus, and The Mighty Hood.