This study represents the first published translation and analysis of an intriguing scheme of invasion of the British Isles that formed the foundation of all later invasion plans drawn up in the ivory towers of French diplomacy. References to invasion plans—made by Spain in the Spanish Armada (1585-98), or by the French Directory (1795-99) against Ireland and England in the later 1790s, or those of Napoleon Bonaparte (1799-1815), or 'Operation Sea Lion,' the German plan of invasion during the Nazi era—have been based on published information of earlier plans, at the heart of which was De Broglie's grand project.
The Trafalgar Chronicle, the yearbook of The 1805 Club, has established itself as a prime source of information and the publication of choice for new research about the Georgian navy, sometimes also loosely called Nelson's navy. Successive editors have widened the scope to include all sailing navies of the period, while a recurring theme is the Trafalgar campaign and the epic battle of 21 October 1805. Contributors to The Trafalgar Chronicle have included leading experts in their field, whether they are Professor John Hattendorf from the US Naval War College in Newport, RI, Professor Andrew Lambert from Kings College, London, or antiquarians and enthusiasts. Each volume is themed and this new edition looks in detail at the Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps. The RM were founded in 1664, but their ‘royal’ title was only granted to them on 29 April 1802. The USMC traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence), when two battalions were formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas after a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775. Both corps have similar duties, then and now, and in this volume there are newly researched articles about their common roles in the age of sail. The main piece has been written by Major General Julian Thompson, and there are leading articles by American and British scholars including Dr Charles P Neimeyer, the Director and Chief of Marine Corps History at Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. There is also a unique autobiography by a marine who took part in the battle of Trafalgar, the War of 1812, the bombardment of Algiers and the First Ashanti War. Other issues are investigated, including Victory’s true colours in which Andrew Baines, Head of Historic Ships at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, describes the research which went into revealing how Nelson’s flagship looked in 1805. Scholars and students, experts and enthusiasts fascinated by the era of the sailing navy will be absorbed by this handsomely illustrated journal.
Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History Winner of the Journal of the American Revolution 2016 Book of the Year Award At the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the American colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. The nascent American nation had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a militia bereft even of gunpowder. In his detailed accounts Larrie Ferreiro shows that without the extensive military and financial support of the French and Spanish, the American cause would never have succeeded. Ferreiro adds to the historical records the names of French and Spanish diplomats, merchants, soldiers, and sailors whose contribution is at last given recognition. Instead of viewing the American Revolution in isolation, Brothers at Arms reveals the birth of the American nation as the centerpiece of an international coalition fighting against a common enemy.
Winner of the 2015 American Library in Paris Book Award The Marquis de Lafayette at age nineteen volunteered to fight under George Washington and became the French hero of the American Revolution. In this major biography Laura Auricchio looks past the storybook hero and selfless champion of righteous causes who cast aside family and fortune to advance the transcendent aims of liberty and fully reveals a man driven by dreams of glory only to be felled by tragic, human weaknesses. Drawing on substantial new research conducted in libraries, archives, museums, and private homes in France and the United States, Auricchio, gives us history on a grand scale revealing the man and his complex life, while challenging and exploring the complicated myths that have surrounded his name for more than two centuries
Americans today have a love/hate relationship with France, but in How the French Saved America Tom Shachtman shows that without France, there might not be a United States of America. To the rebelling colonies, French assistance made the difference between looming defeat and eventual triumph. Even before the Declaration of Independence was issued, King Louis XVI and French foreign minister Vergennes were aiding the rebels. After the Declaration, that assistance broadened to include wages for our troops; guns, cannon, and ammunition; engineering expertise that enabled victories and prevented defeats; diplomatic recognition; safe havens for privateers; battlefield leadership by veteran officers; and the army and fleet that made possible the Franco-American victory at Yorktown. Nearly ten percent of those who fought and died for the American cause were French. Those who fought and survived, in addition to the well-known Lafayette and Rochambeau, include François de Fleury, who won a Congressional Medal for valor, Louis Duportail, who founded the Army Corps of Engineers, and Admiral de Grasse, whose sea victory sealed the fate of Yorktown. This illuminating narrative history vividly captures the outsize characters of our European brothers, their battlefield and diplomatic bonds and clashes with Americans, and the monumental role they played in America’s fight for independence and democracy.
Though the participation of France in the American Revolution is well established in the historiography, the role of Spain, France’s ally, is relatively understudied and underappreciated. Spain's involvement in the conflict formed part of a global struggle between empires and directly influenced the outcome of the clash between Britain and its North American colonists. Following the establishment of American independence, the Spanish empire became one of the nascent republic's most significant neighbors and, often illicitly, trading partners. Bringing together essays from a range of well-regarded historians, this volume contributes significantly to the international history of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions.
Bringing strategy, foreign policy, domestic and imperial politics together, this book challenges the conventional understanding as to why the British Empire, at perhaps the height of its power, lost control of its American colonies. Critiquing the traditional emphasis on the value of alliance during the Seven Years' War, and the consequences of British isolation during the War of American Independence, Jeremy Black shows that this rests on a misleading understanding of the relationship between policy and strategy. Encompassing both the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence and grounded in archival research, this book considers a violent and contentious period which was crucial to the making of modern Britain and its role in the wider world. Offering a reinterpretation of British strategy and foreign policy throughout this time, To Lose an Empire interweaves British domestic policy with diplomatic and colonial developments to show the impact this period and its events had on British strategy and foreign policy for years to come.
Acclaim for The French War Against America "A very readable and provocative tale of early Franco-American relations that will please some and infuriate others."—John Buchanan, author of The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution "Harlow Unger has written an amazing tour de force revealing France's two-faced role in the American Revolution and the early Republic. The book also has enormous relevance for contemporary politics. Don't miss it."—Thomas Fleming, author of Liberty!: The American Revolution
