The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660-1649
By N. A. M. Rodger.
ISBN: 0-393-31960-1

When it comes to English naval history, a complete review has been difficult to find. The last one to my knowledge was David Howarth's British Sea Power, first published in 1974. Now the gap has been rectified by Rodger's volumes, of which the first is reviewed here. Rodger is an Anderson Fellow of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, and shows a high degree of knowledge and experience in his subject.

Rodger begins his review in 660, in the period following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in which the Angles and Saxons were invading. Gathering information from Anglo-Saxon, Danish, French, Irish, and Spanish sources, the account he provides is both detailed and well-written and the details about the vessels and strategy are quite exact. He also includes details on Scottish and Irish seafaring that are quite often left out of most English accounts.

The only problem I have found with Rodger's account is that his focus on the sea is so extensive as to occasionally blind him to political situations and non-naval important events. This results in some occasionally sweeping statements about a nation's views or strategic situation that aren't backed up by anything other than Rodger's opinion. All in all, however, the research is excellent and the book well worth acquiring by anyone with an interest in British naval history.