Description: This important new book examines the slow transition from the timber fleets of Napoleonic times to the might of pre-World War One German and British navies.
Review Quotes: "a useful and effective general history of the development and operations of the world's navies during the century prior to the First World War...a concise, well-written, and comprehensive treatment of international naval history."
-technology and culture, April 2002
"Sondhaus has done a commendable job of compressing a large and very complex subject in a straightforward and readable manner. "Naval Warfare, 1815-1914 is aimed principally at a general readership which will find it a succinct and entertaining overview of the period's developments and events: a judicious and, in spite of its brevity, impressively wide-ranging introduction to a crucial epoch. For that matter, few specialists are likely to be familiar with the entire breadth of Soundhaus' topical concerns. Most of them, too, will find much of value in its pages. --John Beeler, "International Journal of Maritime History."