Description: The Glorious First of June 1794 was the first great naval engagement of the Great War with France (1793-1815). Participants on both sides considered it the hardest-fought battle between them in the eighteenth century and both sides felt they attained their objectives: the British captured or sank seven French battleships, the French saved their big grain convoy from America.In this book experts explore the naval campaign from both British and French perspectives, setting it in its wider context of the war strategy of the rival powers. The intensity of the encounter is demonstrated through the accounts of eyewitnesses, three of which are here published for the first time, and the impact of the battle on public imagination is traced through plays, prints and paintings, and through the artefacts and memorials by which it was commemorated. Considered to be the hardest-fought battle between France and Britain in the 18th century Includes the accounts of eye witnessses, some published for the first time Traces the impact of the battle on public imagination by discussing plays, print, paintings, artefacts and memorials.
Brief description: Michael Duffy is Head of History and Director of the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies at the University of Exeter and General Editor of Exeter Maritime Studies. He is the author of The Younger Pitt (Longman, 2000), and editor of Parameters of British Naval Power 1650-1850 (UEP, 1992) and The New Maritime History of Devon (Conway Maritime, 1992).
Review Quotes: This book is the result of a conference devoted to one naval battle, and it is a model of its kind. The editors are of course old hands at this sort of thing. Michael Duffy, who as editor of the Mariners Mirror became friend and confidant to so many naval and maritime historians, was the editor of the proceedings from another ground breaking conference.-- "Parameters of British Naval Power, 1650-1850"