Sustaining the Fleet, 1793-1815 - War, the British Navy and the Contractor State (Hardcover, New)

An assessment of the work of the contractors who were commissioned by the Victualling Board to provision the fleet in this period. Provisioning the fleet, and the army overseas, during the French Wars of 1793-1815 was a major undertaking. This book explains how the Victualling Board in London handled this enormous task, focusing in particular on contractors -that is the merchants and brokers, who provided a vast range of commodities including flour and biscuit, salt beef and pork, as well as huge quantities of fresh water and coal, and every other item needed. It shows how these merchants could be large or small concerns, and provides detailed case studies of different kinds of contractors, including examples of contractors based both in Britain and in the navy's overseas bases. The book demonstrates how, overall, the contracting system represented the mobilisation of a substantial part of the British economy for war; how the performance of contracting was effective, with little or no corruption; and how the contractors took considerable financial risks and made only reasonable margins. It assesses the performance of the Victualling Board, arguing that this was good, and that the problem in the major area of weakness - accounting - was quickly addressed following a major crisis in 1808-09. It concludes that this was "an impressive performance" by the state, but that the overwhelming advantage was the resilience of the market, and that it was "upon the success of the contractors that the war at sea was won." For most of his career, ROGER KNIGHT was on the staff of the National Maritime Museum, leaving as Deputy Director in 2000. Since then he has taught at the Greenwich Maritime Institute at the University of Greenwich, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Naval History. MARTIN WILCOX completed a doctorate in maritime history at the University of Hull, and has been employed as postdoctoral research fellow at Greenwich Maritime Institute since 2006.

General

Imprint:	The Boydell Press
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	September 2010
First published:	2010
Authors:	Roger Knight • Martin Wilcox
Dimensions:	234 x 156 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	262
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-1-84383-564-6
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Naval forces & warfare Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Maritime history Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > History > History of specific subjects > Maritime history Books > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Promotions
LSN:	1-84383-564-9
Barcode:	9781843835646

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!