The Price of Admiralty - John Keegan

The aim of this book is to explore how men have fought at sea and to examine the nature of the individual's experience of combat over changing times. The conflicts chosen begin with Trafalgar in 1805, a classic and well-documented example of a ship-of-the-line battle. Next the author turns to Jutland, posing very different problems for commander and seaman alike. Then to the Battle of Midway, where he examines the particular role played by the aircraft carrier, and its "two societies", that of the ship itself and that of the "air group" elite which supplied its raison d'etre.;Finally, the book examines the Battle of the Atlantic, in which the author recreates the everyday life and the operational routine within the boat that saw the last great technical transformation of naval operations, and ultimately the most significant - the submarine.;The book concludes with a survey of how naval warfare may be expected to evolve in the future - with surface navies disappearing altogether.