Very entertaining though slightly biased

A little too much the view that the Royal navy had such à decisive role in history. Still, many little known details, and very complete. Very well read.

6 people found this helpful

Superb and easy to listen to.

Manages to bridge the gap between heavy intense history and a superb adventure story. One of the best general histories of the Royal Navy I have yet read. Much easier to listen to, and obviously less detailed than Massie's books but also far broader in scope.

13 people found this helpful

Better Than Expected. Don't Miss it!

What made the experience of listening to To Rule the Waves the most enjoyable?

Balanced, intelligent, honest;

What other book might you compare To Rule the Waves to and why?

There are a host of books on the Royal Navy, some that go into significantly more detail; but the author of this one selects just the right balance of detail to show how the institution developed and what it has done to help create some of the better features of the current global system.

Which scene was your favorite?

Nelson at Trafalga.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It gave me a more nuanced appreciation of the Royal Navy as an institution.

Any additional comments?

I would like to take the author to dinner.

12 people found this helpful

Sweeping historical overview, great telling

Great story telling and wonderful overview of the importance of the Royal Navy on the modern world. The author has a point he’s trying to make and often portrays events to make his point. Well done narration and great story telling.

Do check facts as they are sometimes bent to breaking to make a point. Example the author states that the Royal Navy captured Baltimore during the 1812 war, whilst in-fact the battle of Baltimore is the inspiration for the US National Anthem celebrating the fact Baltimore withstood the Navy’s assault.

2 people found this helpful

An excellent story, not often told

I'd always heard vague descriptions of the British Navy, but never been able to find any sort of in depth look at them, or if I have it's lacked the context for its meaning to have any impact.

This book not only touches on the important details of the navy's evolution, but also does so in the context of world events. In this way the author crafts a narrative which drew me in from start to finish.

2 people found this helpful

good read, but very biased

Well written and entertaining, but extremely pro-british and tends to avoid talking as much as possible any battle the British navy didn't win, regardless of how important or anything unethical the navy was involved with.

2 people found this helpful

Fabulous if you're a nautical junkie. A favorite!

What made the experience of listening to To Rule the Waves the most enjoyable?

The author's absolute familiarity with a huge subject yet never tedious in the details. Riveting, but again, mainly for sailing ship/war/history junkies. Will make you want to read more about Drake, Hawkes, Bing, Nelson.

What does John Curless bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It's like he wrote it, with an immense tapestry of interesting detail at his fingertips.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How Britannia Ruled the Waves. And why Western Civilization owes so much to the Royal Navy.

Any additional comments?

Do you have more by this author?

8 people found this helpful

Deep affection for the British Navy

First, I downgraded the performance not due to the reader but at certain points the audio muffles, fades or has a few other problems. When there wasn't production problems the reading was great.

The book covers the navy from its beginning, when it really wasn't a navy, until the Falklands. You can tell the author has a deep abiding love and respect for it and a touch of bitterness for its course after WWII. He does not shy from some of its controversial past such as its role in conducting the slave trade before changing missions to end it. He also addresses a few of the myths.

Although the battles are not ignored or slighted the real meat of the book is how the Navy shaped Britain and its government and how the people shaped the Navy. He highlights how the Navy was, in so many ways, the defining institution of the country. While you have Nelson and Drake Cook you also get the men who shaped, cultivated, grew and protected the institution itself and how they did it.

He does not ignore the good fortune of geography that allowed a barbaric remote island to come to dominate the oceans and the world. He shows how even the different sections of the country responded better to the sea, and why, than others.

This is an excellent book, not a short one, but it is good from either the standpoint of general or military history.

1 person found this helpful

An interesting slightly biased overview narrative

The narrative starts with the Elizabethan "navy" of pirates and continues until the Falkland Islands War. The information is generally correct although the author is unambiguously pro-British and pro-navy. This dictates a lot of the material covered with victories covered exhaustively and defeats skated past like the Battle of the Chesapeake.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent.

Probably one of the best books I've heard. Well written and compelling, as quite a few historical books are not. I enjoyed this and learnt a lot. Hope you enjoy it.