The Line Upon a Wind

Starred review from May 5, 2008
This spirited work contributes significantly to a developing interpretation of the years 1794–1815 as an era of worldwide, total war. Journalist Mostert moves smoothly from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, from Timor to Tarragona, demonstrating the constant, decisive influence of sea power on war, diplomacy and policy. His connecting thread is the rise of Britain to superpower status through the Royal Navy. Sea power, through battle and blockade, frustrated France's ambitions both revolutionary and imperial. Sea power, directly and indirectly applied, helped decide land engagements from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indian Ocean. It also opened the world to Western influence. Equally significant is Mostert's presentation of the war at sea as a high-tech operation: the ship of the line developed in Europe was the most complex technological artifact of its day, requiring highly skilled personnel to build, sail and command it. Britain developed all of these; its only challenge, an embryonic one, came from the fast-developing United States. That, however, is another story—a story, one hopes, for another book of this quality. 16 pages of illus., 6 maps.

June 1, 2008
For 22 years, the Napoleonic Wars ravaged Europe, toppled thrones, reshaped empires, and determined the diplomatic and political destinies of European nation-states for the next century. The land battles and chief military figures of those battles are familiar, even to many laypeople. The naval campaigns, perhaps less publicized, were equally as important in the defeat of Napol'on. Mostert, a former foreign correspondent, has written a stirring saga of these campaigns that is both comprehensive and easy to digest. Although Mostert doesnt neglect the technical aspects of naval warfare, he avoids the trap of allowing details to overwhelm his exciting narrative. This is a vast, fast-moving chronicle that ranges across great distances while examining a host of characters, both well known and relatively obscure. Mostert does justifiably place great emphasis on Admiral Nelson and the critical battle at Trafalgar. He also offers useful and interesting descriptions of less-prominent aspects of the wars, including conflicts with the Barbary pirates and the British struggles against the rise of American naval power. This is an outstanding survey of a prolonged struggle that helped shape world history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)