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Leviathan: The Rise of Britain as a World Power
For viewers of BBC One’s ‘Britain and the Sea’, ‘Leviathan’ is a must-read; overturning long-held beliefs about our ancestry and weaving together the disparate strands that made the fabric of the Empire.
The 350 years between the accession of the Tudors and the beginning of the Victorian era saw one of the great transformations of any nation in Britain emerged from its lowly position as European underdog to become the world's only maritime superpower. It was a period that saw the creation of Protestant kingdoms in England and Scotland, the gain and loss of American colonies and the beginnings of a new empire in Africa, India and Australasia. It is a slice of our past represented by some of the most compelling personalities to have graced the historical stage – Elizabeth I, Nelson, Cromwell and Byron amongst them.
In this wide-ranging yet succinct history, David Scott challenges some of our longest held beliefs in how Britain achieved its constitutional might. Where other histories have concentrated on a narrow chronology, ' A World of Ships and Men' encompasses a broad spectrum, tracing the connections made across time as never before.
The 350 years between the accession of the Tudors and the beginning of the Victorian era saw one of the great transformations of any nation in Britain emerged from its lowly position as European underdog to become the world's only maritime superpower. It was a period that saw the creation of Protestant kingdoms in England and Scotland, the gain and loss of American colonies and the beginnings of a new empire in Africa, India and Australasia. It is a slice of our past represented by some of the most compelling personalities to have graced the historical stage – Elizabeth I, Nelson, Cromwell and Byron amongst them.
In this wide-ranging yet succinct history, David Scott challenges some of our longest held beliefs in how Britain achieved its constitutional might. Where other histories have concentrated on a narrow chronology, ' A World of Ships and Men' encompasses a broad spectrum, tracing the connections made across time as never before.
562 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 27, 2013
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165 people want to read
About the author
David Scott
2 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Dr. David Scott received his BA and DPhil from the University of York. He then taught at York and Leeds universities before joining the History of Parliament, London, where he is now a Senior Research Fellow on the 1640-1660 section. Among other appointments, he has been a Visiting Fellow at Yale University, and Senior Research Associate of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. He has researched and written extensively on the political and religious history of Stuart Britain. He is a regular reviewer for the London press and lives in Oxford.
Dr. David Scott received his BA and DPhil from the University of York. He then taught at York and Leeds universities before joining the History of Parliament, London, where he is now a Senior Research Fellow on the 1640-1660 section. Among other appointments, he has been a Visiting Fellow at Yale University, and Senior Research Associate of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. He has researched and written extensively on the political and religious history of Stuart Britain. He is a regular reviewer for the London press and lives in Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 17, 2014
This is an excellent history of the British state from the end of the mediaeval period to the French revolution. I’ve chosen the term ‘British state’ carefully – because it’s the most accurate description of the book.
This is a book in the tradition of Diarmaid MacCulloch’s The Reformation - a sweeping history that doesn’t shy from difficult questions but is, throughout, accessible.
David Scott sets out to answer this question (I paraphrase): ‘How come a battered kingdom like England became the biggest sea power in the globe in three hundred years?’
I wouldn’t presume to summarise his argument but part of it is linked to that teaser I gave you: to become powerful, the kingdom England had to transform itself into the British state.
Scott is very clear that this wasn’t a pre-determined, inevitable occurrence. For example, he attributes England’s status as beleaguered Protestant outpost as being a key factor in the growth of the state: what if Catherine of Aragon had produced a male heir for Henry VIII? or if his daughter Mary had produced a child with her Spanish husband?
Given the starting point (Henry Tudor’s victory at Bosworth), Scott traces the growth of Leviathan (the term for a mighty state, borrowed from Hobbes) through three hundred years of reformation, revolution and war. His style is engaging and his argument is easy to follow – despite the depth with which he explores certain issues.
One great strength of Scott’s work is that he demonstrates, without labouring the point, that much of the growth of Leviathan was founded on the slave trade. Just how crucial the maintenance of this trade was to Britain’s power is laid out in detail and, by taking a global view, Scott shows that even the non-slave colonies of New England would not have flourished in the same way without the opportunities provided by the slave-run plantations of the Caribbean.
There is, of course, the vexed question of how England became Great Britain and Scott’s answer is one of the most convincing I’ve read. In 1485, the lands south east of the line from Bristol to the Wash were fertile, well populated and rich. The rest of the islands were not and the South had the economic power to dictate its relationships with the rest. No change there.
There are also questions that Scott ignores completely. For example, was the growth of the industrial revolution linked to the growth of the state in a causal way?
Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the way that it makes you ask other questions. For me, it sent me back to the middle ages to ask the question of why parliament was already so powerful in 1485.
I am not a professional historian and could not say how this book fits into controversies within the history academy, but if you are at all interested in how modern nation states came to be the way they are, I cannot recommend this book too highly.
This is a book in the tradition of Diarmaid MacCulloch’s The Reformation - a sweeping history that doesn’t shy from difficult questions but is, throughout, accessible.
David Scott sets out to answer this question (I paraphrase): ‘How come a battered kingdom like England became the biggest sea power in the globe in three hundred years?’
I wouldn’t presume to summarise his argument but part of it is linked to that teaser I gave you: to become powerful, the kingdom England had to transform itself into the British state.
Scott is very clear that this wasn’t a pre-determined, inevitable occurrence. For example, he attributes England’s status as beleaguered Protestant outpost as being a key factor in the growth of the state: what if Catherine of Aragon had produced a male heir for Henry VIII? or if his daughter Mary had produced a child with her Spanish husband?
Given the starting point (Henry Tudor’s victory at Bosworth), Scott traces the growth of Leviathan (the term for a mighty state, borrowed from Hobbes) through three hundred years of reformation, revolution and war. His style is engaging and his argument is easy to follow – despite the depth with which he explores certain issues.
One great strength of Scott’s work is that he demonstrates, without labouring the point, that much of the growth of Leviathan was founded on the slave trade. Just how crucial the maintenance of this trade was to Britain’s power is laid out in detail and, by taking a global view, Scott shows that even the non-slave colonies of New England would not have flourished in the same way without the opportunities provided by the slave-run plantations of the Caribbean.
There is, of course, the vexed question of how England became Great Britain and Scott’s answer is one of the most convincing I’ve read. In 1485, the lands south east of the line from Bristol to the Wash were fertile, well populated and rich. The rest of the islands were not and the South had the economic power to dictate its relationships with the rest. No change there.
There are also questions that Scott ignores completely. For example, was the growth of the industrial revolution linked to the growth of the state in a causal way?
Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the way that it makes you ask other questions. For me, it sent me back to the middle ages to ask the question of why parliament was already so powerful in 1485.
I am not a professional historian and could not say how this book fits into controversies within the history academy, but if you are at all interested in how modern nation states came to be the way they are, I cannot recommend this book too highly.
June 10, 2015
This is a readable account of the rise of the English/British state up to the Napoleonic wars. Its theme is how the state apparatus developed in a way which enabled the growth of empire and the ability to control the polity internally. The author is clear-eyed about the corruption and authority underlying the state throughout his account and convincingly links the economic development of Britain with this. In a way, he expands Elton's ideas about the Tudor Revolution in Government to the course of English/British history by showing how efficient the country's government became in comparison to other European countries and how circumstances did conspire to Britain's advantage. He is critical of some of the stupidities of the country's government particularly in the 18th century.
For me the book is a worthy addition to my shelves.
For me the book is a worthy addition to my shelves.
September 30, 2024
This is an excellent piece of narrative history, readable from the outset and considered in the scope of its subject matter. My one criticism would be that, having spent the first 6 chapters focusing on the domestic pressures in England / Britain, and how this drove imperial expansion, the book suddenly pivots a fairly short section on the East India Company and then a final chapter on the American Revolution. I appreciate that the book is about the *rise* of Britain as a world power and not the apotheosis of its global dominance, but the structuring of the narrative in this way very much makes it seem as though the establishment of the Indian colonies and the loss of the Thirteen States were mere events of the periphery of the domestic pressures that created an imperial state.
Overall, however, an excellent book, which is deceptively useful for those interested in English / British social history.
Overall, however, an excellent book, which is deceptively useful for those interested in English / British social history.
October 21, 2021
A very, very solid four stars. A useful overview of British history from 1485 to 1783, with a particular focus on the rise of 'Leviathan,' or the fiscal-military state. I wouldn't recommend reading the book if you're already quite familiar with the period, but as someone with a fair, but far from comprehensive, amount of background knowledge, I found it very insightful. Scott writes pretty well for a historian, and though it's no page-turner, it's highly readable. I particularly enjoyed Scott's coverage of early modern intellectual developments. He traces the rise of the public sphere, as well as the comings and goings of trends such as 'politeness' and 'sensibility,' in particular detail. The bibliography is also fairly extensive, with plenty of ideas for further reading if you are so inclined, though the footnoting is a bit patchy. So overall, very good, but not something to write home about, necessarily.
January 13, 2018
An excellent read on the emergence of Britain, or more specifically England, as an imperial power driven by a variety of reforms to the system of government and national finances.
June 5, 2020
Well written. Sometimes loses the forest for the trees. Also its footnoting is inconsistent. Quotes are always footnoted, other things are not necessarily.
August 17, 2014
I was totally taken in by this. Seeing 'Leviathan' on the front cover and reading the prologue which talks of the launch of the 'Royal George' I thought I was buying a book on the rise of Britain as a world SEA power with the attendant discussions that would ensue on naval architecture, zones of power and influence, customs and the way the British Navy was run from Henry Tudor to the loss of the Americas. How wrong I was.
Instead we get another potted history of ENGLAND and for the most part through the agency of English Kings and Queens. Firstly what purports to be a history of Britain is really a history of ENGLAND. Narrative history can be dull and it can be illuminating. David Scott seems as intent as possible to pull the wool over our eyes that he has some brilliant insight when in fact he appears to have none. Leastways that how it felt through the 52 pages I managed before I decided that this was a busted flush and not worth bothering with.
It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't just throw things out there without any apparent backing up with clear evidence and facts. It seems in many places to be nothing more than the opinion of David Scott, which I am sure is probably slightly better qualified than that of Mrs Gussett down the road at number 23, but I'm afraid if it's a history book I'm reading I want a bit more than opinion, learned or otherwise.
This is as dull as ditchwater and I can't be bothered to finish it. Don't be taken in by the cover blurb. It isn't 'a sweeping illuminating account'. It isn't 'epic in scale'.
Some day when I don't have anything better to do like polishing my nails (oooohhh errrrr, missus) or I've finished reading the 10 thousand other books I want to read, I might take it up again. But I somehow doubt it.
Instead we get another potted history of ENGLAND and for the most part through the agency of English Kings and Queens. Firstly what purports to be a history of Britain is really a history of ENGLAND. Narrative history can be dull and it can be illuminating. David Scott seems as intent as possible to pull the wool over our eyes that he has some brilliant insight when in fact he appears to have none. Leastways that how it felt through the 52 pages I managed before I decided that this was a busted flush and not worth bothering with.
It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't just throw things out there without any apparent backing up with clear evidence and facts. It seems in many places to be nothing more than the opinion of David Scott, which I am sure is probably slightly better qualified than that of Mrs Gussett down the road at number 23, but I'm afraid if it's a history book I'm reading I want a bit more than opinion, learned or otherwise.
This is as dull as ditchwater and I can't be bothered to finish it. Don't be taken in by the cover blurb. It isn't 'a sweeping illuminating account'. It isn't 'epic in scale'.
Some day when I don't have anything better to do like polishing my nails (oooohhh errrrr, missus) or I've finished reading the 10 thousand other books I want to read, I might take it up again. But I somehow doubt it.
November 29, 2014
Sometimes it's interesting to look at history through a different prism. General histories tend to miss the nuances of historical trends or lack fine detail, histories of specific events like the Civil Wars don't do a fantastic job of placing them in their historical contexts. Leviathan, therefore, attempts to chart the rise of the British Empire, placing the starting point at Bosworth Field and closing with American Independence. It's an interesting idea and the time-frame seems appropriate. Unfortunately, the execution doesn't quite live up to the promise.
Scott's writing style is fine, if a little pedestrian, and he gets the facts across on the page well enough. The problem is that the book is somewhat inconsistent, sometimes looking at political and economic trends in detail, other times completely ignoring them. For a book about the rise of Empire it's also amazing that it barely mentions India at all until almost the end of the book (although it has to be said it does a better job dealing with the various Western powers involved in that one chapter than Keay's entire history of the subcontinent). The impression you get is that the author has a limited historical sphere and that the focus is therefore stronger where he hasn't had to do as much research.
That said, it's not a bad read, and if you want something to at least lay down the basics before delving into the specifics in detail it's a reasonable start. Just a shame it isn't what it could have been.
Scott's writing style is fine, if a little pedestrian, and he gets the facts across on the page well enough. The problem is that the book is somewhat inconsistent, sometimes looking at political and economic trends in detail, other times completely ignoring them. For a book about the rise of Empire it's also amazing that it barely mentions India at all until almost the end of the book (although it has to be said it does a better job dealing with the various Western powers involved in that one chapter than Keay's entire history of the subcontinent). The impression you get is that the author has a limited historical sphere and that the focus is therefore stronger where he hasn't had to do as much research.
That said, it's not a bad read, and if you want something to at least lay down the basics before delving into the specifics in detail it's a reasonable start. Just a shame it isn't what it could have been.
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July 9, 2013KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by Literary Review (Apr 2013)
Reviewed by Literary Review (Apr 2013)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews