| The Genesis of the Naval Profession Contributor(s): Elias, Norbert (Author) |
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ISBN: 1904558801 ISBN-13: 9781904558804 Publisher: University College Dublin Press OUR PRICE: $49.50 Product Type: Hardcover Published: February 2007 Annotation: The emergence of the professional naval officer was related both to the necessities of naval warfare and to the structure of society on land. Elias traces the onboard conflicts between gentleman soldiers skilled in fighting, and 'tarpaulins'--lower classes skilled in navigation and the manual skills of sailing. The innovation of the midshipman--boys of gentle birth who both learned the manual skills of the sailor and received the education of a gentleman--gave crucial advantage to the British Royal Navy over the French and Spanish, in which the greater rigidity of social barriers ashore prevented a similar solution afloat. This book has been reconstructed from his mainly unpublished typescripts. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - Naval - History | Europe - Great Britain - General |
| Dewey: 359.332 |
| LCCN: 2007405504 |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6.36" W x 8.59" (0.87 lbs) 172 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The emergence of the professional naval officer was related both to the necessities of naval warfare and to the structure of society on land. Originally warships were manned by two separate sets of commanders - gentleman soldiers skilled in fighting, and 'tarpaulins' of humbler social origin skilled in navigation and the manual skills of sailing. Elias traces the onboard conflicts between them, from Drake's famous insistence that the gentlemen 'haul and draw' with the sailors, to the gradual merging of the two hierarchies by the end of the eighteenth century. The innovation of the midshipmen - boys of gentle birth who both learned the manual skills of the sailor and received the education of a gentleman - gave crucial advantage to the British Royal Navy over the French and Spanish, in which the greater rigidity of social barriers ashore prevented a similar solution afloat. Planned but never completed by Elias, this book has been reconstructed from his mainly unpublished typescripts. |