Masters of the Sea

For four centuries, the Navy made Britain the most powerful nation on earth - the true ruler of the waves. But its impact goes way beyond battles on the high seas. This new book, a tie-in to a major BBC TV series presented by Dan Snow, is written by one of the nation's foremost naval historians, and tells the story of how the Royal Navy shaped the politics, culture and economy of Britain, leaving its imprint on everything from our landscape, to our democracy and even our very identity.

At its peak, it became the driving force behind the spread of a system of values which would change the world forever. And then it lost it all. In "Empire of the Seas", Brian Lavery re-injects the romance into Britain's seafaring past. He discusses the hidden human stories behind the celebrated sea-battles and also provides a warts-and-all expose of the darker chapters in the Navy's past, including its role in slavery and the spread of disease. The book is illustrated with a superlative collection of artworks and photographs from the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Naval Museum and private collections.