England in the Seven Years' War. By Sir Julian S.
Corbett. 2 vols. (Longmans and Co. 21s. net.)—Sir Julian Corbett's able and fascinating book on the elder Pitt's war, which has just
reached a second edition, is of special interest in these days, because it explains the decisive Fart played by the Navy in a war that is remembered chiefly for the battles on land. "For the actual strategical use of the Fleet," says the author," and for the principles and even the practice of amphibious warfare, it is as luminously informing as, in their own special sphere, are the subordinate campaigns of Frederick the Great." We may direct attention to the pages on the long and arduous blockade which resulted in the victory of Quiberon Bay and on Thurot's attempted raid on our coasts early in 1760, which ended with the defeat and capture of his cruisers off the Isle of Man—" showing how little such a raid could do even in days of slow communication on a coast wholly unprepared, where officers behaved badly and citizens without spirit."
Previous page
