Description
McGill-Queen's University Press, Published 1987. Hardcover, xiv, 285 pp.; 24 cm; illustrated with tables and figures.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
19
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Condition & notes
In Very Good condition, no dust jacket as issued. Blue illustrated paper over boards with cream lettering and a naval trophy vignette (flags, weapons, cannons, drum) to the front cover; back cover plain blue. Mild shelf wear to board edges. Binding is tight. Some sticker residue on the top edge of the front pastedown near the spine. Otherwise unmarked.An academic study of French naval organization and administration in the years between the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Pritchard analyzes the institution as it stood under Louis XV's secretaries of state for the navy, examining the central bureaus, officers of the pen and sword, the manning problem, the arsenals and their workers, ships and the fleet, ordnance, naval stores, and finances. The book seeks to explain why Bourbon France, the richest and most powerful state in mid-eighteenth-century Europe, failed to exercise its power at sea during the imperial conflict that would cost it most of its overseas empire.Contents: Louis XV and His Naval Secretaries of State; The Central Bureaux; Officers of the Pen; Officers of the Sword; The Manning Problem; The Arsenals; Arsenal Workers; Ships and the Fleet; The Ordnance Problem; Naval Stores; Naval Finances; Conclusion; Appendix: Note on Naval Financial Data; Notes; Manuscript Sources; Index.