Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650 is the first truly international study of warfare at sea in this period. Early modern warfare at sea was an important part of the transformation of European societies and of Europe's impact on other parts of the world. Warfare influenced trade, state formation, the economic and political rise and decline of regions and the life of seafaring populations. This book places the history of warfare at sea within a modern scholarly framework, bringing together historical research and analysing questions on war, state building, strategy and tactics, and economic and technological change.
Commencing in the late fifteenth century with the introduction of gunpowder in naval warfare and the rapid transformation of maritime trade, Warfare at Sea focuses on the scope and limitations of war before the advent of the big battle fleets from the middle of the seventeenth century.
The book also compares the social history of seamen and the early officer corps in several European countries and includes discussion on Spain, Portugal, France, Venice, the Ottoman Empire and the Baltic states.
Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650 is essential reading for those interested in early modern history in general and in economic and naval history in particular.