Quote:An extraordinarily gripping narrative of how Britain, seemingly on the ropes after losing control of America and with growing internal dissent, built the military and naval might to defeat Napoleon-and in doing so transformed its destiny

In this brilliant, sweeping history of the period, David Andress fuses two hitherto separate historical perspectives-the military and the social. Britain's defeat of Napoleon is one of the great accomplishments in the nation's history, yet it was by no means certain that Britain itself would survive the revolutionary fervor of the age, let alone emerge victorious from such a vast conflict. From the late 1790s, the country was stricken by naval mutinies, rebellion in Ireland, and riots born of hunger, poverty, and grinding injustice. As the new century opened, with republican graffiti on the walls of the cities, and revolutionary secret societies reportedly widespread, King George III only narrowly escaped assassination. Jacobin forces seemed to threaten a dissolution of the social order. Above all, the threat of French invasion was ever-present. Yet, despite all this, and new threats from royal madness and rampant corruption, Britain did not become a revolutionary republic. The elites proved remarkably resilient, and drew on the power of an already-global empire to find the strength to defeat Napoleon abroad and continued popular unrest at home. From the conditions of warfare faced by the British soldier and the great battles in which they fought, to the literary and artistic culture of the time, this is a searing narrative of dramatic events and an important reassessment of one of the most significant turning points in British history.