Anatomy of a Naval Disaster

Download or read book Anatomy of a Naval Disaster written by James Pritchard and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 1995-09-28 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pritchard describes the domestic and international political circumstances in France that gave rise to the expedition, outlining strategy and politics in the context of colonial defence and continental ambition. He reconstructs the events that contributed to the failure of the expedition - human and institutional weakness, weather, spoiled provisions, disease, and the death of the commanding admiral. Anatomy of a Naval Disaster exposes the ambitions and frailties of men, the arbitrariness of success, and the limits of power in the eighteenth century.