From the man described by Amanda Foreman as 'one of the most eminent naval historians of our age' comes the story of how this country's maritime power helped Britain gain unparalleled dominance of the world's economy. Told through the lives of ten of our most remarkable admirals, Andrew Lambert's book spans Elizabethan times to the Second World War, culminating with the spirit which led Andrew Browne Cunningham famously to declare, when the army feared he would lose too many ships, 'it takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build a tradition'.