After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the Royal Navy was not involved in a major war until 1914. The Crimea and Boer Wars required little more than bombarding the enemy and ferrying the Army. Nevertheless, mighty fleets were kept in all parts of the Empire ready to take action in the event of hostilities. Such was the standing of the Royal Navy that many of its officers were recruited from the landed aristocracy. One of these was the reactionary Lord Charles Beresford, who, in addition to holding his commission, became a Member of Parliament and brazenly used his position of influence and considerable wealth to further his advancement and his views. 'Jacky' Fisher, now widely acknowledged to be the Father of the modern Royal Navy, was as different from Beresford as it is possible to imagine. The son of an impoverished Army Officer, he rose to become First Sea Lord - twice. Fisher was determined to utilise emerging scientific developments such as steam turbines, gunnery, monitors, submarines and communications in his sustained campaign to ensure the RN remained the finest in the World. All Beresford and Fisher had in common was ambition and drive. The clash between them was as inevitable as it was dramatic. This is more than a story of the development of the Royal Navy; it is a fascinating study of two totally contrasting characters. At stake was nothing less than the survival of the Nation in the face of the emerging threat from Germany. Geoffrey Penn describes both these titanic characters and the momentous events that occurred with his usual precision and in his engaging style.