The Command of the Ocean

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1. noir_lordApr 2021
   So many and over such a wide span to narrow it down to 2-3 definitively so I'll cover ground instead.

   1) The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649­-1815[1] (actually book 2 but the first covers an earlier period this covers the period across the Act of Union - when England/Scotland became with Wales the United Kingdom and when the British navy went from "decent" to not just first but first by a hilarious margin - the only modern analogue that sorta fits is the US navy compared to everyone else post-WW2 up to well right now)

   2) Dreadnought[2] which covers the late 19th early 20th (Birth of Queen Victoria to the start of WW1) - when the Dreadnought type-class battleship was considered the premier strategic weapon of it's day.

   For the rest it's a vast field (that I've barely scratched - history is a hobby for me part of the perpetual "why is the world the way it is" fascination with everything) as always wikipedia is your friend :-

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_18th%E2%80%931...

   For more modern naval stuff (where modern equals ~a century ago) I can heartily recommend the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4mftUX7apmV1vsVXZh7RTw Drachinifel - he has a way of providing information dense content in an entertaining way - his video on the technological arms race in metallurgy for ships armour for example is superb.

   [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Command-Ocean-History-Britain-1649-...

   [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnought_(book)

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2. pjmorrisApr 2021
   'The Command of the Ocean, "when the British navy went from "decent" to not just first but first by a hilarious margin", sounds like exactly the kind of thing I am looking for.
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