Opening
paragraphs are
crucial, but Willis begins with one that captures the
readers’
attention.
It was a time of mad kings
and dead kings. In
1789,
the year that a Revolutionary mob stormed the great
Bastille prison in
Paris,
George III of England had to be kept in a
straitjacket, occasionally a
restraining chair, as he ranted incessantly and
often indecently. Three
years
later Louis XVI of France was put to death on a cold
winter’s morning
in the
centre of Paris.
He starts the prologue this
way to demonstrate how the British and French saw the
monarchies that
ruled
them. In doing so, Willis puts into perspective the
significance of
Louis’s
execution, which toppled a monarchy that had ruled for
802 years,
unleashed the
Reign of Terror, and threatened other European nations
into uniting
against the
new Republic.
When the introduction
begins,
however, it appears the author intends to distance the
reader from the
story.
As with all good writing, he merely demonstrates how
time distances us
from
significant events and changes the impact it has on us.
What event? A
series of
engagements in 1794 between two naval fleets that
culminated in the
battle that
English history has dubbed “the Glorious First of June”
and the French
call “La Bataille Prairial.”
As the story unfolds,
Willis
takes readers to Paris, London, Plymouth, Brest, Toulon,
Italy,
Austria, Saint
Domingue, Martinique, St. Lucia, Tobago, Philadelphia,
Virginia, and
New York. It
begins with the summer of 1793 and ends long after the
battle. From
“The First
Terror” to the “Epilogue,” the author examines “how the
British and
French
operational capabilities and war strategy were affected
. . . and the
battle interacted
with other events that led to the downfall of
Robespierre and
eventually to the
rise of Napoleon.” (xlv) He also discusses the paradox
of describing
this fleet
engagement as “Glorious.” At the heart of this
historical account are
the men
who sailed the warships and those who sent them to war.
Each of the eleven chapters
opens with the title, the time span covered, and a
quotation pertinent
to the
topic within. Color illustrations, diagrams, maps,
battle plans, four
appendices (chronology, fleets, Pocock sketches,
biographies), and a
glossary
provide additional insights to the text. A section of
chapter notes, a
bibliography,
and an index round out the book.
What sets this volume apart
from the two previous titles in the Hearts of Oak
trilogy – The
Fighting Temeraire and The Admiral
Benbow – is
that those two
books concern enduring legends. The
Glorious First of June, though, is about an event
that few people
remember. Equally revealing
are the firsts
earmarking this engagement, which have been “lost” over
time. The
principal one
that Willis incorporates into this account concerns
Nicholas Pocock,
the artist
who witnessed the hard-fought battle from one of the
ships, the
sketches he
drew, and their impact on those who viewed them.
The
wealth of material, dating from the period, upon
which Willis draws provides readers with a clear
understanding of what
brought
the fleets together, what happened during the
engagements, and how both
sides viewed
the battle once news of it reached England and France,
as well as
later, after
the joyous celebrations had passed. Perhaps of greater
significance is
the book
presents the story from both the French and English
perspectives,
providing
readers with a well-rounded, comprehensive, and unbiased
examination
that
enthralls, informs, and intrigues. Once you open the
cover, Willis
transports
you back to the horrors of the Terror and deftly draws
the parallels
between
the rise and fall of Robespierre, the man behind the
Terror, and The Glorious First of June.
It is a
journey not soon forgotten.
Pirates
and Privateers
