Bøker av John Drinkwater

This unique collection of papers by international scholars deals with a highly important aspect of the 'decline and fall' of the Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe, namely the loss of Gaul to incoming barbarian kings during the fifth century AD.

From 1779 to 1783 a British garrison at Gibraltar fought off a fierce Franco-Spanish siege, with the aid of the navy. This bestselling account by a member of the garrison was first published in 1785. Gibraltar was of vital strategic importance to Britain during the Napoleonic Wars and subsequently.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Drinkwater (1762-1844), an army officer, was on board the Minerva, bearing Commodore Nelson's pennant, after the British evacuation from Corsica, when they found themselves in the middle of the Spanish fleet. Having been transferred to another ship, and Nelson to the Captain, Drinkwater thus became an eyewitness of the Battle of St Vincent, 14 February 1797. He made sketches of the positions of the fleet during the battle, that were subsequently praised for their accuracy by naval officers. His Narrative was originally published the same year, but reissued in 1840 with the addition of anecdotes of Nelson, to raise funds for a Nelson testimonial. The original aim of the work was to give due credit to the officers, particularly Nelson, to whom it was felt that Admiral Sir John Jervis had not given sufficient recognition for their part in his most significant victory.