The British Navy and the State in the Eighteenth Century

The Navy in the eighteenth century, though successful, was costly. Its funding and maintenance made those responsible for it politically vulnerable. The Royal Navy, prominent in building Britain's maritime empire in the eighteenth century, also had a significant impact on politics, public finance and the administrative and bureaucratic development of the British state throughout the century. The Navy was the most expensive branch of the state and its effective funding and maintenance was a probl