Sailor-Scholar

Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond was "a unique phenomenon in the Victorian-
Edwardian navy—a professionally competent and successful officer who was also
an intellectual," writes the author. "This was enough to ensure that his
progress would be stormy.''

This thoroughly documented biographical study of Richmond's professional
career reveals a fully experienced, clear-thinking officer with a profound
understanding of naval history, "a restless and uncompromising personality,"
and a passionate concern with naval strategy, the art of war, and the most
effective training programme for officers. Richmond persistently challenged
the accepted practices and prejudices of the naval profession. He and his
small group of disciples, the "Young Turks," found themselves in the thick of
the most crucial controversies in the British Navy. In spite of frequent
official displeasure, however, Richmond became an influential naval historian
and educator, responsible for the creation of the modern naval staff and the
Imperial Defence College.

The volume rests on extensive research in the official records and the private
papers of Richmond and his close associates. It will interest not only naval
historians, but also those with a general interest in the impact of one man's
thought and actions on Britain's defence policy and the outcome of two World
Wars.