Today, most people think of the Caribbean as a vacation destination with sandy beaches bathed in tropical sunlight that occasionally garners further attention as hurricanes or other forms of natural disaster place the region in the headlines. Rarely do we think of the Caribbean as strategically important. In the context of the modern competition continuum, we generally think about the other side of the world in regard to defending maritime security and national interests. However, following the discovery of the New World, many European nations struggled against one another, nature, and disease to control as much of the Caribbean as possible. The primary driver for the region's strategic importance was sugar, which, planted, harvested, and refined in the Caribbean, brought enormous amounts of money into the coffers of European colonial powers. This economic potential was the foundation for the strategic importance of the Caribbean during the colonial era and led to friction and conflict between competing nations. European wars of the era most often spilled into the area, if they had not been started there to begin with. This is the world that John D. Grainger is concerned with in his new book, The British Navy in the Caribbean. Grainger examines naval power in the Caribbean from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries and the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, tracing England's passage from a relatively small maritime and naval power to Britain's near absolute command of the ocean following the defeat of France in 1815. The conflict and combat he chronicles take place against a backdrop of sugar, slavery, and disease, driven initially by the desire for state and private financial gain before becoming strategically important with the growth of the British Empire.

The first five chapters of The British Navy in the Caribbean provide a survey of the English Navy's exploration and initial ventures into the Caribbean during an era dominated by the Spanish Empire. Accordingly, England relied heavily on mariners such as Sir Francis Drake to act as privateers to disrupt Spanish activity, and often turned a blind eye to piracy and other criminal activity, especially if those actions harmed Spain more than England. In fact, the first English outposts in the West Indies were established to support raids on Spanish shipping in the area. By the end of the seventeenth century, England, soon to be Britain, had developed significant colonies in the Lesser Antilles on the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea. Grainger reminds the reader that the capture of Jamaica in 1655 established Britain as a growing power in the West Indies and demonstrated the beginning of Spain's decline in the region.

The middle four chapters of cover the growth of Britain following the Glorious Revolution and accession of William III to the throne. This event effectively created a new primary adversary in France and growing competition that frequently erupted into war. These European conflicts were increasingly global in dimension, engulfing the Caribbean, where colonial competition witnessed many islands changing hands. Fighting in the Caribbean required greater military infrastructure and defense on the part of all actors, thus creating something of an arms race in the area. The increase of a professional military presence in the Caribbean during peacetime and war helped eliminate much of the piracy issues that had dominated the previous two centuries.

Chapters 10, 11, and 12 detail the British Navy's nadir in first five years of American War of Independence followed by its rise to zenith from 1781 to 1815. Britain, deeply entangled in a war with its North American colonies was caught largely by surprise when France and later the Spanish and Dutch, colonial powers themselves, joined the conflict against Britain. This caused major setbacks for the Royal Navy, which from 1778 to 1781 could not maintain control of the seas. This was overcome in the final three years of the American War, as the British Navy mostly destroyed the French and Spanish fleets in the Caribbean. The lessons learned from the American War ensured Britain gained and maintained command of North Atlantic waters throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In the Caribbean, this largely meant filling the vacuum created by the declining presence of French and Spanish naval and maritime power.

The final chapter delivers a brief coverage of Britain as the undisputed naval power of the nineteenth century through colonial decline of the early twentieth century. Grainger flies through more than a century of history in seventeen pages that reads more like an epilogue to the book than a serious chapter preceding the conclusion. The conclusion itself, consequently, is unsatisfying at a page long. One might have expected a more insightful analysis following discussion of centuries of naval operations.

With The British Navy in the Caribbean, Grainger provides an interesting survey of the history of the region from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. He chronicles British exploration, war, and colonization in the Caribbean, but does not offer any new insights and relies almost entirely on secondary source material, some of which is rather dated. Grainger avoids the major historical arguments in favor of writing a narrative history. As a survey it generally works, although it does not contain the cutting edge of historical research and thus is less useful for more serious readers.

The major problem with The British Navy in the Caribbean is its price, which at $130 for the hardback means it is unlikely to find its way on to more than a few library shelves. This is a shame, because the book would otherwise be useful as an entry into the historical naval issues of the area. One suspects that the current Great Power Competition will expand into the Caribbean; how earlier powers operated may be of salience, particularly before the next headline-grabbing event.