Overview

William Jervois was a military engineer who rose to prominence as a result of Lord Palmerston’s extensive programme of fortification against a feared French invasion in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Ramparts of Empire is a detailed and engaging study of his life and works. As the first comprehensive study of this influential Victorian, the bookis an important contribution to military and engineering history as well as to the history of Imperial Britain. The text is richly illustrated with photographs and plans of Jervois’ forts, while supporting appendices provide a mine of supplementary information. This includes a gazetteer of Jervois’ works and documentary evidence of his involvement in plans for a Channel Tunnel and a proposal for attacking the seaboard of the United States. In 1860, Palmerston’s parliament sanctioned the construction of the largest system of fortifications that the British Isles had ever seen, or would ever see again, to defend against a feared French invasion. For William Jervois, then a young major in the Royal Engineers, his appointment as ‘design leader’ of this programme was a major step in a career in fortress construction that would see his work in Britain, the Channel Islands, Ireland, Canada, Bermuda, India, and later, Australia and New Zealand. Timothy Crick makes extensive use of extracts from Jervois’ diaries and illustrations of his fortresses to give the reader a rounded picture of this Royal Engineer’s wide-ranging career. He also captures a real sense of the fears of invasion that prevailed in this period. Throughout the book both the political background and the technical considerations involved in constructing forts and armaments are carefully explored to flesh out the motivations in what is sometimes referred to as the ‘Golden Age’ of British fort building.

Full Product Details

Author:   Timothy Crick
Publisher:   University of Exeter Press
Imprint:   The Exeter Press
Dimensions:   Width: 20.40cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 26.50cm
Weight:   1.247kg
ISBN:  

9781905816040

ISBN 10:   1905816049
Pages:   322
Publication Date:   27 February 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

CONTENTS GLOSSARY CHRONOLOGY INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE: EARLY DAYS IN AFRICA CHAPTER TWO: APPOINTMENT IN ALDERNEY CHAPTER THREE: THE THREAT FROM FRANCE CHAPTER FOUR: THE 1859 ROYAL COMMISSION CHAPTER FIVE: DEFENDING THE NAVAL BASES CHAPTER SIX: MISSION TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER SEVEN: THE IRONCLAD FORTS CHAPTER EIGHT: IMPERIAL PROGRESS CHAPFER NINE: AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND THE THREAT FROM RUSSIA CHAPTER TEN: COAST DEFENCE, HONOURS AND RETIREMENT CHAPTER ELEVEN: JERVOIS IN CONTEXT CHAPTER NOTES APPENDIX A: Gazetteer: List of fortified works associated with Jervois APPENDIX B: The Relative Industrial Strength of the Major Powers in the 19th Century APPENDIX C: The 'Battle of Dorking' and its Successors APPENDIX D: The Arming of the Coaling Stations, 1884 APPENDIX E: 'A Plan for Attacking the Seaboard of the United States' APPENDIX F: Jervois and the Channel Tunnel (1883) APPENDIX G: The Relative Value of the British Pound SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX OF PEOPLE & PLACES

Reviews

'The book is admirably illustrated and well designed' 'The book is as excellent read as well as being authoritative' John Harris, Fortress Study Group Casemate, 94 May 2012

Author Information

Timothy Crick is qualified in mechanical engineering and industrial design and has lectured in these disciplines as well as in design history. He is a member of the Fortress Study Group, the Coast Defense Study Group (US) and the Palmerston Forts Society.

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