Pitt the Elder

This remarkable book opens at the dawn of the British Empire - with the great sea battle at Quiberon Bay where French ships, intended for the 1759 invasion of Britain, are chased, caught and defeated by a fleet commanded by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. In this momentous victory Britain effectively settled the outcome of the Seven Years'' War and established itself as the world''s dominant imperial power. At the heart of the conflict with France was William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham and Britain''s future Prime Minister. Weaving together military history and political biography Edward Pearce provides a portrait of the man ''with an eye like a diamond'' - a man who had close ties with the slave trade and who preached war and British supremacy on a world stage. Alongside detailed descriptions of battles in Europe and North America we follow Pitt''s career as a politician - one that was closely intertwined with General James Wolfe at Quebec; American independence; the slow