The five volumes that constitute Arthur Marder's From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow represented arguably the finest contribution to the literature of naval history since Alfred Mahan. A J P Taylor wrote that 'his naval history has a unique fascination. To unrivalled mastery of sources he adds a gift of simple narrative . . . He is beyond praise, as he is beyond cavil.'

The five volumes were subtitled The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904-1919 and they are still, despite recent major contributions from Robert Massie and Andrew Gordan, regarded by many as the definitive...