By 1550, Europe had developed tools of global naval dominance. The same tools—the full-rigged ships heavily armed with large cannon—had the potential to transform war at sea from the amphibious adjunct of land power that it had always been into a new and much more independent sphere of military activity. It was European navies, far more than their armies, that would open a whole new world of global contact and conflict in subsequent centuries.
Abu-Lughod, Janet. Before European Hegemony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. An interesting application of world systems theory to world trade networks in this period, showing the commercial background of naval warfare.
Brooks, F. W. The English Naval Forces, 1199—1272. London: A. Brown & Sons, nd. A dated but useful examination of an early “royal” navy. See also the section on naval warfare in Stephen Morillo, Warfare Under the Anglo-Norman Kings. See Chapter 12.
Guilmartin, John. Gunpowder and Galleys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974. An influential study of the impact of the introduction of gunpowder weapons on galley warfare, demonstrating how oared ships were not rendered immediately obsolete by cannon.
Landstrom, Bjorn. The Ship. See Chapter 10.
Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405-1433. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1994. A very readable examination of Zheng He’s Treasure Fleets and the political, social, and economic factors behind their rise and demise.
Lewis, Archibald. Nomads and Crusaders, ad 1000-1368. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. A wide-ranging survey of Eurasian developments that includes substantial information on maritime activity.
Lewis, Archibald, and Timothy Runyon. European Naval and Maritime History, 300-1500. See Chapter 10.
Parry, J. H. Discovery of the Sea. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974. A still useful examination of the origins of European maritime expansion.
Pryor, John H. Geography, Technology, and War. See Chapter 10.
Rose, Susan. Medieval Naval Warfare 1000-1500. London: Routledge, 2001. A solid survey of medieval naval warfare; especially good on infrastructure factors (ports and shipyards) and on fourteenth-century Mediterranean conflict.
Roy, Atul Chandra. Mughal Navy and Naval Warfare. Calcutta: World Press, 1972. One of the few examinations of Mughal naval power and its limits.
Unger, Richard W. The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600. See Chapter 10.