Spithead
As a strategically vital access route to southern England and as the anchorage for Portsmouth, Britain’s premier naval base, the waters of Spithead reflect much of the UK’s naval history. They have seen piracy and battles, countless departing and returning fleets, royal visits and naval reviews, courts martial and the ‘Spithead Breeze’ mutiny of 1797. Originally published in 1972, this book draws together the many and varied strands of history that have given Spithead its significance.
Michael Arthur Lewis (1890-1970) read history at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a year at Grenoble University (and would have played in the French national rugby team had the authorities not discovered that he was British). His subsequent academic career was spent wholly in naval education, teaching at the Royal Naval College Osborne (1913-20, serving as lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery in World War I), at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth (1920-34) and finally as Professor of History and English at the Royal Naval College Greenwich (1934-55). A fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, he was active in the Navy Records Society (vice-president) and the Society for Nautical Research (president). In 1952-3 he introduced all 26 episodes of the American documentary series Victory at Sea on BBC television, earning the public soubriquet of ‘the TV Prof’. He authored or edited 22 books: two of light verse, six thrillers (‘clutch and throttle’ as he called them), thirteen on naval history, and one on genealogical gleanings from his own family tree. He retired in 1955, having been awarded a CBE for services to naval education.