Author(s): Norman Baker

Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Wales | Military, War, Defence Forces | Politics/Political Science

During the American Revolution the British Government faced the unprecedented task of feeding, clothing, arming and and equipping large forces 3,000 miles distant from their main sources of supply, for the organisation of which the Treasury was largely responsible. Prinipally through an uncritical acceptance of the opinions of the contemporary parliamentary Opposition, the view has long persisted that the eighteenth-century Treasury used army supply contracts as a form of political patronage with little of no attention to efficiency or economy. Although this view has been questioned since the 1930s Professor Baker's work is the first detailed study testing its validity. The result is a substantial reassessment, although not a total vindication of the Treasury's performance during the American War. Some hitherto neglected problems, political, economic and technical, confronting the Treasury and its contractors are given detailed attention.

Good condition. Ex library - library slip and card envelope on front inside cover, Dewey number on spine, withdrawn stamp on outside page edge. No dust jacket.