The 7 Years War: The World Catches Fire (Part 2)

On a cold Sunday in March 1757, Admiral John Byng knelt on a cushion on the quarterdeck of a ship in Portsmouth harbour, dropped a handkerchief, and was shot by a platoon of Royal Marines while the entire fleet watched. He had thirty-nine years of service. His crime was failing to try hard enough. Voltaire got the line that stuck: in this country it is thought well to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others. That is what Britain looked like in 1757. Losing, frightened, and ...