Michael Lewis (naval historian)
Encyclopedia
Michael Arthur Lewis was a British
naval historian
, as well as a fiction writer, who was Professor of History and English at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich between 1934 and 1955.
, Lewis was the second son of The Rev'd Victor Arthur Nicholas Lewis, a church of England clergyman, and his wife Mary Ann Clayton Lewis. He was educated at Uppingham School
and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he took a Bachelor of Arts
degree with honours in 1912 and a Master of Arts in 1924.
During the First World War, he served in the Royal Marines
form 1914 to 1919, becoming a lieutenant
. On 5 August 1933, he married Muriel Doris Cruikshank with whom he had a son and a daughter.
s General Education Course, 1946-1955 at Greewnich. Additionally, he was lecturer in English to the Royal Navy Staff College, 1943-1957, and in Naval history
, 1945-1953. He was lecturer in naval history to the Royal Navy Senior Officers War Course, 1947-1953.
Lewis was an active member of the Navy Records Society
, serving on its publication committee and council from 1938, as well as becoming vice president from 1939. Equally active in the Society for Nautical Research
, he was a member of council from 1935, vice president in 1946, chairman of council from 1951 to 1960 and president from 1960. Additionally, he was a member of the HMS Victory
Advisory Technical Committee from 1955.
In 1952-1953, Lewis was the introducer on British television
for the American series of 26, one-half hour television programmes on navies in the Second World War, Victory at Sea
.
to the Dictionary of National Biography
, and the article "Armed Forces and the Art of War, 1830-1870" in the New Cambridge Modern History. He also wrote for periodicals, including Punch
(1918-1931), Mariner's Mirror
, Seafarer, the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
, The Times
, The Listener, Overseas, and the New Statesman
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
naval historian
Naval historian
A naval historian is a student of maritime history, who specialises in the sub-discipline of naval history.-References:*Julian Corbett, 'The Teaching of Naval and Military History,' History, New Series, vol. 1 , pp. 12–19....
, as well as a fiction writer, who was Professor of History and English at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich between 1934 and 1955.
Early life and education
Born in Freeland, OxfordshireFreeland, Oxfordshire
Freeland is a village and civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire.-History:Freeland village began as part of the parish of Eynsham. Its toponym is derived from the common Old English word fyrth, meaning a wood. In 1150 the Abbot of Eynsham granted land called terra de Frithe to one...
, Lewis was the second son of The Rev'd Victor Arthur Nicholas Lewis, a church of England clergyman, and his wife Mary Ann Clayton Lewis. He was educated at Uppingham School
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he took a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree with honours in 1912 and a Master of Arts in 1924.
During the First World War, he served in the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
form 1914 to 1919, becoming a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. On 5 August 1933, he married Muriel Doris Cruikshank with whom he had a son and a daughter.
Academic career
Lewis spent his entire 42-year academic career in English naval colleges. In 1913, he was appointed an assistant master at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, remaining there until 1920, when he was transferred to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. In 1922, he was appointed assistant head of history and English at Dartmouth. Shortly after his marriage, he was appointed Professor of History and English in 1934 at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, a position he held until his retirement in 1955. While holding that position, he was Director of the Sub-lieutenantSub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
s General Education Course, 1946-1955 at Greewnich. Additionally, he was lecturer in English to the Royal Navy Staff College, 1943-1957, and in Naval history
Naval history
Naval history is the area of military history concerning war at sea and the subject is also a sub-discipline of the broad field of maritime history....
, 1945-1953. He was lecturer in naval history to the Royal Navy Senior Officers War Course, 1947-1953.
Lewis was an active member of the Navy Records Society
Navy Records Society
The Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly society to publish historical documents that illustrated the history of the Royal Navy. Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge were the key leaders who organized the Society, basing it on the model of earlier...
, serving on its publication committee and council from 1938, as well as becoming vice president from 1939. Equally active in the Society for Nautical Research
Society for Nautical Research
The Society for Nautical Research was founded in 1910 to promote the academic field of maritime history in the United Kingdom.The aims of the society are to:* support and encourage research in maritime history and underwater archaeology....
, he was a member of council from 1935, vice president in 1946, chairman of council from 1951 to 1960 and president from 1960. Additionally, he was a member of the HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
Advisory Technical Committee from 1955.
In 1952-1953, Lewis was the introducer on British television
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
for the American series of 26, one-half hour television programmes on navies in the Second World War, Victory at Sea
Victory at Sea
Victory at Sea is a documentary television series about naval warfare during World War II that was originally broadcast by NBC in the USA in 1952–1953. It was condensed into a film in 1954. The music soundtrack, by Richard Rodgers and Robert Russell Bennett, was re-recorded and sold as record albums...
.
Historical writings
- England's sea-officers: the story of the naval profession. London Allen & Unwin, 1939, 1948.
- British ships and British seamen. London: British Council, 1940; Translated as Britiske skip og britiske sjømenn , 1943; Britische schefen en Britische zeelieden, door Michael Lewis ... Vertaald door A. J. Staal. Geïllustreerde uitgave. (Herzien, 1943, 1945; Reprinted as The ships and seamen of Britain. London and New York: Pub. for the British Council by Longmans, Green, & Co., 1946.
- The navy of Britain: a historical portrait. London: G. Allen and Unwin, 1948.
- Nelson's letters from the Leeward IslandsLeeward IslandsThe Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
and other original documents in the Public Record Office and the British Museum, edited by Geoffrey Rawson with annotation by Michael Lewis. London: Golden Cockerel PressGolden Cockerel PressGolden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
, 1953. Limited edition of 300 copies. - A narrative of my professional adventures (1790-1839), by Sir William Henry DillonWilliam Henry DillonAdmiral Sir William Henry Dillon was a British naval officer.He was born in Birmingham in 1779, illegitimate son of Sir John Talbot Dillon, and Elizabeth Collins. He entered the navy in May 1790 and served as a midshipman under Captain Gambier in the Defence, and was stunned by a splinter in the...
, edited by Michael Lewis. Two volumes. Greenwich: Navy Records Society, 1953-1956. - The history of the British navy. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1957.
- The Spanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
. London: B. T. Batsford, 1960; Pan, 1966; Crowell, 1968. - Armada guns, a comparative study of English and Spanish armaments. London, Allen & Unwin, 1961.
- Napoleon and his British captives. London: Allen & Unwin, 1962.
- The Navy in transition, 1814-1864; a social history. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965.
- Ancestors; a personal exploration into the past. London, Hodder & Stoughton [1966].
- The HawkinsJohn HawkinsAdmiral Sir John Hawkins was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer and controller of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588...
dynasty: three generations of a Tudor family. London, Allen & Unwin, 1969. - SpitheadSpitheadSpithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
; an informal history. London, Allen & Unwin, 1972.
Fiction
- Afloat & Ashore (verses). London: Allen & Unwin, 1921.
- Beg o’ the Upland (novel). Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1922.
- The Brand of the Beast. London: Allen & Unwin, 1924.
- Fleeting follies. (verse) London: Allen & Unwin, 1924.
- The Island of disaster (novel). London: Allen & Unwin, 1926.
- Roman Gold (novel). London: Allen & Unwin, 1927.
- The Three Amateurs (novel). LOndon: Houghton, 1929.
- The Crime of Herbert Wratislaus. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1931.
Other works
In addition, Lewis contributed the biography of Sir Geoffrey CallenderGeoffrey Callender
Sir Geoffrey Arthur Romaine Callender was an English naval historian and the first director of the National Maritime Museum from its opening in 1937 until his death in 1946....
to the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, and the article "Armed Forces and the Art of War, 1830-1870" in the New Cambridge Modern History. He also wrote for periodicals, including Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
(1918-1931), Mariner's Mirror
Mariner's Mirror
The Mariner's Mirror is the quarterly academic journal of the Society for Nautical Research in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1911 and is abstracted and indexed by Scopus.- Editors :Previous editors-in-chief have been:...
, Seafarer, the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
Proceedings (magazine)
Proceedings is a monthly magazine published by the United States Naval Institute since 1874. The 96-page publication features articles about Naval and Military matters written by active and retired military personnel plus renowned authors and scholars of their subject.-External links:* * ** by...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, The Listener, Overseas, and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
.