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'Naval tradition? Naval tradition? Monstrous. Nothing but rum, sodomy, prayers and the lash.' This quotation, from Winston Churchill, is frequently dismissed as apocryphal or a jest, but, interestingly, all four of the areas of naval life singled out in it were ones that were subject to major reform initiatives while Churchill was in charge of the Royal Navy between October 1911 and May 1915. During this period, not only were there major improvements in pay and conditions for sailors, but detailed consideration was also given to the future of the spirit ration; to the punishing and eradicating of homosexual practices; to the spiritual concerns of the fleet; and to the regime of corporal punishment that underpinned naval discipline for boy sailors. In short, under Churchill, the Royal Navy introduced a social reform programme perfectly encapsulated in this elegant quip. And, yet, not only has no one studied it; many people do not even know that such a programme even existed. This book rectifies that. It shows that Churchill was not just a major architect of welfare reform as President of the Board of Trade and as Home Secretary, but that he continued to push a radical social agenda while running the Navy.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1: Pay, Promotion, and Democratization
- 2: Rum
- 3: Sodomy
- 4: Prayers
- 5: The Lash
- Conclusion
About the author
Matthew S. Seligmann was born in London. He was educated at the universities of Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, and Sussex and has held posts at the University of Northampton and Brunel University London, where he is currently professor of naval history. An expert on the Anglo-German naval race and Anglo-German relations before and during the First World War, he has written numerous books and articles on this subject, as well as making radio and television appearances.
Summary
Rum, Sodomy, Prayers and the Lash Revisited is an examination of British naval social policy in the opening decades of the twentieth century, under the command of Winston Churchill. It highlights an often forgotten aspect of Churchill's career and his attempts to bring the senior service into the modern world.
Additional text
Seligmann has succeeded in developing a deeply impressive, systematic understanding of the surviving material. Having something genuinely new to say about Winston Churchill in 2018 is no small achievement, and Seligmann must be judged to have done so in a highly impressive and balanced manner.
Report
... in spite of the book's title, this is not a study unduly preoccupied with Churchill. It is, rather, an examination of social change and policymaking in which Churchill looms large, but without losing sight of the complex and dynamic relationship between the navy and society that preoccupied naval policymakers. N. C. Fleming, War in History
