| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
I
n the spring of 1763 Great Britain, basking in the warm afterglow of decisive
victory in the Seven Years War, presided over a vast and unprecedented
global empire. The small island nation seemingly, and rather suddenly, found
itself without peer-enjoying a level of military and political hegemony not
seen since the days of the Roman Empire.2
It was a unique, albeit fleeting,
position. In the span of a mere twenty years, the world's preeminent global
power, despite enjoying a considerable advantage in almost every conceivable category used to calculate military potential, found itself disgraced and
defeated by a start-up nation possessing a markedly inferior conventional military capability. Crippled by a grossly burgeoning national debt, diplomatically
isolated, and politically divided at home, the North Ministry became embroiled
in a protracted and unpopular global war that its policymakers and military
leaders seemed incapable of understanding-much less winning-until it was
far too late.3
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