Balancing Strategy: Sea Power, Neutrality, and Prize Law in the Seven Years’ War is a book that examines the relationship between sea power, law, and strategy. Anna Brinkman uses in-depth analysis of cases brought before the Court of Prize Appeal during the Seven Years’ War to explore how Britain worked to shape maritime international law to its strategic advantage. The book unpicks a complex web of competing priorities: deals struck with the Dutch Republic and Spain; imperial rivalry; mercantilism; colonial trade; and the relationships between metropoles and colonies, trade, and the navy.

This book launch will have Anna Brinkman and David Morgan-Owen, the two directors of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies in conversation discussing the research and arguments presented in Balancing Strategy. 

After the discussion, there will be a Q&A session followed by a drinks reception. Discount flyers from Cambridge will be available for attendees to pre-order the book. Proof copies will be available for attendees to browse through. Publication date is first week of May.

Speakers

• Dr Anna Brinkman, author of Balancing Strategy and a lecturer at the Defence Studies Department, King's College London. She is a historian of maritime strategic thinking and international maritime law in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. She is also a Co-director of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies.
• Dr David Morgan-Owen, author of The Fear of Invasion: Strategy, Politics, and British War Planning, 188O-1914 and a Reader in the History of War at King’s College London. He is a historian of modern warfare and British strategic thought in the 19^th and 20th centuries. He is a Co-director of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies.