This is the story of how the British Navy came to dominate and shape modern history. It is the story of an institution in which courage in battle and bravery in death were a byword, from Nelson's death at Trafalgar to Commander Robert Scott's death in the icy wastes of Antarctica. It is also the story of a military force very different from any other, with a cast of individual personalities, from Sir Frances Drake and Captain James Cook to Charles Darwin and Sir Winston Churchill. But above all, the Royal Navy is part of the story of how one nation rose to global dominance without precedent and without equal, even today. But it also facilitated trade and communication with every other part of the planet. Thanks to its navy, the British Empire became the first truly global community, bound together by law, language, and commerce - and by the 'hearts of oak' of British ships and sailors.