“This important study provides a robust defense and vindication of the Royal Navy's pre-World War One leadership, war planning, and tactical thought. It is refreshing to read an account that pays close attention to important figures like Walter Kerr, Francis Bridgeman, Edmond Slade, William May, and George Callaghan, whose contributions to British naval policy have been largely ignored by historians obsessed with John Fisher.” —John Beeler, author of British Naval Policy in the Gladstone-Disraeli Era, 1866-1880; Professor of History, the University of Alabama

“Focusing on the creation and development of the Home Fleet, this lucid and well-researched volume is a very welcome addition to the literature that provides an up-to-date analysis of how the Royal Navy made ready for a possible conflict with Germany in the first decade of the twentieth century.” —Matthew S. Seligmann, professor of Naval History, Brunel University London; author of Rum, Sodomy, Prayers and the Lash Revisited: Winston Churchill and Social Reform in the Royal Navy, 1900-1915

“The Genesis of the Grand Fleet is the first detailed account of the formation and development of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, and in doing so offers important new insights on a host of crucial issues from defense politics to strategy and materiel. The book is well researched and closely argued, and makes significant contribution to the scholarship on the pre-First World War Royal Navy.” —Richard Dunley, author of Britain and the Mine, 1900-1915; lecturer in History, University of New South Wales, Canberra 

“The storyline details the significant issues confronting pre-World War I British naval policy and strategy and there are several themes still relevant today for those concerned with the strategic level of defence planning, force design, and operations.” —Australian Naval Institute

“Christopher M. Buckey has crafted a narrative that serves as a useful tool that reflects the past challenges of naval policy onto a modern setting as nations ponder their twenty-first-century maritime goals. It’s a text that will appeal to a broad swath of readers ranging from students of naval history through those interested in naval policy and great power competition.” —Armchair General

“Genesis of the Grand Fleet is an excellent monograph which would be of interest to the general and specialist reader.” —A Blog on Winston Churchill

“Buckey’s Genesis of the Grand Fleet: The Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet 1896-1914 is a new, valuable assessment of the political status of Britain and the state of the Royal Navy just prior to the First World War. Thoroughly researched archival and naval sources with scholarly documentation take the reader through a highly complex era of political and naval intrigue to demonstrate how the Royal Navy prepared Britain to face a war at sea against the rapidly developing Kaiserliche Marine. Buckey’s account is balanced, detailed, and well-written, and should be preferred by general readers, scholars, and historians.” —Naval Historical Foundation

"Christopher Buckey’s text is firmly based on a wealth of archival research, and provides a useful survey of much recent scholarship on British naval developments in the prewar years. With a book of this scope, there are bound to be a few contentious points. Hoists of just a few signal flags were fully capable of ordering manoeuvres in real time. Some comparisons of British and German building programmes would have been helpful, as would more details on the organisation within the fleets of older predreadnoughts and armoured cruisers. But Buckey firmly rejects revisionist theories of short battle ranges, flotilla defence and substitution. All in all, his book is a welcome new study of the prewar Royal Navy."—Warship