Richard, Earl Howe (1726–99) participated in some of the Royal Navy's most significant conflicts. As captain of the Dunkirk, he fired the first shots of the Seven Years' War off the eastern coast of North America in 1755. After being forced to juggle the demands of the American Revolutionary War with the British government's reluctance to put the ships he needed at his disposal, he resigned his command of the North American Station, but later made a comeback, masterminding the battle against the French on the 'Glorious First of June' in 1794. Prolific author Sir John Barrow (1764–1848) drew on more than 400 of Howe's personal letters in preparing this substantial biography, first published in 1838. Several of Barrow's other works have also been reissued in this series, including his autobiography and accounts of the early years of polar exploration.