Charles Middleton was one of the most interesting, influential and unlikeable characters in the British naval history. As Controller of the Navy 1778-1790, a member of the Admiralty Board 1794-95, and First Lord 1805-06, as well as the confidential naval adviser of several prime ministers, he played a decisive part in reform and centralization of naval administration over thirty years, and was finally (at the age of eighty) responsible for guiding the Trafalgar campaign.

In this volume are printed correspondence and papers dealing with the latter part of Middleton ‘s period as Controller of the Navy (1779-90), particularly bearing on naval administration and the reform thereof.