"Disaster on the Spanish Main is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in the British military in the period, particularly because the campaign helped set the stage for British success in the Seven Years' War."—A. A. Nofi, NYMAS Review
"Disaster on the Spanish Main will appeal to many audiences, including those interested in combined arms operations, command, and eighteenth-century warfare."—Westin E. Robeson, Army History
“A vivid account of a dramatic episode in British imperial history, written with great verve.”—Jeremy Black, author of The British Seaborne Empire
“This work is a splendid operational history, drawing on both traditional narratives and the latest research in English and Spanish. Chapman has provided a riveting study of a sadly neglected episode.”—Richard Harding, author of The Emergence of Britain’s Global Naval Supremacy: The War of 1739–1748
“A well-researched, expertly written narrative history of the first military campaign in which American soldiers fought for empire in a distant land, and which until now has remained relatively unknown.”—Glenn F. Williams, author of Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era
“Craig Chapman’s fine treatment of an all but forgotten episode in the history of the Americas offers scholarly and general readers much to admire and much to learn. Historians who have lamented the lack of a comprehensive, deeply researched account of the Cartagena Expedition of 1741 need complain no longer. Readers interested in the American colonial period will find it hard to put down this vivid narrative of a one of the greatest fiascos in British military and naval history. Above all, Disaster on the Spanish Main will compel every reader to confront matters as vital today as they were three centuries ago: the folly of imperial ambition and the tragedy of war.”—Fred Anderson, author of Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766
