What was the purpose of Britain's 18th century wars in the West Indies, including the establishment of naval bases in Antigua and Jamaica? Satsuma picks up the argument here that their main purpose was easy financial gain, while inflicting financial damage on Spain, and to a lesser extent France and the Netherlands. This volume explores the internal British cases for pro-maritime wars, both during the War of the Spanish Succession that ran from 1702-13, and afterwards during both the War of Quadruple Alliance of 1718-20 and the Anglo-Spanish Conflict of 1726-29. A middle section analyzes the impact of this line of reasoning on both naval policy and parliamentary legislation, paying special attention to the American Act of 1708. One additional chapter explores the establishment of the South Sea Company and the plans, later abandoned, for a naval expedition supporting it in 1712. A two page expansion of acronyms is given at the beginning of the book. This work is based on Satsuma's dissertation in history at the University of Exeter. Annotation ©2014 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)