Abstract
The War of Jenkins’ Ear is often regarded as a mere prelude to the War of Austrian Succession, a much bigger war involving major European countries. Indeed, from the perspective of European history, the War of Jenkins’ Ear might appear to be a war of secondary importance. However, from the perspective of Atlantic and colonial maritime history, especially the history of Anglo-Spanish struggle over the Spanish American market and its wealth, the war had its own significance. There are several excellent classic studies that have covered the period of this war as well as subsequent wars, such as the work of Sir H. W. Richmond and Richard Pares. 3 More recently, in the 1990s, Richard Harding and Philip Woodfine made an in-depth analysis of the naval and diplomatic aspects of the war, respectively. 4 Since then, this war does not seem to have received much attention from historians. However, in the last few years, it has begun to attract attention again, and a few new works on it have recently appeared.
Among the new works is Robert Gaudi's The War of Jenkins’ Ear: The Forgotten Struggle for North and South America, 1739–1742. In this book, which is aimed at a general readership, Gaudi skilfully describes the major events of the war as well as their background – sometimes with humour. His tactful account helps readers to obtain a fairly comprehensive picture of the war. Gaudi begins his narrative with events in earlier periods and carefully explains the origins and background of the War of Jenkins’ Ear. As a result, readers understand that the seeds of the war already existed in the period just after the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). Gaudi proceeds with a vivid description of famous operations during the war, such as Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's attack on Porto Bello and an amphibious expedition against Cartagena, as well as relatively minor events, such as an expedition against Santiago de Cuba. However, his narrative is not confined to the maritime aspects of the war. He also depicts General James Oglethorpe's expedition to Saint Augustine and his struggle to defend Georgia. Moreover, Gaudi occasionally turns readers’ attention to various debates regarding the war, such as the debate on the validity of the story of Captain Robert Jenkins, who allegedly appeared in the British Parliament with his ear cut off by the Spanish Guarda Costas, and, more importantly, the debate on who was responsible for the failure of the Cartagena expedition. Thus, after reading this book, readers will have a fairly comprehensive overview of the war, which was largely but not exclusively a maritime war, as well as its background.
The strength of this book lies in its skilful storytelling, which makes this less well-known war more approachable for readers. Of particular note are the short descriptions of the lives of individuals involved in the Anglo-Spanish conflict, including both famous and not so well-known figures, such as Vernon, Don Blas de Lezo and Captain Lawrence Washington. These personal histories are occasionally inserted in the main narrative of the war with anecdotal episodes, and they make the narrative more vivid and attractive for readers, although readers should take these anecdotes, which sometimes lack solid evidence, with a pinch of salt. Because of this focus on individuals, readers will be reminded that, like any other historical event, this war too was a lived experience for people at the time. This is a simple but often easily forgotten fact in works of a more scholarly nature, which tend to focus on past social and political structures or economic trends.
Of such personal histories, readers might be amused by the strange symbiotic relationship at the Spanish court between King Philip V of Spain and Farinelli, an Italian castrato singer, or they might be moved by Oglethorpe's passion for prison reform, which was partly driven by his compassion for his unfortunate friend Robert Castell, who died young in a debtors’ prison. Also, readers can imagine the sense of desperation felt by John Byron, the grandfather of Lord Byron and one of the participants in George Anson's circumnavigation, when out of extreme hunger he was forced to gnaw on the paws of his dead dog. This richness and depth of lived experience in history cannot be entirely reduced to the analytical concept of ‘agency’. Thus, Gaudi is very successful in providing readers with rich and enjoyable narratives of the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
However, this book also has its limitations. Unfortunately, because it is aimed at a general readership, it does not have any footnotes. Although Gaudi sometimes refers to primary sources, the lack of footnotes makes it almost impossible for readers to trace the original sources to verify the validity of his narrative. This deficiency is even more critical when it comes to the interpretation of controversial issues during the war, not least of which is the debate on who was responsible for the failure of the Cartagena expedition. Gaudi seems to accept Richmond's traditional interpretation, which blames Major General Thomas Wentworth, while rejecting Harding's revisionist view, which argues that Vernon was also responsible. However, as Gaudi does not always provide evidence to support his claims in a clear and convincing way, his argument is not entirely plausible. At one point, he criticizes Harding for writing ‘from the comfortable vantage of more than two hundred years’ (268), but this can hardly be a sufficient and scholarly reason for the validity of his criticism.
It is thorough empirical research that produces valid judgements on controversial historical issues with evidence. However, it might be somewhat unfair to criticize Gaudi's book on this point. This is the kind of contribution expected by works of a more scholarly nature, though they might be less enjoyable to read and sometimes too rigid in terms of their writing style.
In summary, The War of Jenkins’ Ear will be a very good read for those who want to have an overview of this war since the book provides a fairly comprehensive and enjoyable account. However, readers who are seeking to understand this war at a deeper level need to look elsewhere. As mentioned, there are already some excellent studies on this war, but for new analysis based on empirical research, the War of Jenkins’ Ear is still waiting for another new work.