An overview of British prize law from the late seventeenth century to the twentieth century, focusing especially on how prize law disputes were handled in the era of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Bringing the experience of a practising lawyer and drawing on previously untapped contemporary Georgian law reports, this book provides a fresh legal perspective on British prize law from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Focusing on how prize law disputes were handled in the era of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the book takes the reader into the socially connected worlds of lawyers, courts and naval officers. Setting out how conflicts were resolved within the rule of law, it considers real cases, notably the four-year litigation between Nelson and his patron Lord St Vincent over the 'flag' share of prize money from captured Spanish treasure. Highlighting how prize-taking was a crucial part of war strategy, it illustrates how the rules for the division of prize money evolved as an incentive, revealing a dynamic system adapting to economic and social pressures in a war for national survival. It also considers how prize money fitted in with 'international' law, how the United States handled prize money, discusses attempts to set up an International Prize Court that were ultimately rejected by Britain and explores how prize money in Britain was eventually brought to an end in 1945.

Grahame Aldous KC, barrister, judge, ocean sailor and naval historian completed his doctorate at King's College, London.