Read from the Preface of The Age of the Ship of the Line: The British and French Navies, 1650-1815 by Jonathan R. Dull:

"Between 1689 and 1815 the British (or initially the English allied with the Scots) fought seven wars against France. Their navies played an important, sometimes critical, role. The power of the rival navies was based chiefly on their ships of the line, great wooden warships carrying two or three tiers of iron or brass cannon. The age of the ship of the line is largely the story of the navies of Britain and France, the two powers best able to afford the massively expensive fleets of ships of the line. Although Spain and the Netherlands maintained good sized navies throughout the period, by the early eighteenth century they had become subordinate players in the naval rivalry of Britain and France. Other navies, such as those of Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Naples, and Venice, were regional powers, largely restricted to the Baltic or Mediterranean Seas. The goal of this book is to explain the background, course, and results of the seven wars between the British and French, particularly the causes of the final British triumph.

By treating the British and French navies in tandem I hope to give a balanced account of their rivalry; I confess to loving both countries and warmly supporting their friendship. The statesmen of the eighteenth century generally saw war not primarily as a contest of societies but more as a contest of economies, in which victory went to the strongest, not to the “best,” and in which the chief virtue was endurance. I approach these wars in much the same way, using ships of the line as the measure of strength. Thus this book pays as much attention to the number of ships of the line engaged in the various campaigns as to the admirals and statesmen who directed them. In all the Franco-British wars of the period, including the one Britain lost, the War of American Independence, the side that could put the most ships of the line to sea was successful."