摘要：Until the advent of bombing aircraft and long-range guided missiles, the Royal Navy was always regarded as Britain's first line of defence, while the Merchant Navy has for long been the lifeline of the country's economy. In view of the importance and popularity of the maritime services, it is remarkable that the topic of medicine at sea has been comparatively neglected by medical historians and that no complete history of the naval medical services had been attempted until Surgeon-Commander Keevil undertook the task. It was fortunate that he should be the first to do so, for his distinguished career as a medical officer in the Navy, his literary qualities, and his historical interests combined to make him eminently suitable for the work. It is all the more tragic that his death in December, 1957, has left the project half-completed. Of the four volumes which he planned, only the first two will be published, bringing the story down to 1714; the history of the later period still remains to be written.
