"This study examines the struggle for control of the Falkland Islands / Malvinas since the eighteenth century. It explains the Argentine government's far-sighted development of the islands in the early 19th century; assesses the heavy-handed intervention of the Americans; and explores Britain's reassertion of dominion. The author considers the theory that British colonization was a means of maintaining an empire of trade and commerce and a maritime pre-eminence. This account draws on hitherto unresearched documents relating to international maritime endeavours and is the first to give a balanced treatment of the claims of the British and Argentine governments to sovereignty over those islands known variously as the Falklands or Malvinas."--BOOK JACKET.