This review is devoted to the book of Dmitriy N. Kopelev, "Battle of Portulans. Forgotten and little-known pages of Naval history of the XVI-XIX cс." and analyzes its main provisions related to the history of foreign and domestic naval rivalry. It is emphasized that the author demonstrates the main stages of the European and World naval military confrontation, as well as shows the important role of the Russian Navy in the discovery of Maritime space in the XVIII-XIX cс. The book is based on the study of significant archival manuscrips and printed sources, with the involvement of unknown or little-studied materials.