The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783

This edition includes major parts of two books by renowned naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan, along with an introduction by Antony Preston. The two sources are: "Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1783" (abridged) and "Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution 1793-1812" (excerpts) Capt. A.T. Mahan's first book, published in 1890, was about 600 pages and included 30 illustrations (maps and plans, or track-charts, of sea battles), and can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg, file "13529-h.htm". It is also available in an unabridged trade paperback reprint from Dover Publications. His sequel on the British Navy during the years of the French Revolution was published in 1892 and is not available at Gutenberg (although several other Mahan books are, including the two volume "Life of Nelson." [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m#a5116] The atlas-sized (9.5 x 12 in., 256 pages) hardcover edition reviewed here was published by Prentice-Hall in 1980 (ISBN: 0134645375) and has several advantages, the foremost being that it includes naval history and commentary covering the pinnacle of sailing sea power for the British Navy, as indicated in its title, "Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1805," the last being the year of Nelson's glorious victory at Tralfalgar. As a faithful introduction to Mahan's ideas and contributions to naval history for a strategic purpose it does a very good job, including ALL of his seminal chapter on the elements of sea power. The historical narrative which Mahan provided as exposition has only been slightly reduced by the editor, and in most cases flows intelligibly. After the first five chapters of "Mahan's Influence...1660-1783," the abridgement in the 1980 Prentice-Hall edition is more severe, with the 6th chapter reduced to one sentence. Most of what is missing is political or land-based military background, and the editors have included all significant naval battles. Mahan's book had 14 chapters, and the last one corresponds to the tenth chapter of the 1980 edition; chapters 11 through 14 of the Prentice-Hall edition are taken from the sequel, "Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution 1793-1812." One improvement is the updated sea battle plans or track-charts which have replaced Mahan's original illustrations and provide greater clarity of the actions. However, there are not as many of them and completely missing are the maps of the Mediterranean and other naval theaters. While the best part of Mahan's text has been included, over half the surface of the 256 pages has been devoted to non-Mahan illustrations, mostly taken from period paintings, engravings and models of sailing ships in port and in battle, and portraits of political and military figures. It is the American Heritage treatment, and I find it to be distracting, particularly the captions which often seem intent on making points not related to Mahan's narrative or principles. The lack of large scale strategic maps and the

This book ,written by an obscure U.S. Navy officer, is credited with opening the eyes of many emerging countries to the need for seapower. It lit off the first arms races that almost bankrupted countries building "dreadnoughts" (early Battleships) and lead to the rise of both Japan ,Germany and the U.S. as serious Naval powers actively seeking colonies. This book ignited the fuse that lead to the battle of Jutland and to Pearl Harbor. History buffs,Naval officers and students getting ready for their first year at Annapolis should check it out.

Granted Mahan is out of date as some of the other reviewers state. Additionally, he is a hard read and it is often said that most people only read the first chapter (which outlines the basic principles) and skip the rest. Nonetheless, the book has value as a historical document. For good or ill, Mahan had a profound influence on the formulation of American Naval Policy. Today's Blue Water Navy (most recently promoted by former Navy Secretary John Lehman as the "Six Hundred Ship Navy") is built around the fundamental Mahan principle of building a fleet to destroy the enemy's fleet on the high seas. The U.S. Navy, one hundred years after Mahan, is only now adopting a new, littoral strategy fundamentally different from Mahan's.

Mahan was a lecturer at the U.S. Naval academy at the end of the nineteenth century. His books was on the compulsory reading list at the U.S. Naval academy for many, many years. It remains a very fine text. Although another reviewer has indicated that this work is obsolete, the principles set forth, and the observations made by Mahan have reflect great insight. It is a superb text, recent issues being thoughtfully illustrated as well. Cross Reference: Frederick Thomas Jane, one of Mahan's contemporaries, who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of maritime affairs.

The work of Admiral Mahon is now largely forgotten. With the passing of empires his doctrines became obsolete. He discussed the history of the British Empire in its struggles with France prior to the napoleonic period. He was of the view that the possession of a large fleet with secure bases was the key to retaining a large empire. An empire in turn was the key to the wealth of nations.His writing contributed to the development of the German navy at the beginning of the century and indirectly to the tensions which led to the first world war. The history of Japan between the wars was characterised by a whole hearted adoption of his ideas.An examination of his work is a key to understanding much of what happened in the twentieth century.