The Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1805 [Hardcover]

Alfred Thayer Mahan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0831757248
• ISBN-13: 978-0831757243
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,549,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1805 (Prentice-Hall edition, 1980), January 6, 2008

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Able Foxtrot (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The influence of sea power upon history, 1660-1805 (Hardcover)

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 plethora of images of antique, albeit marvelous, sailing ships ultimately prove to be at odds with Mahan's primary lesson, that a national strategy of sea power depends on geography, a strong trade-based economy and national character, and not on any particular technology (sail) or tactics therof.

Bottom line: get this book for the pictures, and the Dover edition (ISBN: 0486255093) for Mahan's unabridged text which is still relevant today. Note that he saw the necessity of the U.S. providing a sphere of naval power in the Carribean and eastern Pacific prior to the construction of the Panama Canal. His conception of sea power was based on the model of the growth of the British Empire, which he thought America might aspire to as it developed into a manufacturing and trading powerhouse. And he warned that countries (Spain and Portugal in the time of his history) which held the production of real goods in contempt would loose power and ultimately decline. As for the projection of military power into the Middle East without any economic gain, and even going into deeper debt to do so, it is fair to say Mahan would consider it the height of folly. But you can read his book yourself and draw your own conclusions.