The Political Influence of Naval Force in History [Hardcover]

James Cable (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312217544 | ISBN-13: 978-0312217549 | Publication Date: November 15, 1998

Why governments want navies, how they use naval force for political purposes, and what changes this has brought to the world are questions which still matter at the uncertain end of the 20th century. Here James Cable picks the political fruit of five centuries of naval history. He cites examples in which the objective was clear and success or failure apparent, providing a complete survey of the political purposes for which governments have in the past made use of naval force.

Editorial Reviews

Review

His [James Cable's] book makes a contribution not only to Pacific but to world history. The International History Review

About the Author

Sir James Cable retired from the Diplomatic Service as Ambassador to Finland in 1980 and has since been a freelance writer and lecturer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (November 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312217544
• ISBN-13: 978-0312217549
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,392,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Academic readers only, June 15, 1999

By 

Shannon Richie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Political Influence of Naval Force in History (Hardcover)

As an avid naval strategy reader, I had much anticipated this work's release. However, after finishing it, I was mildly disappointed, as Cable sets overly rigorous standards in defining the allowable circumstances for true political impacts by naval events. For this reason it is often smaller naval incidents which are discussed, rather than most major naval actions.

Also, Cable virtually eliminates all ancient naval actions from consideration, as he views ancient naval activity as being ultimately dependent upon land-based military technology (such as the Roman corvus); this is due to the lack of true naval clash in the modern big-gun ship sense (characteristic only of the last few centuries).

This is not a bad book, but it will definitely appeal mainly to more academic types interested in squeezing analysis out of small, tightly-defined historical circumstances.