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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An insightful look at 4 important naval battles, April 26, 2002
John Keegan has turned his formidable talent to analysing some of the most famous naval battles of the last 200 years. For each, he gives an insightful look into the recent history of the times, emphasising technological aspects of ship handling and weapons. He then breaks down the battles into easy-to-comprehend chunks, followed by an analysis of the consequences (usually political) and the more immediate cost in terms of the sailors and ships involved.While all 4 battles are famous examples of their type, Keegan seems to waffle between choosing battles that were decisive and those that were stalemates. Trafalgar was a decisive battle, but it was unusual in the Age of Sail that one navy enjoyed such a complete victory over its enemy. Alternatively, Jutland was a large battle, but the battle itself was a tactical draw in that both sides left the battle with their proportionate strengths intact. A far more decisive ironclad battle occurred at Tsushima Bay, so why didn't Keegan choose that (admitedly less famous) battle instead? The remaining two battles are from WWII - Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic. Midway was a clear U.S. victory, and the purest example of carrier-based naval conflict. The Battle of the Atlantic was ultimately decisive as well, but due to the seesaw of technological advancess, the outcome was very much in doubt for 4 years. Although the submarines lost the Battle of the Atlantic, Keegan concludes submarines are the ultimate naval weapon available today, and points to the success of the U.S. submarine offensive against Japan. If that is his conclusion, why not give an account of the Japan-U.S. conflict instead of the Battle of the Atlantic? This is nitpicking, however. The strength of the book is the masterful analysis of each individual battle. While I question the overall theme and choice of battles, each chapter in and of itself is fantastic. Therefore, it gets 4 stars, as it is inferior to Keegan's Face of Battle and Mask of Command in maintaining an overarching theme.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Naval Warfare - A Dissection, October 26, 2002
Keegan is one of those writers who has read and studied his subject vastly, but who is able, when necessary, to articulate his views with poinpoint precision. You never feel as if Keegan is making a throwaway generalization, and no words are wasted. Those skills and capacities he brings to his account of naval warfare since the days of fighting sail. In his first instalment, on Nelson's Trafalgar victory, he explains that naval warfare in 1805 had advanced to the same level of destructiveness as had land warfare in 1914, i.e., an appallingly high concentration of firepower over a small distance, matched only by the development of manoevre. On land, the solution was the tank; at sea, it was Nelson's method of all-or-nothing attack followed by envelopment. In other chapters we survey the Battle of Jutland (featuring some truly superb descriptions of the battleship duels), the struggle for the North Atlantic and the Battle of Midway. A brilliant essay not only for military enthusiasts but for anyone interested in general strategy.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Attention All Hands: Read this Book, August 21, 2001
This was a book, cohorts asserted, that was certain to disappoint those smitten with aircraft carriers and battleships. After all, Keegan's central conclusion about the evolution of the capital ship (which will not be revealed here) seems anathema to those who have devoted their lives to surface warfare.However, `The Price of Admiralty'- with its soaring prose, penetrating gaze, and inescapable logic - is a classic in the canon of naval history. Keegan is an unconventional historian who offers an original thesis on naval warfare not by assessing the gains of victorious navies, but rather through the emerging trends in each era. In this sense, it is more than straight history. `Admiralty' is a compass point for the future. Keegan explores the meaning of the term `command of the seas' and strives to discern whether any navy throughout history could lay claim to it. The influence of technology on the outcome of the four major battles covered in the book - Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway, and the Battle of the Atlantic - is demonstrated, to great effect. Perhaps the most important contribution of `The Price of Admiralty' is its implicit exhortation to think beyond the present and into the future. Through the examples of four naval engagements, Keegan demonstrates the grasp governments had on developing technology, and how this affected war aims. Keegan's conclusions point to the necessity of `thinking outside of the box' and applying the emerging technological trends to war on the high seas. Have we run aground on outdated and outmoded strategy? Or will we think ahead to battles not yet fought, and train future captains in forward-thinking tactics? This is a remarkable book and a worthy successor to the works of Alfred Thayer Mahan.
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