This People's Navy: The Making of American Sea Power [Paperback]

Kenneth J. Hagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 1992

A sweeping account of the American naval experience from the wooden Continental Navy to contemporary projections for the service's high-tech mission in the next century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hagan, a professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy, here ably traces the military, political and technological evolution of the Navy from the days of sail into the nuclear era, and reveals how the Gorbachev administration has called into question the premises of U.S. naval policy and strategy. He describes how the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan (whose doctrines he considers outdated), combined with geopolitical realignments around the turn of the century, led to the Navy's transformation from a modest hit-and-run unit to a capital-ship force whose mission is to command the seas through decisive engagements between battlefleets. In the latter part of the study, the author analyzes the influences of three figures in the reshaping of the modern Navy: Admiral Hyman Rickover and the creation of the nuclear-powered navy; Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's attempt to reduce the large number of expensive ships; and Navy Secretary John Lehman's reinforcement of Mahanian doctrine with his "carrier as panacea" views. Hagan argues that "the American destiny is rooted in continental North America, and that political concerns with the transoceanic world are fundamentally marginal."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hagan (history, U.S. Naval Academy) has written a highly detailed and opinionated survey of American sea power from the naval deliberations of the Continental Congress in 1775 to the maritime strategy of the Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, in the 1980s. Concentrating on policy and strategy, or what the author calls "the external political and economic environment," this history takes issue with traditional naval historians to present a view of American sea power that recognizes the interaction of many variables, e.g., politics, personalities, and technology. Edward L. Beach's The United States Navy: 200 Years ( LJ 3/1/86) provides a technological view of naval history and Edwin B. Hooper's United States Naval Power in a Changing World (Praeger, 1988) gives a more limited political survey. For complementary views of American naval history, choose Hagan and Beach.
- Harold N. Boyer, Marple P.L., Broomall, Pa.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (August 21, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029134714
• ISBN-13: 978-0029134719
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #686,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a history of the U.S. Navy, March 19, 2000

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: This People's Navy: The Making of American Sea Power (Paperback)

A good short review of the founding and history of the U. S. Navy. The main premise of the book is the transition of the Navy from a coastal patrol and merchant raiding fleet to one that then equaled and surpassed the British Navy. The previous reviewer talked about the financial aspect of being a global fleet. He must have read between the lines. This is certainly a good overview of the U. S. Navy.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Professionally cogent alternative to Big Ship Navy orthodoxy, June 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This People's Navy: The Making of American Sea Power (Paperback)

When John Lehman reviewed this book for the New York Times [where it made their list of the year's top books] he called it "...easily the best one-volume history of the U.S. Navy yet written." He may also have been adroitly slipping the punch of its critique on the extravagantly unnecessary armada which he--as Secretary of the Navy--built for Ronald Reagan's defense industry. From the "Prophet" Mahan [publicity flack for Teddy Roosevelt and his "Great White Fleet"] to the Naval Academy-sanctified priesthood past and present, this book is a persistently low key, scholarly confrontation of the dogmas which have converted the United States from the world's greatest creditor to the world's greatest debtor nation. The message between the lines deserves careful reading by every tax payer.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Message for Americans, October 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: This People's Navy: The Making of American Sea Power (Paperback)

As its title suggests, this essay by Kenneth Hagan, Captain USNR and History Professor USNA, unfolds our nation's emerging navalism - 1776-1991 - as a metaphor for the military-industrial power still driving US policy. One of its targets, Reagan-era SECNAV John Lehman, described it as "...the best one-volume history of the US Navy yet written." Subtly presented betwween the lines of this rousing story is a message for any American who pays taxes or votes.