Alfred Thayer Mahan

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1890). by Alfred Thayer Mahan

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660-1783 is a history of naval warfare published in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It details the role of sea power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and discusses the various factors needed to support and achieve sea power, with emphasis on having the largest and most powerful fleet. Scholars consider it the single most influential book in naval strategy. Its policies were quickly adopted by most major navies, ultimately leading to the World War I naval arms race. Mahan formulated his concept of sea power while reading a history book in Lima, Peru.[5][6] The book was published by Mahan while president of the US Naval War College, and was a culmination of his ideas regarding naval warfare. Mahan began the book with an examination of what factors lead to a supremacy of the seas, especially how Great Britain was able to rise to its near dominance. He identifies such features as geography, population, and government, and expands the definition of sea power as comprising a strong navy and commercial fleet. Mahan also promotes the belief that any army would succumb to a strong naval blockade. The book then goes on to describe a series of European and American wars and how naval power was used in each.... Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840 - December 1, 1914) was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century."[1] His book the The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) won immediate recognition, especially in Europe, and with its successor, The Influence of Sea Power Upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812 (1892), made him world-famous and perhaps the most influential American author of the nineteenth century.