Reviews
The book is one of the most important on Mahan and the nature of naval command and should be studied wherever naval command is studied.
Sumida casts new light on one of the most important strategic writers of this century.
Jon Sumida's masterful explication of Mahan's thought stands out for its superb analysis, clarity and elegance of prose, masterful synthesis of the admiral's entire work and its amazing compression. Hereafter, no one interested in American naval history, Mahan's ideas, or the strategic role of sea power can rightly go without reading Sumida's slim volume. In short, it is a masterpiece.
This is a brilliant and penetrating study which revises a great deal our commonly accepted assumptions about Mahan's arguments on the influence of seapower and on naval strategy in general. It is certain to provoke great debate.
Book Details
Preface: Musical Performance, Zen Enlightenment, and Naval Command
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Resolving a Paradox
Chapter 1. The Development of Professional Purpose, Geopolitical Vision, and
Preface: Musical Performance, Zen Enlightenment, and Naval Command
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Resolving a Paradox
Chapter 1. The Development of Professional Purpose, Geopolitical Vision, and Historical Technique
Chapter 2. Political, Political-Economic, and Governmental Argument in the "Influence of Sea Power" Series
Chapter 3. Strategic and Professional Argument in the "Influence of Sea Power: Series
Chapter 4. Strategic and Professional Argument in the Lesser Works Biography as Polemic
Chapter 5. National, Transnational, and International Politics Changes of Opinion
Chapter 6. The Uses of History and Theory
Bibliography
Select Analytical Index to the Writing of Alfred Thayer Mahan
Index