The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783

Abysmally published:
Mahan's work is great for those studying the development of US sea power. However, NuVision has managed to take this great historical work and turn it into the worst published book I have ever seen. It seems as though they printed out the book directly from the OCR with little or no proofing. They apparently had no interest in meeting a reader's most modest expectations. There are frequent obvious readability-compromising typos, for instance the date 1607 on page 117 should be 1667, and 'the' substituted for 'time' on the same page (this particular OCR typo occurs throughout the book). There is even an inexcusable typo in a chapter title - BATTLE OP MALAGA. The missing periods are particularly annoying. There are no chapter titles at the top of the pages making it difficult to see where chapters begin and end, there is a detailed table of contents (not shown in the Amazon preview) that is not formatted at all and virtually useless, and quoted passages are not even indented. All paragraphs are separated by a full blank line throughout the book with no variation, thus there are no breaks mid-chapter. It is amazing how tedious reading becomes due to this little defect. Even the title on the binding of the book does not have enough contrast so is difficult to read. There is no index. There was no care given to making this book, no pride in the work. Nobody read through it to proof it. I have never seen anything like it.

The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783:
This book ,written by an obscure U.S. Navy officer, is credited with opening the eyes of many emerging countries to the need for seapower. It lit off the first arms races that almost bankrupted countries building "dreadnoughts" (early Battleships) and lead to the rise of both Japan ,Germany and the U.S. as serious Naval powers actively seeking colonies. This book ignited the fuse that lead to the battle of Jutland and to Pearl Harbor. History buffs,Naval officers and students getting ready for their first year at Annapolis should check it out.

Classic Study of Naval Power:
Introductory chapter provides classic overview of importance of naval power and is alone worth the price of the book. Historical chapters are perhaps less relevant today in an era of air and space power, as they were written during the transition from sail to steam navies. Introductory chapter provides inspiration for "out of the box" thinking about strategy, political power, and business, made significant by its view that the oceans provide a means of connecting nations and peoples rather than imposing a barrier to contact and communication. Reverses your thinking about the importance of land versus sea transportation.

The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783:
The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660-1783 is practically a historical document. The book's first copyright was in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. The copyright was transferred to Ellen Lyle Mahan in 1918 which eventually fell to the publisher who has published twelve editions of this book. The style of the writing and the format of the text adhere to that of the original text and the traditional style. These aspects not only allow the reader insight and virtually unheard of detail about the various battles discussed but also a view of how those campaigns were viewed in the original author's time. Unfortunately, these same aspects make this book somewhat cumbersome. The book is meant to be read from start to finish (all 557 pages). Thus, the reader's knowledge gradually grows as the book progresses making it difficult to look up details on a particular change of technology or a specific campaign.

Ponderous and ponderable:
Mahan wrote to his contemporary heads of state as Machiavelli wrote to the Medici's. Passages bemoaning the state of the American navy in the late 19th century are sprinkled throughout this text. U.S. policy in the following years and his remembrance in Annapolis, aside from famed anecdotal readers and devotees, attest to his being heard. While the thesis is self-evident in the title, this book is a worthwhile read to those interested in history and the history of empires. Mahan offers his perspective, contrary to economic or geographic or religious theories, on the forces that affected - one might claim *determined* - the modern geopolitical reality.