
Every author dreams of their book having an "impact." Well, one of the most significant books in all of history is Alfred Thayer Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History". This book was the main reason for the USA investing in a true blue water navy at the start of the 20th century. In WW1, the USA could land a million men in Europe and by the end of the war it had the second largest navy in the world. In WW2 it could win control of the seas in the Atlantic and Pacific, and supply the Soviet Union with Lend Lease material. The subsequent history of the 20th and early 21st centuries has been so heavily shaped by US dominance at sea that we barely notice it now. But it was perhaps the most decisive military fact of this whole era.






























