Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812

Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer), 1840-1914Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
866K words
Chapters
87

Tags

English Originals World HistoryMilitary Military StrategyGeopoliticsRise of Great PowersStrategic AnalysisNaval HistorySea PowerWar of 1812Military CommandersHistory and TheoryWorld Order

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 by A. T. Mahan. Author: Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer), 1840-1914. Language: English. Class: E300: History: America: Revolution to the Civil War (1783-1861). Release Date: Jun 30, 2008

Editor's review

Mahan's book offers a systematic account of the War of 1812 from the perspective of sea power, placing maritime trade, naval deployment, and diplomatic negotiation within a single analytical framework. Its value lies in extending the history of the war from the land theater to the maritime dimension. The author excels at marshaling historical sources, and his argument is restrained and clearly structured, making the book a useful reference for understanding the formation of early American sea power and the Anglo-American conflict. Readers should bear in mind the author's era and standpoint; those interested in naval strategy and the history of international relations can draw analytical approaches from it, rather than a fast-paced story. As a public-domain eBook, this edition is easy to search and cross-reference, suitable for course support or specialized research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the introduction or table of contents to clarify how sea power maps onto the course of the war before entering the main text
  2. Prepare maps and a chronology, marking naval actions and diplomatic turning points as you read
  3. Read by theme in separate chapters, taking notes on trade blockade, naval deployment, and the negotiation process respectively
  4. After finishing, compare with other general histories of the War of 1812 to test the emphasis and limits of the author's perspective

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers without a background in naval history? It is readable, but some background is needed. The book discusses maritime trade, fleet deployment, and diplomatic maneuvering at length; without basic knowledge of the War of 1812 and Anglo-American relations, reading will be demanding. It is advisable to start with a general history or chronology, then approach this book, focusing on the author's analytical framework rather than every detail.
What should readers note when using this public-domain eBook? Public-domain eBooks are easy to search and cite, but layout and annotation conventions may differ from print editions, and some versions lack modern editorial notes. Readers should verify names, places, and event dates themselves, cite the edition source, and keep in mind the standpoint and expressive habits of the author's era.
What relevance does the book's sea-power perspective have for today's readers? It offers a method of analyzing military, trade, and diplomacy in conjunction, rather than recounting only battles won and lost. Readers can use it to understand how sea power shapes national decisions and the course of conflict, and to train the ability to view historical problems through geography and transport conditions. Specific conclusions should be checked against modern research and not applied directly.

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About the author

Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer), 1840-1914 Author

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914) was an American naval officer and theorist of sea power. The collection holds 15 of his works, all centering on sea power and the fate of nations. His representative work, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783, uses historical narrative to argue for the role of maritime strength in the rise and fall of great powers; later works extend the inquiry to the French Revolution and Empire and examine sea power in the War of 1812. He also wrote a two-volume life of Nelson and works such as The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future. Grounded in historical sources and clearly organized, his writing combines strategic analysis with historical narrative and has had a lasting influence on the study of sea power.