Research topic: Alfred Thayer Mahan

Alfred Thayer Mahan , 1840-1914, U.S. naval officer and historian, b. West Point, N.Y. A Union naval officer in the Civil War, he later lectured on naval history and strategy at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., of which he was president (1886-89, 1892-93). Out of his lectures grew his two major works on the historical significance of sea power— The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812 (2 vol., 1892). In these he argued that naval power was the key to success in international politics;... Read more