The Neptune Factor is the biography of an idea--the concept of "Sea Power," a term first coined by Capt. A.T. Mahan and the core thread of his life's...
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-ISBN-10:
1612511589
ISBN-13:
9781612511580
Publisher
US Naval Institute Press
Dimensions
9.13 X 5.98 X 1.50 inches
Language
English
The Neptune Factor is the biography of an idea--the concept of "Sea Power," a term first coined by Capt. A.T. Mahan and the core thread of his life's work. His central argument was that the outcome of rivalries on the seas have decisively shaped the course of modern history. Although Mahan's scholarship has long been seen as foundational to all systematic study of naval power, Neptune Factor is the first attempt to explain how Mahan's definition of sea power shifted over time.
Far from presenting sea power in terms of combat, as often thought, Mahan conceptualized it in terms of economics. Proceeding from the conviction that international trade carried across the world's oceans was the single greatest driver of national wealth (and thus power) in history, Mahan explained sea power in terms of regulating access to 'the common' and influencing the flows of trans-oceanic trade. A nation possessing sea power could not only safeguard its own trade and that of its allies but might also endeavor to deny access to the common to its enemies and competitors. A pioneering student of what is now referred to as the first era of globalization, lasting from the late nineteenth century until the First World War, Mahan also identified the growing dependence of national economies upon uninterrupted access to an interconnected global trading system. Put simply, access to 'the common' was essential to the economic and political stability of advanced societies. This growing dependence, Mahan thought, increased rather than decreased the potency of sea power. Understanding the critical relationship between navies and international economics is not the only reason why Mahan's ideas remain--or rather have once again become--so important. He wrote in, and of, a multi-polar world, when the reigning hegemon faced new challenges, and confusion and uncertainty reigned as the result of rapid technological change and profound social upheaval. Mahan believed that the U.S. Navy owed the American people a compelling explanation of why it deserved their support--and their money. His extensive, deeply informed, and highly sophisticated body of work on sea power constituted his attempt to supply such an explanation. Mahan remains as relevant--and needed--today as he was more than a century ago.ISBN-10
:1612511589
ISBN-13
:9781612511580
Publisher
:US Naval Institute Press
Publication date
: 15 Feb, 2024
Category
Sub-Category
Format
:Hardcover
Language
:English
Reading Level
: All
No. of Units
:1
Dimension
: 9.13 X 5.98 X 1.50 inches
Weight
:839 g
"Lambert's method, as in all his work, is not to proceed from received wisdom about his subject, but to go back to the original sources. The result is a book that explains - far better than any account of Mahan known to me - why he is still read in Beijing today, and why he would repay closer reading in Washington. Lambert's Mahan is not the crude evangelist of decisive battle between battleships he is often caricatured as but a subtle and evolving thinker about the relationship between naval and economic power. Rejecting the notion that Mahan should be read for his contributions to some abstract naval theory, Lambert insists on the need to put him in his historical context -- which was dominated by massive economic change. Manifestly, Lambert's Mahan-in-full is more relevant to contemporary US national-security policy than the legendary Mahan obsessed with "kinetic" combat operations. No less important is Lambert's inspiration to young students of power today. His unequalled treatment of Mahan demonstrates many truths between the lines, and they resonate. As a historian, Lambert does not say what U.S. strategy should be. But The Neptune Factor offers ample food for thought for those who want American naval power to fulfill its true purpose - protecting and advancing the naturally unstable sovereignty of democracy, for both ourselves and those willing to partner in the effort."--Defense and Aerospace Report
"Your book is very important."--Cavas Ships Podcast "Revisionist and radical though it may seem, Lambert's work is surely one of the best books ever published by the Naval Institute Press. The Neptune Factor: Alfred Thayer Mahan and the Concept of Sea Power is a deeply researched, clearly argued, and thought-provoking history of Mahan and his writings. The book and its nearly 1,200 footnotes are reinforced by what Mahan read and his correspondence with leading experts of the day, along with Lambert's comprehensive critiques of prior Mahan interpretations, which have led the Navy to see its preeminent theorist as primarily focused on combat. Whether as applicable history or a detailed revision of prior interpretations, Neptune Factor succeeds. To appreciate Mahan and his theory of sea power in its fullest form is to read all he wrote, what he wrote to those with whom he corresponded, and what he read throughout his life's work. It is a lot of reading, and Nicholas Lambert did it. Now, we must too. Go read Neptune Factor."--ProceedingsCopyright © 2024. Boganto.com. All Rights Reserved (Powered By ESapiens LLP)