Alfred Thayer Mahan 
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) [EPUB ebook] 

Inspiring the imagination of politicians, the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan laid the foundation for the emergence of the global superpower the United States is today. When it was first published in 1890, it was intended as a detailed history of the critical and positive impact of naval power in the growth of states. At the time, this was clearly indicated by the British Royal Navy, but
The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, soon served as the catalyst for the transformation of the United States small force of outmoded ships into a mighty modern fleet.

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Alfred Thayer Mahan was born in West Point, New York, in 1840 and died in 1914, just before the fleets he had helped to create clashed in the First World War. He was educated at the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating second in his class in 1859, just in time to serve as an officer in the Union Navy during the Civil War that broke out two years later. In 1884, he became first a lecturer and then president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.