Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 — 1914) was a United States Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and historian, termed ‘the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century.’ His idea on ‘sea power’ based on the concept that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide impact were famously presented in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 in 1890. The concepts expressed in this book had an enormous influence in shaping the strategic thought of navies worldwide, in particular the United States, Germany, Japan and Britain, ultimately causing the United States and European naval arms race of the 1890s.
Mahan retired from the United States Navy in 1896 but was subsequently recalled to service. In this work The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future, Mahan seeks to evoke his fellow Americans to a realisation of their maritime responsibilities.
This early work by Alfred Thayer Mahan was originally published in 1897 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography.