You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The British Pacific Fleet was formed in October 1944 and dispatched to fight alongside the USN in the Central Pacific under Admiral Nimitz. Deploying previously unpublished documents, this book reveals how relations between the UK and US forces developed from a starting point of barely repressed suspicion, to one where both navies came to understand each other and eventually find a remarkable bond. Born out of a shared experience of Kamikaze attacks, extended operations against bitterly hostile shores, the pooling of knowledge and experience, the two navies underpinned the diplomatic moves in both Washington and London. The book carries the legacy of this experience through to the next Anglo...
In the period leading up to the First World War Britain's naval supremacy was challenged by an arms race with Germany, fuelled not only by military and geo-strategic rivalries, but an onrush of technological developments. As this book demonstrates, steam turbines, bigger guns, mechanical computing devices and ever increasing tonnage meant that the Royal Navy was forced to confront many long-cherished beliefs and sensitive social and political issues. By looking at key continuities over the period of 1880-1919 the study explores how the service and its officers attempted to deal with fundamental changes in professional requirements, and how cultural and social values underwent a transformatio...
This reference book looks at the modern day use of maritime power for achieving a range of political objectives.
Maritime Power in the Black Sea provides the first comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the comparative maritime power of the six littoral states in the Black Sea - Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania and Bulgaria. This book examines the maritime capabilities and assets of each of the six littoral Black Sea states and also considers the implications of the distribution of maritime power on both regional and international security. As such it makes an important contribution to the debate about what constitutes maritime power in the twenty first century and provides a thematic comparative study of the ability of each of the littoral states of the Black Sea to project maritime power.
Britain's strategic position east of Suez in the twentieth century was a dominant area of interest and had an enormous impact in the overall construction of Great Britain's naval strategic posture.
British imperialism helped shaped the modern world order. This same imperialism created modern Singapore, controlling its colonial development and influencing its post-colonial orientation. Winston Churchill was British imperialism's most significant twentieth century statesman. He never visited Singapore, but his story and that of the city-state are deeply intertwined. Singapore became a symbol of British imperial power in Asia to Churchill, while Singaporeans came to see him as symbolizing that power. The fall of Singapore to Japanese conquest in 1942 was a low point in Churchill's war leadership, one he forever labeled by calling it 'the worst disaster in British military history.' It was...
Whilst maritime studies tend to reflect the dominance of large navies, history shows how relatively small naval forces can have a disproportionately large impact on global events. From Confederate commerce raiders in the nineteenth century, to Somali pirates today, even the most minor of maritime forces can become a key player on a global stage. Examining a broad range of examples, this volume addresses the roles and activities of small navies in the past and the present at the national, regional and international level. In particular, it focusses on the different ways in which such forces have identified and addressed national and international security challenges and the way in which they ...
This book explores the value of Corbett’s seminal work Some Principles of Maritime Strategy over time in a changing context and with evolving technology. It has been over a century since Sir Julian Corbett published Some Principles of Maritime Strategy (1911), yet it is still regarded as a foundational text on maritime strategy. But the character of sea power is constantly evolving, so the continued relevance of this work must be regularly examined. Too often the debate is polarised between a focus on either Corbett’s historical relevance to the early 20th-century Royal Navy or his relevance to strategy today. There is little attempt to bridge the gap and analyse Some Principles over tim...
Exploring British naval policy during the first two governments of Harold Wilson (1964-70), this book analyses how the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence and the Navy's professional leadership dealt with six years of defence reviews, retrenchment and strategic re-orientation. This period witnessed a dramatic blow to the service's self image and self confidence as a result of the cancellation of the large CVA-01 aircraft carrier, and a gradual process of realignment, reorientation and adaptation to the changed political environment, resulting in a recovery of self-confidence, a new strategy and the approval in principle of a class of small aircraft carriers. Taking advantage of the re...
Leading academics from around the world, who specialize in analysing maritime strategic issues, deliberate the impact of the American 'pivot' or 're-balance' strategy, and the 'Air-Sea Battle' operational concept, on the maritime power and posture of a number of selected states. Intending to strengthen US economic, diplomatic, and security engagement throughout the Asia-Pacific, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the re-balance stands out as one of the Obama administration's most far-sighted and ambitious foreign policy initiatives.