If Mahan Ran the Great Pacific War: An Analysis of World War II Naval Strategy [Hardcover]

Alfred Thayer Mahan'sThe Influence of Sea Power upon History (16601783)was one of the most influential books on military strategy in the first half of the 20th century. A core text in the naval war colleges of the United States, Britain, and Japan, Mahan's book shaped doctrine for the conduct of war at sea. Adams uses Mahan's ideas to discuss the great Pacific sea battles of World War II and to consider how well they withstood the test of actual combat. Reexamining the conduct of war in the Pacific from a single analytic viewpoint leads to some surprising conclusions about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the recapture of the Philippines, and the submarine war. Naval historians and armchair strategists alike will find much food for thought in these engrossing pages.

Would the doctrine of one of history's great naval strategists have stood the test of World War II in the Pacific?

John A. Adams is a retired airline executive and longtime business strategist with an interest in the use of economic principles to analyze history. Trained as a historian, he has extensively researched military strategy and tactics. He lives in Conifers, Colorado.

If Mahan Ran the Great Pacific War provides one of the best analyses of World War II I have read. Clear and incisive, it presents the reader with both the factual material and a solid discussion of how and why the decisions of the commanders resulted in a strategic or just a tactical success or failure. March 29, 2009

This is truly an outstanding book. Although Adams indicates it is an analysis of naval strategy of World War II in the Pacific, the lessons he presents apply to more than purely naval warfare.Spring 2010

[A] must read for students of World War II in the Pacific and all those interested in naval and military strategy. March-April 2010

This book will be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in World War II history. Vol. lC-