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

Alfred Thayer Mahan's The 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.

Contents
List of Maps
Acknowledgments

1. Sink Ten Ships and We Win the War!
2. Initial Japanese Strategic Choices
3. Pearl Harbor
4. Yamamoto Defies Mahan
5. Guadalcanal
6. Central versus South Pacific
7. Two Prongs Divide the Fleet
8. Decisive Combat in the Marianas
9. From Honolulu's Conference Table to Leyte's Mud
10. The Naval Campaign for the Philippines
11. Mahan and the Submariners
12. Dulling the Mighty Blade
13. B-San

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Students of naval history will find much to agree with in this volume, and a good deal about which to disagree, but either way they will find it worth reading. Fall 2011There is no doubt that Mahan and his writings had an enormous effect on the US Navy's admirals during the Pacific War. This fine book shows very clearly how. December 2010

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.

[A] must read for students lÃ.