cover image History of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1941: Volume One

History of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1941: Volume One

Robert W. Love, Jr.. Stackpole Books, $39.95 (752pp) ISBN 978-0-8117-1862-2

This pragmatic chronicle pays as much attention to the government context out of which naval policy proceeded as to campaigns at sea. The Navy's main business, in Love's view, has always been to serve as a handmaid to diplomacy and at the same time as the clenched fist of foreign policy; but there have been times when the administration's naval policy was in serious disarray: Love's analysis of Woodrow Wilson's and Herbert Hoover's use and misuse of the Navy is particularly telling. This first installment of a two-volume history begins with an account of the Navy's role in the Revolutionary War and concludes with the arrival in Washington of Japan's last peacetime diplomatic communication a few hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. A comprehensive, thoroughly researched review of the Navy's first 166 years, richly illustrated. Love teaches history at the U.S. Naval Academy. (Mar.)