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(More customer reviews)For non-military historians especially, Lehman provides an excellent briefing on the history of the U.S. Navy in terms of its "heroic men, great ships, and epic battles." I realize that there are already in print definitive biographies of many of the naval heroes (e.g. John Paul Jones, David Farragut, and Chester W. Nimitz) as well as definitive studies of various great ships and epic battles. For those who wish to consult such sources, most of them are included in a substantial Bibliography and they are grouped appropriately. Lehman's purpose in this volume is to focus on the evolution of a stirring as well as colorful naval tradition which extends from the Revolutionary War through the end of the Cold War. When concluding his Introduction, he observes: "the greatest victories of the naval tradition have not been the wars recounted here but the wars that were never fought because American seapower was so strong that to challenge it would be foolhardy. If we let it, the strength of that tradition will continue to underwrite peace in our land."
Obviously, even the strongest seapower could not have prevented events which occurred on September 11th but such seapower will always have an important role to play worldwide whenever human freedom must be defended or obtained. For me, a non-military historian, the greatest pleasure of this book was derived from learning about people and events of which I was previously unaware. For example, Samuel Leech (a 14-year old "powder monkey" aboard the H.M.S. frigate Macedonian) and his compelling account of his ship's defeat in battle by the frigate United States under the command of Stephen Decatur, Jr. during the War of 1812. For many readers, perhaps, Lehman provides about as much information about U.S. naval history as they may ever need or want. Other readers will be motivated to learn more about specific "heroic men, great ships, and epic battles." I am within the second group. Lehman is to be congratulated on a unique achievement: He has brought significant portions of American military history to life and done so with passion as well as erudition.
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