A great deal of the world's history is the history of empires. Indeed it could be said that all history is colonial history, if one takes a broad enough definition and goes far enough back. And although the great historic imperial systems-the land-based Russian one as well as the seaborne empires of western European powers-have collapsed during the past half century, their legacies shape almost every aspect of life on a global scale. Meanwhile there...

Originally published in 1898. PREFACE: The definite object proposed in this work is an examination of the general history of Europe and America with particular reference to the effect of sea power upon the course of that history. Historians generally have been unfamiliar with the conditions of the sea, having as to it neither special interest nor special knowledge; and the profound determining influence of maritime strength upon great issues has consequently...

"[A] story of the Cold War, told by a former navy secretary on the basis of recently declassified documents"--Amazon.com.

World War II is usually seen as a titanic land battle, decided by mass armies, most importantly those on the Eastern Front. Phillips Payson O'Brien shows us the war in a completely different light. In this compelling new history of the Allied path to victory, he argues that in terms of production, technology, and economic power, the war was far more a contest of air and sea than of land supremacy. He shows how the Allies developed a predominance of...

"A maritime history of the world"-- A retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the world's waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human. Above all, Paine makes clear how the rise and fall of civilizations...