Planning for War at Sea

""A tour de force! Planning for War at Sea keenly examines lessons drawn from naval planning and execution across four centuries, analyzing the successes and failures. The contributors are world-class scholars, and we could ask for no better guides than Paul Kennedy and Evan Wilson. As the world begins a new maritime century, all serious leaders will read this book; the best will learn from it and prevail to set the global agenda for the next 100 years.""--Adm John Richardson, USN (Ret.) 31st Chief of Naval Operations ""Kennedy, Wilson and their world-class contributors provide a warning from the past, examining the causes of naval strategic failure in a succession of case studies that highlight the impact of flawed pre-war assumptions, outmoded plans, and ill-suited equipment. Today, with the biggest navies belonging to continental powers, and technology evolving by the day, the potential for catastrophic failure has never been greater. Essential reading.""--Prof. Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History. Kings College, London ""In Planning for War at Sea, we see the enormous value of a deep knowledge of the past for helping us ask better questions about strategy and planning for our contemporary world. Kennedy and Wilson bring together insightful chapters from some of our leading naval scholars to share the wisdom naval history has to offer today's naval professionals.""--Benjamin ""BJ"" Armstrong, editor of 21st Century Mahan, Revised and Expanded: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era. This is an impressive and valuable collection of thought-provoking essays. It is timely, given the ways recent conflicts--like those in Ukraine and Afghanistan--have forced us to reassess how best to plan and prepare for war. Wilson, Kennedy, and their contributors review historical approaches to that challenge from a maritime perspective and illuminate how difficult and important it can be.""--Trent Hone, author of Learning War and Mastering the Art of Command.