TOWARDS A NEW ORDER OF SEA POWER

The Rise of American Naval Power, 1776-1918, was published last year. This is the second volume of what will probably be a trilogy, and covers the Washington Conference, 1921-22. This period has been adequately covered as part of a larger picture in Davis, A Navy Second to None; and substantially the same material is analyzed in Griswold's Far Eastern Policy of the United States. Consequently, the market for this is limited to those who demand an exhaustive study of a specific period. The Sprouts recognize the tremendous influence of Mahan, but challenge his applicability to modern conditions. The only new source material would seem to be Col. Theodore Roosevelt's diaries of the period when he was assistant secretary of the Navy, and this very fact conditions their appraisal and makes the Conference appear to be more favorable to the interests of the United States than do many American naval authorities.