Description: The initial creation of the United States' ocean-going battlefleet - otherwise known as the 'New Navy' - was a result of the naval wars and arms races around the Pacific during the late-nineteenth century. Using a transnational methodology, Thomas Jamison spotlights how US Civil War-era innovations catalyzed naval development in the Pacific World, creating a sense that the US Navy was falling behind regional competitors. As the industrializing 'newly-made navies' of Chile, Peru, Japan, and China raced against each other, Pacific dynamism motivated investments in the US 'New Navy as a matter of security and civilizational prestige. In this provocative exploration into the making of modern US navalism, Jamison provides an analysis of competitive naval build-ups in the Pacific, of the interactions between peoples, ideas, and practices within it, and ultimately the emergence of the US as a major power.
Brief description: Thomas Jamison is Assistant Professor of Strategic Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School. His work has been published by the Journal of Military History and Technology and Culture.
Review Quotes: 'With engaging prose and storytelling, The Pacific's New Navies brings the rise of the US Navy at the start of the 20th century into a new light. Through a transwar lens, Jamison reminds readers that any pivot to the Pacific is not new in American history and the study of the history of the Pacific World is vital to understanding our 21st century challenges.' Benjamin Armstrong, editor of 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era