Roots of Strategy, Book 4, by edited by David Jablonsky

Mecanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole, 1999. vii, 533 pp.. Illus, notes. $19.95, paper. ISBN:0-8117-2918-4.

The fourth in Stackpole�s Roots of Strategy series, this volume usefully encompassing in one volume the principal works on maritime and air strategy. It reprints Alfred Thayer Mahan�s famous The Influence of Sea Power Upon History and Julian Corbett�s Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, as well as Giulio Douhet�s The Command of the Air and William �Billy� Mitchell�s Winged Defense. Of the four books, Corbett�s is the most incisive, while Mahan�s is solid, though perhaps not as revolutionary as it once seemed, while and both Douhet and Mitchell are too caught up in their subject to take an objective view. The editor has provided a useful general introduction and specific introductions to each book.

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