Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This is the fourth, revised and updated, edition of Geoffrey Till's Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-first Century .

The rise of the Chinese and other Asian navies, worsening quarrels over maritime jurisdiction and the United States' maritime pivot towards the Asia-Pacific region reminds us that the sea has always been central to human development as a source of resources, and as a means of transportation, information-exchange and strategic dominion. It has provided the basis for mankind's prosperity and security, and this is even more true in the early twenty-first century, with the emergence of an increasingly globalised world trading system. Navies have always provided a way of policing, and sometimes exploiting, the system. In contemporary conditions, navies, and other forms of maritime power, are having to adapt, in order to exert the maximum power ashore in the company of others and to expand the range of their interests, activities and responsibilities. While these new tasks are developing fast, traditional ones still predominate. Deterrence remains the first duty of today's navies, backed up by the need to 'fight and win' if necessary. How navies and their states balance these two imperatives will tell us a great deal about our future in this increasingly maritime century. This book investigates the consequences of all this for the developing nature, composition and functions of all the world's significant navies, and provides a guide for anyone interested in the changing and crucial role of seapower in the twenty-first century.

Seapower is essential reading for all students of naval power, maritime security and naval history, and highly recommended for students of strategic studies, international security and international relations.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of illustrations (p. xi)
• Preface (p. xiii)
• Abbreviations (p. xv)
• 1 In search of seapower (p. 1)
• 1.1 Introduction: the maritime case (p. 1)
• 1.2 Explaining success: the four attributes of the sea (p. 5)
• 1.3 Defining seapower (p. 24)
• 1.4 Shifting altitudes towards the sea (p. 27)
• 2 Seapower in a globalising world: alternative futures (p. 36)
• 2.1 Introduction: seapower and globalisation (p. 37)
• 2.2 The modem competitive navy (p. 45)
• 2.3 The post-modern collaborative navy (p. 48)
• 2.4 Enablers and choices (p. 54)
• 2.5 Modern/post-modern compromises (p. 56)
• 3 Who said what and why it matters (p. 61)
• 3.1 The value of theory in maritime operations (p. 61)
• 3.2 On types of theory (p. 63)
• 3.3 The early development of theory (p. 69)
• 3.4 Mahan and the bluewater tendency (p. 73)
• 3.5 Corbett and the maritime tradition (p. 79)
• 3.6 Alternative visions in maritime strategy (p. 91)
• 3.7 Operational art and modern maritime theory (p. 96)
• 3.8 Present and future challenges (p. 102)
• 4 The constituents of seapower (p. 110)
• 4.1 Introduction (p. 110)
• 4.2 Identifying the constituents of seapower (p. 111)
• 4.3 Maritime people, society and government (p. 111)
• 4.4 Maritime geography (p. 115)
• 4.5 Resources (p. 122)
• 4.6 A maritime economy (p. 126)
• 4.7 Seapower via other domains (p. 132)
• 4.8 Doctrine and understanding (p. 143)
• 5 Navies and technology (p. 147)
• 5.1 Introduction (p. 147)
• 5.2 Classifying navies (p. 147)
• 5.3 Estimating relative effectiveness (p. 150)
• 5.4 Navies and technology: introduction (p. 154)
• 5.5 Platforms (p. 154)
• 5.6 Systems, weapons and sensors (p. 162)
• 5.7 An information revolution? (p. 164)
• 5.8 The challenge of transformational technology (p. 170)
• 5.9 A strategy for innovation (p. 171)
• 5.10 Navies and technology: summary and conclusions (p. 177)
• 6 Command of the sea and sea control (p. 183)
• 6.1 Introduction (p. 183)
• 6.2 The traditional concept (p. 184)
• 6.3 Limits and qualifications (p. 185)
• 6.4 A concept subject to interpretation (p. 189)
• 6.5 Sea denial (p. 193)
• 6.6 Notional responses (p. 196)
• 6.7 Conclusions (p. 197)
• 7 Securing sea control (p. 200)
• 7.1 Introduction (p. 200)
• 7.2 Securing sea control by other means (p. 200)
• 7.3 Securing sea control: the operational approach (p. 201)
• 7.4 Decisive battle (p. 202)
• 7.5 Forms and styles of decisive battle (p. 207)
• 7.6 How to achieve a decisive victory (p. 211)
• 7.7 Contemporary forms and concepts of battle (p. 214)
• 7.8 The fleet-in-being/naval-defensive approach (p. 218)
• 7.9 The fleet blockade (p. 224)
• 8 Exploiting command of the sea: the control of maritime communications (p. 232)
• 8.1 Maritime communications: the need for a bigger map (p. 232)
• 8.2 Attacking maritime communications (p. 236)
• 8.3 Defending maritime communications (p. 241)
• 8.4 Contemporary relevance? (p. 245)
• 9 Exploiting command of the sea: operations from the sea (p. 250)
• 9.1 Introduction: operations from the sea (p. 250)
• 9.2 Maritime power projection: definitions (p. 250)
• 9.3 Maritime power projection: aims (p. 252)
• 9.4 Amphibious operations (p. 255)
• 9.5 Operational manoeuvre from the sea (p. 262)
• 9.6 Sea-based strategic missile attack of the shore (p. 268)
• 9.7 Defence against maritime power projection (p. 269)
• 9.8 Maritime power projection: conclusions (p. 276)
• 10 Expeditionary operations (p. 278)
• 10.1 Introduction and characteristics (p. 278)
• 10.2 Expeditionary operations: the maritime dimension (p. 281)
• 10.3 Staging a sea-based expedition: the maritime requirements (p. 285)
• 10.4 Maritime capacity building (p. 299)
• 10.5 Humanitarian assistance and disaster response (p. 300)
• 11 Maintaining good order at sea: maritime security at home and away, challenges (p. 306)
• 11.1 Introduction: a re-naming of parts? (p. 306)
• 11.2 Good order at sea and maritime security (p. 307)
• 11.3 Navies and coastguards in defence of the sea as a stock resource (p. 309)
• 11.4 Navies and coastguards in defence of the sea as a means of transportation - a flow resource (p. 315)
• 11.5 Navies and coastguards in defence of the sea as a physical environment (p. 324)
• 11.6 Navies and coastguards in defence of the sea as an area of sovereignty and dominion (p. 327)
• 12 Maintaining good order at sea: maritime security at home and away, responses (p. 336)
• 12.1 Scaling the threat (p. 336)
• 12.2 Generic enforcement problems (p. 338)
• 12.3 Good order at sea: general requirements (p. 340)
• 12.4 Good order at sea: implications for navies (p. 355)
• 13 Naval diplomacy (p. 360)
• 13.1 Coverage of naval diplomacy in the literature: who said what? (p. 360)
• 13.2 The diplomatic value of naval power (p. 363)
• 13.3 The range and extent of naval diplomacy (p. 365)
• 13.4 Naval presence (p. 368)
• 13.5 Naval picture-building (p. 374)
• 13.6 Naval coercion (p. 375)
• 13.7 Collaborative naval diplomacy and coalition-building (p. 385)
• 13.8 Naval diplomacy: implications for strategy-makers and planners (p. 390)
• 14 Generating maritime power (p. 398)
• 14.1 Making maritime policy: tier 1 (p. 402)
• 14.2 Deckling resources and setting maritime strategy: tier 2 (p. 404)
• 14.3 Deciding military support: tier 3 (p. 408)
• 14.4 Deciding and delivering naval support: tier 4 (p. 413)
• 14.5 Conclusions (p. 418)
• Bibliography (p. 425)
• Index (p. 446)

Author notes provided by Syndetics