Corbett & Mahan.

This is coolbert:

Devoted readers to the blog may want to avail themselves of the Gutenberg Project and download for FREE these e-Books.

Corbett and Mahan both the great naval historians and theorists both.

Since Mahan preceded Corbett by two decades it is safe to say that before Corbett there was Mahan?

1. "Some Principles of Maritime Strategy" by Sir Julian Stafford Corbett.


INTRODUCTION

The Theoretical Study of War--Its Use and Limitations

"At first sight nothing can appear more unpractical, less promising of useful result, than to approach the study of war with a theory. There seems indeed to be something essentially antagonistic between the habit of mind that seeks theoretical guidance and that which makes for the successful conduct of war. The conduct of war is so much a question of personality, of character, of common-sense, of rapid decision upon complex and ever-shifting factors, and those factors themselves are so varied, so intangible, so dependent upon unstable moral and physical conditions, that it seems incapable of being reduced to anything like true scientific analysis."

Sir Julian Corbett.


2. "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783" by A. T. Mahan


PREFACE.

"The definite object proposed in this work is an examination of the
general history of Europe and America with particular reference to the
effect of sea power upon the course of that history. Historians
generally have been unfamiliar with the conditions of the sea, having
as to it neither special interest nor special knowledge; and the
profound determining influence of maritime strength upon great issues
has consequently been overlooked."

A.T. Mahan.

Go for it. Gutenberg is FREE!

coolbert.