Sir Julian.

This is coolbert:

Before there was Mahan there was Corbett?

Only mentioned in passing from one of the recent The National Interest articles was this man.

Sir Julian Corbett.

English naval military historian, theorist and "geostrategist" of renown.

Of such renown however until only yesterday I was not even aware of the man. Devoted readers to the blog the same?

It is often thought that the distinguished American naval officer, historian  and naval theoretician Alfred Thayer Mahan the first man to present naval history and the ramifications thereof in a cogent and understandable manner.

From Dupuy regarding Mahan:

"Alfred Thayer Mahan was an American military theorist . . . His focus was on naval warfare and theory. A profound and gifted think on military and naval affairs he well understood the relevance of military history to the contemporary military problems of this time."

Sir Julian independently arriving at the same conclusions as Mahan, the influence of both men significant for world history sea power as that term understood appreciated by the various world powers in a manner hitherto not possible?

 "Sir Julian Stafford Corbett (12 November 1854  – 21 September 1922 . . . was a prominent British naval historian and geostrategist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works helped shape the Royal Navy's reforms of that era. One of his most famous works is 'Some Principles of Maritime Strategy', which remains a classic among students of naval warfare."

"Corbett offered no general theory of warfare at sea. Instead, Corbett focused his thoughts on the nature of maritime strategy and what the meaning of naval warfare meant to the power of a nation. While many theorists of naval warfare tried to mechanically adopt land warfare concepts to the maritime environment, Corbett countered that the interest and requirement of naval warfare differed in fundamental ways from those of land warfare."

Dupuy also in his listing of military theorists since Napoleon NOT making even the slightest mention of Corbett!

A reader to the blog has more on Corbett? First came Mahan or was it Corbett?

coolbert.