Press Notices.
A book that must be read. First, it must be read by all schoolmasters, from the headmaster of Eton to the head of the humblest board-school in the country. No man is fit to train English boys to fulfil their duties as Englishmen who has not marked, learned, and inwardly digested it. Secondly, it must be read by every Englishman and Englishwoman who wishes to be worthy of that name. It is no hard or irksome task to which I call them The writing is throughout clear, vigorous, and incisive.... The book deserves and must attain a world-wide reputation.—Colonel Maurice of the British Army in "The United Service Magazine."
Delightful reading.... The most exciting and among the best written naval battles ever described, for its clearness, is the battle of the Nile, fought in the darkness and upon strange waters.—Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Remarkable volumes.... Captain Mahan has for the first time made clear to the unprofessional reader how much the plans of Napoleon were influenced by the successes of the British squadrons and the consequent failure of his "Continental System."—Macmillan's Magazine.
Do not contain a page that cannot be read with pleasure as well as with profit by any man for whom foreign politics, the history of the rise and fall of nations, and the sources of national greatness possess the slightest attractions.—The Fortnightly Review.
No other writer has told the influence of British naval power upon the career of Napoleon with the skill and lucidity characterizing Captain Mahan's account.—Springfield Republican (Editorial).
Of great permanent value and exceptional interest, and in a high degree creditable to our naval service and to the country.—The New York Nation.
Masterly and comprehensive.... The drama of the great war unfolds itself in these pages in a manner at once novel and engrossing.—The Spectator.
A highly interesting and an important work, having lessons and suggestions which are calculated to be of high value to the people of the United States. His pages abound with spirited and careful accounts of the great naval battles and manoeuvres which occurred during the period treated. We have before had occasion to praise Captain Mahan's literary style, which is flexible, nervous, and sufficiently dignified to satisfy every reasonable demand. It is, moreover, full of energy, and marked by a felicitous choice of language, and its tone and qualities are sustained steadily throughout.—New York Tribune.
Of the way in which this great theme is treated we need say little; no living writer is so well qualified to do it justice as Captain Mahan, and certainly the true significance of the tremendous events of these momentous years has never been more luminously or more instructively displayed.—London Times.