The Gulf and Inland Waters

Mahan was born at West Point, N.Y. He studied at Columbia University and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859. During the Civil War (1861-1865), he served on blockade duty in the South Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. His first book, The Gulf and Inland Waters (1883), was a naval history of the war. Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), an American admiral, wrote many books on naval strategy and the influence of sea power on international affairs. His writings had an important effect o