The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future collects papers written separately over several years. Mahan's preface treats their dates and original circumstances as essential to understanding them. He declines to reconcile apparent contradictions, remove repetitions, or update every argument to the date of publication. The headings give the dates of composition, which can differ from publication dates. The collection preserves a developing response to events across subjects including Hawaii, an isthmian canal, Anglo-American relations, and naval preparedness.
Notable Point · 1:31:07-1:33:27
Why Mahan preserved contradictions between his essays
The 1897 collection preserves the circumstances of separate articles and the changes in Mahan's arguments over time.