Not the easiest read and a bit Americentric but I like the subject material. Probably a bit narrow and deep for most. ( )

Sea Power is an overview of the history and current politics of all the major bodies of water in the world, the oceans and the largest seas. It is not a detailed history, I've read whole books about parts he covers in a single sentence, but it does not try to be nor offer itself as such. This books is best for someone who doesn't know much about the history of the seas and what is going on in different sections of the globe they only know parts about. In that sense the books succeeds, it would be an excellent first text for an undergraduate or someone with an interest in the oceans. Once you know more, it can certainly feel more lacking.

With regards to the current politics, Admiral Stavridis comes across as a very moderate figure, praising and criticizing both American parties (something I am certain he was very careful to do). But clearly he wants a more robust American navy and presence around the world with strong alliances, and I don't think he'll convince anyone opposed to those ideas that they are correct, but might convince some people on the fence. He makes a strong case that the current world order requires strong investment in both hard and soft power, and American power has many threats from state and non-state actors, but is not something that it outside of America's capabilities to deal with. Further the seas are seeing tremendous ecological damage which requires a global effort he encourages strongly, but also is realistic enough to recognize that if the Artic ice shrinks for example, America needs to take advantage of it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it's one which with every year will get increasingly out of date and ideally would be updated regularly. ( )

​In his book, "Sea Power", Admiral James Stavridis takes us a look at the world's oceans and their importance to mankind from ancient times to today. The bulk of the book reviews the history of the oceans and the nation's surrounding them, with the remaining of the content divided between geography lessons, political commentary on the coastal nations, discussions on the importance of the oceans and the threats the oceans face today, and personal recollections of ​his career ​as a ​naval officer ​as he sailed the seven seas.
He covers ​the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Arctic Oceans, as well as the South China Sea, and talks about the significant nations along each area, in historical days as well as today. Stavridis seamlessly discusses the history of the​se​ region​s​ and their importance militarily, and in terms of exploration and trade over the years. He also includes relevant current events for these regions, the challenges and threats facing these regions, and threats to the well being of the sea itself, whether from over fishing, pollution, or climate change. ​In addition, he adds some personal stories, adding insights as to what it's like being a naval officer on some of our largest and most modern warships, and ends giving the reader some thoughts about the oceans today and important considerations for the future. ( )

This was quite basic, and a bit disappointing. I've had the pleasure of hearing Admiral Stavridis talk about leadership and geopolitics, and I deeply appreciated his handling of the complexity of those issues. This book is quite approachable, but not very deep. It has its moments, but I really wanted more from it. ( )

Admiral James Stavridis’ new book, may not be for everyone but if, like me, you have an abiding fascination with what make the world we live in function as it does, you may enjoy this book. Starting with the Pacific Ocean and including a chapter on every ocean and strategic body of water, Admiral Stavridis delivers a high school level summary of each’s history and how its location makes it vital to which countries. He concludes by offering his assessment of the state of the world and what is needed to steer us safely through the perilous waters we now find ourselves in.
As with all wise history teachers, he uses the lessons of the past to illuminate our current path.

"The weakness of the Qing dynasty was an aberration in the long history of Chinese domination in the South China Sea, as Deng Xiaoping was said to have told Henry Kissinger, China is a great civilization that has had a couple bad centuries. That weakness, so apparent in the twentieth century in particular, is outside the norm, and current events in the South China Sea show that the pendulum is swinging back strongly"

With these words we know that Stavridis isn’t talking about some ancient king or even the Nixon presidency but about the China that we face today. The book is timely enough to include his assessment of the new president and on more than one occasion he counsels a more considered, less hyperbolic approach to the issues that face us.

Bottom line: I’m a sucker for anything related to the sea and those who sail upon it so I jumped on this book when asked to review it. While I enjoyed it, I think the content was a bit too basic in that it neglected some of the bigger themes such as how man’s mastery of the sea shifted the center of the commercial and intellectual world from the east with its silk roads to the west. On the upside, his recommendations provide a good framework for achieving peace and security by combining active negotiations such as the Iranian Arms Treaty with defensive security programs such as THAAD and AEGIS missile defense systems

For the sake of expedience, I chose to listen to the audio version of Adm. Stavridis’ book. Marc Cashman is a talented reader and has a pleasant voice but he exhibits an ignorance of the proper pronunciation of nautical terms such as ‘forecastle’ and ‘letters of marque’ that I found jarring, especially since much of the book is written by Stavridis in the first person. Whenever this happened I would be momentarily shocked to think that an admiral wouldn’t know how to pronounce such words.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. ( )