When I learned about this book I was actually rather excited, as no systematic study of the subject really seemed to exist. Canuel's main focus is alliance behavior, as various French leaders tried to claw back a major power role for Paris while beholden to and dependent on allies, while at the same time French naval leaders worked at assimilating new strategic realities and new technology. These matters and issues Canuel seems to handle rather well.

I say rather, because the downside of this monograph is that Canuel has a rather sloppy hand when writing about technical details. A particular issue through the work is that Canuel writes inconsistently about French cruisers, which for assorted reasons is a rather complicated topic, but he still manages to make a hash about it even though the prime references on the topic are in his bibliography. There is also the image of the French aircraft carrier "La Fayette" (the former USS "Langley" (CVL-27)), ostensibly with SBD Dauntless dive bombers on her flight deck, except that they're SB2C Helldivers. It's gaffs like this that makes me wonder what else Canuel has gotten wrong, and tempers my enthusiasm. ( )