Dirk Bonker is Laverack Family Assistant Professor of History at Duke University.

Bönker's study expands significantly on recent work that interprets the kaiser's navy in a nonexceptionalist framework, stressing global dynamics rather than the peculiarities of modern Germany: the kaiserreich was not a unique case; its navy was not the expression of special conditions, as Eckart Kehr, Volker R. Berghahn, and Hans-Ulrich Wehler had argued. However, Bönker does not overstretch this interpretation. His study is far too much informed by meticulous archival research and an awareness of the specific historical contexts on both sides of the Atlantic for him to embrace the revisionist interpretation wholeheartedly.(American Historical Review) In American history, it is often taught that while the great powers of Europe were engaged in an arms race... the U.S. remained aloof and relatively sane by comparison. A modest but growing number of historians dispute this view, particularly the notion of U.S. detachment. Bönker is one of those and presents undeniable evidence that the US was anything but aloof. This evidence comes from the planners and strategists themselves, whom Bönker quotes heavily.... The parallels are striking; at times, the US desire for worldwide dominance surpasses the aims of Imperial Germany.(Choice)

• Introduction: Maritime Militarism in Two Modern Nation-StatesPart I. Military Force, National Industry, and Global Politics: Naval Strategies of World Power1. World Power in a Global Age2. Big-Power Confrontations over Empire3. Maritime Force, Threat, and WarPart II. The Cult of the Battle: Approaches to Maritime Warfare4. War of Battle Fleets5. Planning for Victory6. Commerce, Law, and the Limitation of WarPart III. The Quest for Power: The Navy, Governance, and the Nation7. Naval Elites and the State8. Manufacturing Consent9. A Politics of Social ImperialismPart IV. A Militarism of Experts: Naval Professionalism and the Making of Navalism10. Of Sciences, Sea Power, and Strategy11. Between Leadership and Intraservice ConflictConclusion: Navalism and Its TrajectoriesNotesBibliographyIndex

Dirk Bonker is Laverack Family Assistant Professor of History at Duke University.

Bönker's study expands significantly on recent work that interprets the kaiser's navy in a nonexceptionalist framework, stressing global dynamics rather than the peculiarities of modern Germany: the kaiserreich was not a unique case; its navy was not the expression of special conditions, as Eckart Kehr, Volker R. Berghahn, and Hans-Ulrich Wehler had argued. However, Bönker does not overstretch this interpretation. His study is far too much informed by meticulous archival research and an awareness of the specific historical contexts on both sides of the Atlantic for him to embrace the revisionist interpretation wholeheartedly.(American Historical Review) In American history, it is often taught that while the great powers of Europe were engaged in an arms race... the U.S. remained aloof and relatively sane by comparison. A modest but growing number of historians dispute this view, particularly the notion of U.S. detachment. Bönker is one of those and presents undeniable evidence that the US was anything but aloof. This evidence comes from the planners and strategists themselves, whom Bönker quotes heavily.... The parallels are striking; at times, the US desire for worldwide dominance surpasses the aims of Imperial Germany.(Choice)

• Introduction: Maritime Militarism in Two Modern Nation-StatesPart I. Military Force, National Industry, and Global Politics: Naval Strategies of World Power1. World Power in a Global Age2. Big-Power Confrontations over Empire3. Maritime Force, Threat, and WarPart II. The Cult of the Battle: Approaches to Maritime Warfare4. War of Battle Fleets5. Planning for Victory6. Commerce, Law, and the Limitation of WarPart III. The Quest for Power: The Navy, Governance, and the Nation7. Naval Elites and the State8. Manufacturing Consent9. A Politics of Social ImperialismPart IV. A Militarism of Experts: Naval Professionalism and the Making of Navalism10. Of Sciences, Sea Power, and Strategy11. Between Leadership and Intraservice ConflictConclusion: Navalism and Its TrajectoriesNotesBibliographyIndex

Dirk Bonker is Laverack Family Assistant Professor of History at Duke University.

Bönker's study expands significantly on recent work that interprets the kaiser's navy in a nonexceptionalist framework, stressing global dynamics rather than the peculiarities of modern Germany: the kaiserreich was not a unique case; its navy was not the expression of special conditions, as Eckart Kehr, Volker R. Berghahn, and Hans-Ulrich Wehler had argued. However, Bönker does not overstretch this interpretation. His study is far too much informed by meticulous archival research and an awareness of the specific historical contexts on both sides of the Atlantic for him to embrace the revisionist interpretation wholeheartedly.(American Historical Review) In American history, it is often taught that while the great powers of Europe were engaged in an arms race... the U.S. remained aloof and relatively sane by comparison. A modest but growing number of historians dispute this view, particularly the notion of U.S. detachment. Bönker is one of those and presents undeniable evidence that the US was anything but aloof. This evidence comes from the planners and strategists themselves, whom Bönker quotes heavily.... The parallels are striking; at times, the US desire for worldwide dominance surpasses the aims of Imperial Germany.(Choice)

• Introduction: Maritime Militarism in Two Modern Nation-StatesPart I. Military Force, National Industry, and Global Politics: Naval Strategies of World Power1. World Power in a Global Age2. Big-Power Confrontations over Empire3. Maritime Force, Threat, and WarPart II. The Cult of the Battle: Approaches to Maritime Warfare4. War of Battle Fleets5. Planning for Victory6. Commerce, Law, and the Limitation of WarPart III. The Quest for Power: The Navy, Governance, and the Nation7. Naval Elites and the State8. Manufacturing Consent9. A Politics of Social ImperialismPart IV. A Militarism of Experts: Naval Professionalism and the Making of Navalism10. Of Sciences, Sea Power, and Strategy11. Between Leadership and Intraservice ConflictConclusion: Navalism and Its TrajectoriesNotesBibliographyIndex