American Sea Power in the Old World

William N. Still Jr is an American maritime historian who was the first director of the program in maritime history at East Carolina University and a noted author of works on U.S. Civil War history and U.S. naval history.

“Scholarly, attentive to detail, yet thoroughly accessible to readers of all backgrounds, American Sea Power in the Old World is highly recommended and a welcome contribution to public and college library collections.”—Midwest Book Review“American Sea Power in the Old World [is] a highly competent, well-regarded survey of US naval cruising in an important region of the world at the dawn of the so-called American Century. It remains, over thirty-five years on, among the best broader histories of the peacetime deployment of US naval vessels in the long nineteenth century.” —Michigan War Studies Review“This book, first published in 1980, has stood the test of time and has become the benchmark against which all historical studies of the U.S. Navy, from the period after the Civil War to World War I, are compared.... The book is well written and nicely illustrated…. Overall, the book is a great addition to the historical story of the U.S. Navy in the era between the Civil War and World War I.” —The Journal of America’s Military Past“This [is a] brilliantly researched account."—Baird Maritime “Still’s treatment of the Navy’s role in support of America’s diplomatic, strategic, commercial, and – curiously – Protestant missionary activities in European and Near Eastern waters remains a valuable read those with an interest in American diplomatic history, the advent of the Great War, and the transition of the fleet from the coastal and riverine force of the Civil War through the post-war doldrums and on to the rise of the ‘New Navy’.” — StrategyPage