Alfred Thayer Mahan papers (MSC 017)

Biographical note

Alfred Thayer Mahan was born at West Point, New York, the son of Professor Denis Hart Mahan, who taught at the United States Military Academy. The atmosphere of his family home undoubtedly played a role in his future work, and helped to mold his later interests. Although his father hoped that Alfred would pursue a civilian career, the boy joined the Navy after only a year at Columbia University.

As a line officer in the U.S. Navy, Mahan had a rather uneventful career, but saw active service in the Civil War and went on to command three ships. In 1885, Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce selected him as an instructor in naval history and tactics at the Naval War College. Having served nearly 25 years in the Navy at this point, Mahan found a new direction and new purpose in his life at the age of 45. Building on the vision that Luce had laid out for him, Mahan went on to a remarkable career as a naval historian and propagandist, writing more than 20 books, 160 journal articles and 100 newspaper articles. His work was translated into a variety of languages, including Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Dutch. Throughout the world his work had immense influence in the development of navies and in laying the ground work for the development of naval theory and strategy. His works continue to be read and republished today. His first sea power book,The Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660-1783, has appeared in at least 50 editions and has been translated into 6 languages.