Unlike Alfred Thayer Mahan, Britain’s great maritime strategist Sir Julian Corbett believed that victory in war does not come simply by the exercise of sea power and that, historically, this has never been the case. Corbett’s keen analysis of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 as presented in this work, along with his discussion of the pros and cons of limited conflict will be of great value to our understanding of today’s limited wars.

Based on intelligence material provided by the Japanese government, this work was written as an official study in the years just before World War One and classified “confidential” by the Royal Navy. The two-volume study demonstrates the lessons the war held for the future and shows the essential differences between maritime and continental warfare, while also exploring their interaction.