In Writing this book I have had two aims in view; to provide a brief social history of the Royal Navy as a profession, and to show how it was used in the past as an instrument of national policy.
The Central theme of this book is the changing role of sea power, especially American sea power, both in the crumbling world order which erashhed to ruin in August 1914, and during the years of political chaos and uncertainty which follwed the armistice of November 1918