Naval warfare has traditionally been seen as being very heavily dependent on technology, perhaps more so than on the human seafarers employing the technology, and naval history has frequently emphasized the technological innovations that have transformed naval warfare, particularly in the twentieth century. Criticizing this view as “technological determinism,” Ronald Spector in At War at Sea chose to turn this view on its head, instead emphasizing people, training, cultural backgrounds, and a host of other social and cultural factors in his study of twentieth-century naval warfare. Spector used this “human dimension” to explore how navies using similar technologies achieved very different levels of success and failure (e.g., the Russo-Japanese War) and why navies chose to use technologies in dramatically different ways, as with the British and American experiences with early naval aviation. Spector provided a much-needed emphasis on the human factors involved in warfare, though he was unable to avoid emphasizing technology in his narrative. For example, though he stated that he was interested in the question, Spector never provided an example of a navy with inferior technology besting an opponent that used superior technology. While Spector admirably demonstrated the importance of human factors in modern naval warfare, it is clear that technology – particularly technological differentials between opponents – has played an important role in naval warfare and must be considered closely along side human factors.

Review copyright 2009 J. Andrew Byers ( )

An episodic history of naval combat in the 20th century, beginning with the demolition of the Russian fleet by the Japanese at Tsushima (1905) and ending with the first Gulf War (1991). It is more comprehensive, and thus in many ways more useful, than the equivalent section (about 3/4 of the book) of John Keegan's Price of Admiralty.

20th century/History/History - Military / War/History: World/Military - Naval/Modern - 20th Century/Naval History - Modern/Naval art and science/Naval history, Modern/Sailors