Covers the period 1775 through May 1991. Includes index.

The American Revolution, 1775-1783 -- The age of sail, 1783-1812 -- The war of 1812, 1812-1815 -- Pirates, explorers, and war with Mexico, 1815-1860 -- The Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Retrenchment and Renaissance, 1865-1900 -- A global Navy and a world war, 1901-1939 -- World War II, 1939-1945 -- The Cold War Navy, 1946-1980 -- The Pax Americana, 1980-1994 -- The U.S. Navy in the twenty-first century.