What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sea Power of the State
Book by Gorshkov, Sergei Georgievich
290 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2022
Sea Power of the State may be considered one of the most influential naval books of the twentieth century. It is not much of a theoretical book, as it justifies the need for sea power for a communist country, such as the Soviet Union. Throughout the whole book, Sergei Gorshkov proves that the Soviet Union, as one of the leading countries in the world, shall have a powerful fleet to guarantee peace for the world. In addition, Gorshkov also briefly covers the history of the fleet, explanation to why imperialists need the fleet, and why the Soviet Union is destined to be a maritime power. The book, written in 1976, until 1984, was published in nine foreign countries and seven foreign languages, causing a furor among the socialist bloc and the West.
Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov was born on February 26, 1910, in Kamenets-Podolsk, Russian Empire, in a family of a well-respected academic – Georgi Mikhaylovich Gorshkov. One of Sergei's letters says: "Georgi Mikhaylovich and your entire family had total respect in Kamenets-Podolsk, as they were seen as progressive people. Your father was interested in physics and astronomy, got a small telescope, through which he showed everyone the stars, explaining each of them…"
Gorshkov's early years were closely attached to the events of the October Revolution. He was a smart kid who had immediately gone to the second grade, in which he was a playful boy. His whole family was very into music, which led young Sergei to play the violin. Nevertheless, he did not have great hearing abilities, so he had to drop it.
When Sergei turned sixteen, he decided to go into the physical-mathematical faculty of Leningrad University. Being the city founded by the great Emperor Peter I, Gorshkov decided to go into the M. V. Frunze academy of maritime studies. On October 20, 1927, by the order two two eight, young seventeen-year-old Sergei Gorshkov got into the academy on the junior special course. In 1931, he got his first rank of an officer, and on February 23 of the same year, he graduated, and for his extraordinary achievements in studying (he was ranked fourth in his entire group), Gorshkov was assigned as navigator on Russian battleship Frunze.
As his daughter remembers, "One time when my father got off the ship, he saw a friend of his friend. It was my mom." Gorshkov's wife was married to an old academic when he first met her and already had a son. Nevertheless, he had charmed her, and in 1935, they had approved for marriage.
In the fall of 1938, one of the darkest events in Gorshkov's life occurred. The destroyer Reshitelny, which he was commanding, crashed on a rock and sunk. The people survived, yet the time of the event was not lucky as it happened during the Great Purge of 1937-1938. Sergei got removed from his post and was put under trial. It was Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, the head of the Soviet Fleet, and Joseph Stalin himself who made everything so that Gorshkov gets pardoned. It could have been considered a miracle, as in the 1930s, during the time when the Soviet fleet was taking massive reforms, such a pardon was almost impossible to get..
The real test of Gorshkov's abilities came with World War II, during which he became Rear-Admiral and joined the communist party. Furthermore, he was asked to serve as a general on land, which was a unique chance. Nevertheless, Gorshkov declined it. As Sergei recalls his war experience, "I believe that during the war I gained the greatest experience in conducting combined, joint operations with the ground forces and in supporting the flank of our troops from the sea (landings, artillery support, crossings, etc.)."
In 1944, he published his first article about the generalization of the experience of amphibious operations in number four of Morskoy Sbornik. This had begun his career in the scientific development of the naval art of the future Soviet fleet.
In August 1951, Sergei Georgievich received an order to be put to the rank of admiral and put in command of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1955, he was given an order by the minister of defense, Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin, to give up his post as the head of the Black Sea Fleet and begin to perform duties of the head of the whole Soviet Fleet temporarily. On January 5, 1956, Admiral Gorshkov became the head of the Soviet Fleet. He had this duty for thirty years. When he gave up his post, he left the country with one of the most influential fleets globally, having only one enemy – the fleet of the United States of America. He died on May 13, 1988, having written numerous theoretical and memorial works to give to the future generation of seamen. Nevertheless, the future generation did not serve the Soviet Union anymore.
Sea Power of the State might be the most essential work in Gorshkov's life. Gorshkov outlines the research as one which looks at sea power in historical, modern, and future concepts, as well as its use in politics, economics, and defense of the country. He further defies sea power as the totality of the means of developing the World Ocean and the means of protecting state interests with their rational combination.
Despite the most significant part of the book being devoted to the navy, at least one-fourth is devoted to the scientific fleet, the ocean's law problems, and the problems of pollution. He states that the Soviet fleet did everything to prevent the pollution of the ocean, research it and establish the secure economic duties of the country.
History also plays a significant part in Gorshkov's research. He devotes the entirety of the second chapter to the navy's history, considering that the fleet was an inseparable piece from a leading country.
Firstly, of course, Gorshkov mentions the Royal Navy, which played a significant part in British imperialism. The colonies that the British Empire colonized could not battle against the British fleet, which made them much easier to be captured.
Moreover, he notices the significant role of the British fleet in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With the downfall of the French fleet in the nineteenth century, the British had established everything to become the sea's rulers. Nonetheless, to become such, they had to win a decisive battle. Such a battle was the Battle of Trafalgar, which Gorshkov fails to analyze appropriately. He states that the result of the battle was overrated, perhaps, contradicting himself with his argument. As it is known, the Battle of Trafalgar resulted in the destruction of the Combined Franco-Spanish Fleet, leading the British to re-establish themselves as the foremost sea power, completely cutting Napoleon's plans for the navy. Such sea power was precisely what led to the defeat of Napoleon, as, had Napoleon had a bigger fleet, his destruction in 1812 could have been prevented. Furthermore, Gorshkov again contradicts himself, stating that the Russian Empire played the most significant role in Napoleon's downfall. Firstly, despite defeating Napoleon in 1812, it was primarily due to the weather conditions and not the outstanding maneuvers of Russian commanders. Secondly, the exact parallel that Gorshkov makes with Trafalgar could be transitioned to the 1812 Patriotic War, as there were further the Wars of the Sixth and Seventh Coalitions, which ended only in 1815. Such historical misinterpretations could be seen widely throughout the whole book, yet they could be justified with the patriotic history program, which was studied in the USSR, as the Patriotic War of 1812 was and still is a mass source of propaganda of how "Russia only defends itself in wars." Although, technically, it was Emperor Alexander I who was responsible for the beginning of the war not only due to ending the embargo on Britain but also due to the expenses for the military department and financial confusion.
Talking about how Russia was always destined to be a maritime power, Gorshkov recalls that the Slavic tribes used to be on the sea long before the British came there. He states that, somehow, "in the year 269, these tribes had made a journey of a huge fleet and destroyed Athens, Corinth, Sparta, reached Crete and Cyprus." Since there are no sources cited, it is tough to find what tribes made such outstanding journeys in the third century Russia if the Russian government itself was technically established by the Nordic Knyaz Rurik in 862, with the tribes being so small and unorganized, that they called onto him to become their ruler.
Nevertheless, Gorshkov makes several significant observations regarding the Russian fleet from that point on. He notices that The Great Northern War was won only because of the fleet, which destroyed the Swedes and significantly increased the Russian Empire's influence. He further mentions the example of the Russo-Japanese War how the absence of such a fleet or its strategy could lead to horrifying consequences, as the Russo-Japanese War practically established the downfall of Emperor Nikolai II.
When Gorshkov mentions the period of World War I, he clearly observes that the German fleet failed primarily because of the excess of submarines that it had. Furthermore, he mentions that World War I played a crucial role in the distribution of the fleet in its aftermath, in which the British Empire lost its privilege of the ruler of the seas for the first time in centuries.
Regarding World War II, Gorshkov mentions that it is because of the Soviet Fleet that the European theater of war was thriving. Nevertheless, while stating all the glories which the Soviet seamen lived through, Gorshkov did not mention the importance of the Allied fleet in terms of supply to the Soviet Union due to the Lend-Lease Act. When talking about the Japanese front, Gorshkov notices that the Soviet invasion of Manchuria was a decisive act of the Second World War. Followed by the invasion of Sakhalin and Kurils, Japan was "destined to capitulate." Despite such a thesis being somewhat rational, Gorshkov emphasizes that it was the Soviet Union that stopped World War II. Such an argument is interesting enough. Most of Truman's moves looked like desperate attempts to stop the Soviet influence, including the nuclear bombardment of Japan, and the strategy of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, towards the end of the war, was aimed at keeping himself in power. It was General MacArthur who had promised Hirohito good terms, thus, establishing a "faster capitulation," which, in reality, was just a way to stop the Soviets from progressing on mainland Japan.
When Gorshkov turns to the period of the Cold War, his argument becomes simple: NATO is evil, and the Soviet Union is good. Throughout the third chapter, Gorshkov shows how horrifically the United States used its fleet to achieve its imperialistic goals, starting from the Korean War to Vietnam. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and the Socialist bloc were like angel protectors of peace, the fleet of which was only built for defense and socialist influence. Concluding his thesis on the importance of the Soviet Fleet, at the end of the book, Gorshkov states that the Soviet Navy is the "main component of the sea power of the state which can oppose the oceanic strategy of imperialism."
Another flaw in Gorshkov's historical analysis might not be much of his flaw, as a flaw of the Soviet propaganda. When Gorshkov talks about how the Soviet Fleet was constructed, he did not mention Joseph Stalin's name once. Nevertheless, it was Stalin's personal decision to restructure the whole Soviet Fleet prior to World War II. By the resolution of CEC and the SNK of the USSR on December 30, 1937, an independent People's Commissariat of the Navy of the USSR was formed. As Admiral Kasatonov notices in his research, the creation of such a Commissariat "objectively reflected the future, increasing role of the navy in the system of the armed forces and Stalin's desire to ensure the success of naval construction with organizational measures."
In the conclusion of his research, Gorshkov outlines several central aspects of naval art: scope of the battle, power, maneuver swiftness, time, and domination of the sea. On the examples of local imperialist wars, he shows the main aspects of modern sea warfare: amphibious landings, aviation, and naval military transportation. He then makes several conclusions. Firstly, the fleet shall be universal. Secondly, the navy is mainly used by imperialist countries in modern days to position their interests. Thirdly, a powerful navy is a key to any superpower as it allows to be one of the most essential tools in politics. Lastly, the power of the fleet shall be balanced by several criteria and aspects.
The last pages of the research could be seen as some testament of Admiral Gorshkov. He states that the more the Soviet government develops economically, the more influential the World Ocean is and, thus, the Soviet navy. Providing several historical and modern examples, it is indubitable that the navy is one of the most essential tools for the sea power of the state, which can oppose the strategy of imperialism. The last words in Gorshkov's book sound depressing nowadays: "And, thus, the main components for the sea power of the state are leaning mostly towards the scientific progress."
Sergei Gorshkov's book is a justification for the fleet of the Soviet Union, which caused attention from all over the world. Nevertheless, nowadays, one might look at it nostalgically. In the book, the reader is told that the Soviet Fleet did everything to achieve peace and stop imperialism. Little did Gorshkov know that, shortly after his death, his whole navy collapsed, as well as the country to which he devoted his life. The sea power of the state in the modern successor of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, is used in a way that completely opposes what Gorshkov said: it became a tool in the hands of imperialists. This, on the contrary, shows just how meticulous Gorshkov's research was. The situation in the world today revolves around the fleet: the fleet is the primary tool of imperialists. The Russian scientific fleet is in such a crisis nowadays because it is not profitable to discover anything that does not give money; simple capitalistic rule: a capitalist does not care what to do if the result is profit. Thus, the book is accurate in modern times if the Soviet Union and the Socialist Bloc part of it is ignored: it was destroyed. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to witness what such an influential person thought about the naval situation in the world.
Despite being aimed at a "military reader," the book reads reasonably easily. Although flawed, the history described in the book does not need high analytical skills to understand. Nevertheless, the absence of footnotes in parts focusing on history might lead one to confusion. Furthermore, there is no challenging naval vocabulary, making the book universal. Contrary to another work of the same theme, The Influence of Sea Power upon History by A. T. Mahan, which is severely more complex, Gorshkov's book might be seen as a great introductory book for naval history.
To conclude, the book Sea Power of the State is a great introductory book for someone who might be interested in Naval history and theory. Furthermore, the book symbolizes an entire epoch of a country's fleet that no longer exists, making it particularly interesting for someone interested in Soviet history. Furthermore, Gorshkov's constant mentions of Lenin, Marx, and Engels' philosophy might make it exciting for someone interested in it. The book outlines how the communist philosophy affected sea power. Despite some historical flaws, the book's main conclusion is clear, relevant and on point, making such flaws miserable in the context of a four hundred fifty-page book. Furthermore, most of such flaws could be justified by the date the book was released and the Soviet propaganda that influenced it. Gorshkov did everything throughout his life to benefit the Soviet fleet: make it more powerful and strategically effective. His legacy was shaken, yet it was not destroyed. As long as the memory and the idea of his works survive, there lives a chance that one day the monopoly of the imperial fleet will be broken and that the name of Admiral Gorshkov will be considered as of one of the most influential people in history, and not just a class frigate in the Russian navy.
Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov was born on February 26, 1910, in Kamenets-Podolsk, Russian Empire, in a family of a well-respected academic – Georgi Mikhaylovich Gorshkov. One of Sergei's letters says: "Georgi Mikhaylovich and your entire family had total respect in Kamenets-Podolsk, as they were seen as progressive people. Your father was interested in physics and astronomy, got a small telescope, through which he showed everyone the stars, explaining each of them…"
Gorshkov's early years were closely attached to the events of the October Revolution. He was a smart kid who had immediately gone to the second grade, in which he was a playful boy. His whole family was very into music, which led young Sergei to play the violin. Nevertheless, he did not have great hearing abilities, so he had to drop it.
When Sergei turned sixteen, he decided to go into the physical-mathematical faculty of Leningrad University. Being the city founded by the great Emperor Peter I, Gorshkov decided to go into the M. V. Frunze academy of maritime studies. On October 20, 1927, by the order two two eight, young seventeen-year-old Sergei Gorshkov got into the academy on the junior special course. In 1931, he got his first rank of an officer, and on February 23 of the same year, he graduated, and for his extraordinary achievements in studying (he was ranked fourth in his entire group), Gorshkov was assigned as navigator on Russian battleship Frunze.
As his daughter remembers, "One time when my father got off the ship, he saw a friend of his friend. It was my mom." Gorshkov's wife was married to an old academic when he first met her and already had a son. Nevertheless, he had charmed her, and in 1935, they had approved for marriage.
In the fall of 1938, one of the darkest events in Gorshkov's life occurred. The destroyer Reshitelny, which he was commanding, crashed on a rock and sunk. The people survived, yet the time of the event was not lucky as it happened during the Great Purge of 1937-1938. Sergei got removed from his post and was put under trial. It was Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, the head of the Soviet Fleet, and Joseph Stalin himself who made everything so that Gorshkov gets pardoned. It could have been considered a miracle, as in the 1930s, during the time when the Soviet fleet was taking massive reforms, such a pardon was almost impossible to get..
The real test of Gorshkov's abilities came with World War II, during which he became Rear-Admiral and joined the communist party. Furthermore, he was asked to serve as a general on land, which was a unique chance. Nevertheless, Gorshkov declined it. As Sergei recalls his war experience, "I believe that during the war I gained the greatest experience in conducting combined, joint operations with the ground forces and in supporting the flank of our troops from the sea (landings, artillery support, crossings, etc.)."
In 1944, he published his first article about the generalization of the experience of amphibious operations in number four of Morskoy Sbornik. This had begun his career in the scientific development of the naval art of the future Soviet fleet.
In August 1951, Sergei Georgievich received an order to be put to the rank of admiral and put in command of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1955, he was given an order by the minister of defense, Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin, to give up his post as the head of the Black Sea Fleet and begin to perform duties of the head of the whole Soviet Fleet temporarily. On January 5, 1956, Admiral Gorshkov became the head of the Soviet Fleet. He had this duty for thirty years. When he gave up his post, he left the country with one of the most influential fleets globally, having only one enemy – the fleet of the United States of America. He died on May 13, 1988, having written numerous theoretical and memorial works to give to the future generation of seamen. Nevertheless, the future generation did not serve the Soviet Union anymore.
Sea Power of the State might be the most essential work in Gorshkov's life. Gorshkov outlines the research as one which looks at sea power in historical, modern, and future concepts, as well as its use in politics, economics, and defense of the country. He further defies sea power as the totality of the means of developing the World Ocean and the means of protecting state interests with their rational combination.
Despite the most significant part of the book being devoted to the navy, at least one-fourth is devoted to the scientific fleet, the ocean's law problems, and the problems of pollution. He states that the Soviet fleet did everything to prevent the pollution of the ocean, research it and establish the secure economic duties of the country.
History also plays a significant part in Gorshkov's research. He devotes the entirety of the second chapter to the navy's history, considering that the fleet was an inseparable piece from a leading country.
Firstly, of course, Gorshkov mentions the Royal Navy, which played a significant part in British imperialism. The colonies that the British Empire colonized could not battle against the British fleet, which made them much easier to be captured.
Moreover, he notices the significant role of the British fleet in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With the downfall of the French fleet in the nineteenth century, the British had established everything to become the sea's rulers. Nonetheless, to become such, they had to win a decisive battle. Such a battle was the Battle of Trafalgar, which Gorshkov fails to analyze appropriately. He states that the result of the battle was overrated, perhaps, contradicting himself with his argument. As it is known, the Battle of Trafalgar resulted in the destruction of the Combined Franco-Spanish Fleet, leading the British to re-establish themselves as the foremost sea power, completely cutting Napoleon's plans for the navy. Such sea power was precisely what led to the defeat of Napoleon, as, had Napoleon had a bigger fleet, his destruction in 1812 could have been prevented. Furthermore, Gorshkov again contradicts himself, stating that the Russian Empire played the most significant role in Napoleon's downfall. Firstly, despite defeating Napoleon in 1812, it was primarily due to the weather conditions and not the outstanding maneuvers of Russian commanders. Secondly, the exact parallel that Gorshkov makes with Trafalgar could be transitioned to the 1812 Patriotic War, as there were further the Wars of the Sixth and Seventh Coalitions, which ended only in 1815. Such historical misinterpretations could be seen widely throughout the whole book, yet they could be justified with the patriotic history program, which was studied in the USSR, as the Patriotic War of 1812 was and still is a mass source of propaganda of how "Russia only defends itself in wars." Although, technically, it was Emperor Alexander I who was responsible for the beginning of the war not only due to ending the embargo on Britain but also due to the expenses for the military department and financial confusion.
Talking about how Russia was always destined to be a maritime power, Gorshkov recalls that the Slavic tribes used to be on the sea long before the British came there. He states that, somehow, "in the year 269, these tribes had made a journey of a huge fleet and destroyed Athens, Corinth, Sparta, reached Crete and Cyprus." Since there are no sources cited, it is tough to find what tribes made such outstanding journeys in the third century Russia if the Russian government itself was technically established by the Nordic Knyaz Rurik in 862, with the tribes being so small and unorganized, that they called onto him to become their ruler.
Nevertheless, Gorshkov makes several significant observations regarding the Russian fleet from that point on. He notices that The Great Northern War was won only because of the fleet, which destroyed the Swedes and significantly increased the Russian Empire's influence. He further mentions the example of the Russo-Japanese War how the absence of such a fleet or its strategy could lead to horrifying consequences, as the Russo-Japanese War practically established the downfall of Emperor Nikolai II.
When Gorshkov mentions the period of World War I, he clearly observes that the German fleet failed primarily because of the excess of submarines that it had. Furthermore, he mentions that World War I played a crucial role in the distribution of the fleet in its aftermath, in which the British Empire lost its privilege of the ruler of the seas for the first time in centuries.
Regarding World War II, Gorshkov mentions that it is because of the Soviet Fleet that the European theater of war was thriving. Nevertheless, while stating all the glories which the Soviet seamen lived through, Gorshkov did not mention the importance of the Allied fleet in terms of supply to the Soviet Union due to the Lend-Lease Act. When talking about the Japanese front, Gorshkov notices that the Soviet invasion of Manchuria was a decisive act of the Second World War. Followed by the invasion of Sakhalin and Kurils, Japan was "destined to capitulate." Despite such a thesis being somewhat rational, Gorshkov emphasizes that it was the Soviet Union that stopped World War II. Such an argument is interesting enough. Most of Truman's moves looked like desperate attempts to stop the Soviet influence, including the nuclear bombardment of Japan, and the strategy of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, towards the end of the war, was aimed at keeping himself in power. It was General MacArthur who had promised Hirohito good terms, thus, establishing a "faster capitulation," which, in reality, was just a way to stop the Soviets from progressing on mainland Japan.
When Gorshkov turns to the period of the Cold War, his argument becomes simple: NATO is evil, and the Soviet Union is good. Throughout the third chapter, Gorshkov shows how horrifically the United States used its fleet to achieve its imperialistic goals, starting from the Korean War to Vietnam. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and the Socialist bloc were like angel protectors of peace, the fleet of which was only built for defense and socialist influence. Concluding his thesis on the importance of the Soviet Fleet, at the end of the book, Gorshkov states that the Soviet Navy is the "main component of the sea power of the state which can oppose the oceanic strategy of imperialism."
Another flaw in Gorshkov's historical analysis might not be much of his flaw, as a flaw of the Soviet propaganda. When Gorshkov talks about how the Soviet Fleet was constructed, he did not mention Joseph Stalin's name once. Nevertheless, it was Stalin's personal decision to restructure the whole Soviet Fleet prior to World War II. By the resolution of CEC and the SNK of the USSR on December 30, 1937, an independent People's Commissariat of the Navy of the USSR was formed. As Admiral Kasatonov notices in his research, the creation of such a Commissariat "objectively reflected the future, increasing role of the navy in the system of the armed forces and Stalin's desire to ensure the success of naval construction with organizational measures."
In the conclusion of his research, Gorshkov outlines several central aspects of naval art: scope of the battle, power, maneuver swiftness, time, and domination of the sea. On the examples of local imperialist wars, he shows the main aspects of modern sea warfare: amphibious landings, aviation, and naval military transportation. He then makes several conclusions. Firstly, the fleet shall be universal. Secondly, the navy is mainly used by imperialist countries in modern days to position their interests. Thirdly, a powerful navy is a key to any superpower as it allows to be one of the most essential tools in politics. Lastly, the power of the fleet shall be balanced by several criteria and aspects.
The last pages of the research could be seen as some testament of Admiral Gorshkov. He states that the more the Soviet government develops economically, the more influential the World Ocean is and, thus, the Soviet navy. Providing several historical and modern examples, it is indubitable that the navy is one of the most essential tools for the sea power of the state, which can oppose the strategy of imperialism. The last words in Gorshkov's book sound depressing nowadays: "And, thus, the main components for the sea power of the state are leaning mostly towards the scientific progress."
Sergei Gorshkov's book is a justification for the fleet of the Soviet Union, which caused attention from all over the world. Nevertheless, nowadays, one might look at it nostalgically. In the book, the reader is told that the Soviet Fleet did everything to achieve peace and stop imperialism. Little did Gorshkov know that, shortly after his death, his whole navy collapsed, as well as the country to which he devoted his life. The sea power of the state in the modern successor of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, is used in a way that completely opposes what Gorshkov said: it became a tool in the hands of imperialists. This, on the contrary, shows just how meticulous Gorshkov's research was. The situation in the world today revolves around the fleet: the fleet is the primary tool of imperialists. The Russian scientific fleet is in such a crisis nowadays because it is not profitable to discover anything that does not give money; simple capitalistic rule: a capitalist does not care what to do if the result is profit. Thus, the book is accurate in modern times if the Soviet Union and the Socialist Bloc part of it is ignored: it was destroyed. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to witness what such an influential person thought about the naval situation in the world.
Despite being aimed at a "military reader," the book reads reasonably easily. Although flawed, the history described in the book does not need high analytical skills to understand. Nevertheless, the absence of footnotes in parts focusing on history might lead one to confusion. Furthermore, there is no challenging naval vocabulary, making the book universal. Contrary to another work of the same theme, The Influence of Sea Power upon History by A. T. Mahan, which is severely more complex, Gorshkov's book might be seen as a great introductory book for naval history.
To conclude, the book Sea Power of the State is a great introductory book for someone who might be interested in Naval history and theory. Furthermore, the book symbolizes an entire epoch of a country's fleet that no longer exists, making it particularly interesting for someone interested in Soviet history. Furthermore, Gorshkov's constant mentions of Lenin, Marx, and Engels' philosophy might make it exciting for someone interested in it. The book outlines how the communist philosophy affected sea power. Despite some historical flaws, the book's main conclusion is clear, relevant and on point, making such flaws miserable in the context of a four hundred fifty-page book. Furthermore, most of such flaws could be justified by the date the book was released and the Soviet propaganda that influenced it. Gorshkov did everything throughout his life to benefit the Soviet fleet: make it more powerful and strategically effective. His legacy was shaken, yet it was not destroyed. As long as the memory and the idea of his works survive, there lives a chance that one day the monopoly of the imperial fleet will be broken and that the name of Admiral Gorshkov will be considered as of one of the most influential people in history, and not just a class frigate in the Russian navy.
November 28, 2022
Must read if you want to understand the optimal Russian naval strategy. Gorshkov writes well and the translation is also good. He grapples with and figures out ways to cope with Russia's terribly bad naval geography and the fact it was out-matched by the US Navy. Chinese naval strategists may have read him since they are doing things similar to what Gorshkov recommends. A great book, by a great man, but in service of a corrupted dictatorship. He deserved better, so does Russia. But his ideas are correct and well worth reading!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews