On seas of glory: heroic men, great ships and epic battles of the American Navy

John Lehman was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, and he gives a broad narrative of the Navy, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. Of interest to the Napoleonic enthusiast is his section on the war of 1812 and his interest the little-studied area of privateering, which in Lehman's opinion played as greater a role as firepower in deciding the result of the War of 1812.

Contents:
Introduction 1
Ch. I The Revolutionary War 5
Ch. II The Privateers 41
Ch. III War With the Berber Pashas and Revolutionary France 70
Ch. IV The War of 1812 103
Ch. V The Civil War 142
Ch. VI Manifest Destiny: The “New Navy” 191
Ch. VII World War II 228
Ch. VIII The Cold War 293
Ch. IX The 600-Ship Navy and Cold War Victory 345
Epilogue 397
Bibliography 402
Acknowledgements 415
Index 417