Everyone has heard of the USS Constitution and the USS Constellation. They were the first two ships commissioned into the United States Navy. But have you ever heard of the Liberty and the Invincible? They were the first two ships commissioned into the Navy of the Republic of Texas.

Between 1835 and 1845 the Republic of Texas had their own fleet. In between court martialing each other, suppressing mutinies, legalizing piracy and getting stone drunk in New Orleans-they actually found the time to beat the British and Spanish- trained Mexican navy.

The history of Sea Power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war. Therefore the history of sea power, while embracing in its broad sweep all that tends to make a people great upon the sea or by the sea, is largely a military history; and it is in this aspect that it will be mainly, though not exclusively, regarded in the following pages.

In 1859 Alfred Thayer Mahan graduated second in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1885 he was appointed to the Naval War College to teach naval history and tactics, and he was an absolute genius as a naval historian and theoretician. HIs books were avidly read by naval officers the world over. They shaped the way modern navies would be organized—and, more importantly, revolutionized the way ships would fight.

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The American Revolutionary War was fought mainly on land and won mainly on the water" Jack Coggins - Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution. In 1775, the Continental Navy numbered around 100 ships. In contrast, the British Navy had 270 ships and by 1783 had increased the number to 468. Despite this disparity, the Royal Navy suffered severely, largely through the actions of privateers, losing through sinking or capture nearly 200 ships. After 1778, when the British also had to face the fleets of France and Spain, American privateers multiplied. They inflicted severe damage on British ships and trade, costing Britain about 2,000 ships, GBP18 million, and 12,000 men captured. For the American Revolution to succeed, sea-borne trade with the rest of the world had to be maintained. Should this fail, then vital supplies of guns, the powder to fire them and not least men and ships to fight the British could not be relied upon. Mahan's masterly account of this neglected aspect of the wars brings to the fore the importance of the often ferocious engagements in the struggle for mastery of the sea, on the outcome of which hung the prospects of an Empire and the very course of history.

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The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain. Originally written in two volumes.

Alfred Thayer Mahan was a highly regarded naval historian and naval theorist who, concentrating on Nelson's professional life, provided a balanced analysis of his naval career. Avoiding the pitfalls of previous biographies colored by hero worship, Mahan provides a balanced view that even won over an initially skeptical British audience. Written after Nelson's death it is not based on the hero worship of earlier works and uses information that had subsequently become available.

• An in-depth look at ship design and the "floating culture" onboard
• The Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1650-74, when English commanders challenged Dutch sea power with superior speed, close quarters fighting, and fireships
• The rise and fall of the French Navy under the Sun King, Louis XIV
• The Napoleonic Wars, the defeat of the French fleet, and the rise of British Royal Navy hero Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson

This text covers the career of Sir John Knox Laughton (1830-1915) who, before his death, was influential in the growing debate about the strategy and tactics of contemporary navies. His friends or correspondents included all the major names in his field. This biography serves as a study of the evolution of naval thought in the crucial decades leading up to World War I.