Progressives in Navy Blue: Maritime Strategy, American Empire, and the Transformation of U.S. Naval Identity, 1873-1898

It is not often that a book like this comes out, one that helps fill in a missing picture. Most studies of the United States Navy look at a few eras: early America, the Civil War, and post-Spanish/American War. Rarely do we get a nice, and well written, book that covers the era after the Civil War but before the Spanish/American War in such detail. Scott Mobley tells us the story of how the United States Navy changed from 1873-1898, how the old days of the independent captain, in the age of sail, slowly disappeared. In a way, it is a fight of young versus old. The younger officers wanted change and for things to become modern, while the old guard wanted things to remain the same, all in the face of a country, and a congress, that was not used to having a standing military presence. Mr. Mobley does an excellent job crafting the story by harnessing an impressive catalog of research that be breaks down and interprets the information for us, the reader. People will walk away learning how much the Navy has changed, and how it almost did not change, with the times. Improving the Navy was not a forgone conclusion, but Mr. Mobley gives us the story of how it came about.