By Kurt D. Voss A new p ictorial history tells the amazing story of one ofAmerica :S fin est maritime restorations.
Pub li shed by Arcad ia Publi shing and Galveston Hi storica l Foundation $2 1.99. 128 pages, 200 photographs A utographed copi es ava il abl e at (409) 763- 1877, or on li ne at:
www.tsm-elissa.org
CK;EAN I.INEil
now
The Great Ocean Liners Ocean Lin er Memorabilia - Posters We Buy & Appraise Maritime Collection s Committed to th e Preservation of Our Maritime History
Ian Rob ertson www.oceanlinerrow.com 917-416-7653 - PO Box 20586, New York, NV 10025
MARITIME
BOOKS 1806 Laure l C rest Madison , Wisconsin 53705-1065 (608) 238-SAIL FAX (608) 238-7249 Ema il : tuttlernaritime@ charter.net http ://tu tt Iemaritime.corn
Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor Catalogue Upon Request 54
House for the fin al debates. Sovereignty at Sea blends together military, diplomatic, social, and m aritime history into a concise narrative that is well documented with primary sources and supported with num erous charts and illustrations. Both the average and well-versed reader on the subject w ill be surprised by many of the events. For example, two months before Wilson's famous declaration of war speech to Congress, and shortly after Germany's announcement unleashing their Uboats against American ships, the president laid our his d esire for peace to Congress and cited what would lead him to ask for a declaration of war. These factors included the destruction of American ships, the loss of American lives, and any other overt acts against the U nited States. This statem ent, along with other evid ence, leads Carlisle to identify the loss of the ten merchant ships TIMOTHY J. R UNYAN Maritime H eritage Program, NOAA and twenty-four crewmen to be th e true and East Carolina University casus beLLi for America's declaration of war, Greenville, North Carolina thereby providing a just war doctrine, more so than the German overtures to Mexico. Sovereignty at Sea: US M erchant Ships and Ironi cally, President Wilson appears as the American Entry into World ~r I by Rodney greatest victim in the tragedy of early 191 7. Carlisle (Univ. Press of Florida, Gainesville, His "ago ny," according to Carlisle, comes 2009, 232pp, illus, appen, notes, index, ISBN through on th e pages, including utilizing the principles of Sr. Augustine to justify 978-0-8130-3420-1; $69.95hc) Rodn ey Ca rli sle, who previously his decision to propose war to Congress. looked at the decline of th e American W hile W ilson did nor specifically mention m ari time fleer in Sovereignty for Sa fe: The the loss of individual vessels, as he feared the Origins and Evolution of the Panamanian small loss of life seemed our of proportion and Liberian Flags of Convenience (1981), for what he was preparing to underrake, it picks up with the US m erchant m arine is evident from rhe sources provided that under arrack in Sovereignty at Sea: US they were instrumental in his decision. While Wilso n's decision was controMerchant Ships and American Entry into World ~r !. Fro m February 2 to April 4, versial, in its ep ilogue, Sovereignty at Sea 1917, ten American merchant ships were demonstrates the lessons learned from this lost to German attacks and it was these episode and how it influenced American assaults and nor the attempt to elicit the neutrali ty laws during the inter-war period support of Mexico that led to American and influenced American policy in the years intervention in the Grear War, and subse- leading up to the Second Wo rld War. In addition, the issues raised by the events of quen rly defeat for the Central Powers. Carlisle develops a system atic ap- early 19 17 fueled the development of flags proach to the declaration of war, enacted of convenien ce to avoid entangling nations' by Congress and President Woodrow W ilso n maritime Bee rs in world struggles. Rodney on 6 April 191 7. His narrative rakes the Carlisle's Sovereignty at Sea fill s a crucial reader to Pless Castle in Silesia for the de- void in rhe First World War historiography Ii berarions of the Kaiser and his war cabinet in understanding how the United States concerni ng the resumption of unrestricted cam e to enter the conflict and subsequentl y submarine warfare, o n board the SS lhgi- em erge as a s uperpower. Lancia, the first American ship deliberately SALVATORE MERCOGLIANO, PHD sunk by the Germans without warning, Campbell Uni versity and to rhe halls of Congress and the White Buies C reek, North Carolina to examine contemporary issues rangi ng from El Nino to global warming and sea level rise. Bur the subject, li ke the sea itself, is huge, a nd the need for information is critical, as nea rly half the world's population lives near the coast and most of the world 's goods are transpo rted by ship. In 1991, the intern ational Globa l Ocean Observing Sys rem (GOOS) was created . When fully implemented it will be a permanent integrated real-rime observ ing system. The author embraces GOOS as the way forward a nd the key to generating rhe informatio n necessa ry to solving the mys teries of the sea as well as predicting its behavior. This is a fascin ating book fro m a scientist who ap preciates history and uses human stories to breathe life into his study. H e had m e at rhe introduction, "When the Sea Turns Against Us."
SEA HISTORY 134, SPRING 2011