25 CENTURIES OF SEA WARFARE by Jacques Mordal - 1970

This is 25 Centuries of Sea Warfare, written by the former French Navy officer Jacques Mordal and first published in 1959. It was translated into English in 1965, then re-printed in the UK in 1970. This is one of those copies. From the publisher: "Twenty-Five Centuries of Sea Warfare" includes 45 maps, 54 line-diagrams, and 16 pages of illustrations. From the hollowed-out tree trunk to the latest nuclear submarine, man has used the sea to carry on his unending strife with his fellow men. Deeds of great bravery have been followed by savage slaughter; new weapons have been devised to counter hostile inventive genius; the whole future of empires has been thrown into the struggle for sea supremacy; and always there has been the sea, ready, with its changing tides and storms, to destroy the works and hopes and triumphs of whole fleets. This magnificent and terrible spectacle spread over twenty-five centuries has been superbly captured by Jacques Mordal. We see the first known big sea battle at Salamise in 480 B.C.; the quarrel between Octavius and Anthony and Cleopatra, which cost the lives of 5,000 men and 300 ships; the ravages of Norsemen on the European coasts; Christian agains Turk at Lepanto; the English against the Armada. So it goes, century after century, until in our own times we come to U-Boat warfare and the Japanese-American struggle in the Pacific. Besides the Immense technological improvements in ships and armaments, there has been also an ever changing grasp of tactics to take advantage of those innovations. We see that the unifying factor that links the ancient and the modern sailor is the human spirit. Bold tactics pressed home with daring recklessness, resolute defiance of death--these are the things which are found in every battle, in every nation's sailors, and which give this fine history its colour and verve." It is 419 pages, packed with maps, drawings, illustrations and photos. I attach photos of the Contents and list of Maps & Illustrations. The dust jacket is not in good shape. The book itself is in near-mint condition. Aside from minor shelfwear and the expected darkening of the paper, it's perfect.