As one can guess from the title, the following book is a non-fiction work that attempts to explain why having a strong naval force can be the deciding factor of whether a country will emerge victorious when engaging in open conflict. It is written by Bradley A. Fiske, an officer in the United States Navy who was noted as a technical innovator. During his long career, Fiske invented more than a hundred and thirty electrical and mechanical devices, with both naval and civilian uses, and wrote extensively on technical and professional issues. At one point, The New Yorker called him "one of the notable naval inventors of all time."