The wars at sea, 1939-1945

15 June - The war at sea, during which the allies first stemmed the Axis tide and then turned it, has long been recognised as a central aspect of the Second World War. But was it decided by traditional large-scale fleet engagements, as some claim, or by a steady process of attrition, as others argue? How important was peacetime preparation as compared to wartime mobilisation and innovation? What is the legacy of the war at sea and its principal engagements today? Did the contribution of individuals matter in an age of mass production? To discuss these and other questions, the Centre for Geopolitics has brought together the authors of two new books on the subject: the distinguished naval and international historian Paul Kennedy, the US Army veteran and writer Steve McGregor, and Centre Director Brendan Simms, who will moderate the discussion.

Panel:

Paul Kennedy is the J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History and Director of International Security Studies at Yale University. He has just published Victory at Sea. Naval power and the transformation of the global order in World War II (Yale University Press, 2022).

Brendan Simms is the Director of the Centre for Geopolitics and Steve McGregor is an Iraq War veteran with a graduate degree in history from Cambridge. The have just co-published The Silver Waterfall. How America won the Pacific War at Midway (Public Affairs, 2022).

Steve McGregor is a U.S. Army veteran. He was deployed to the Sunni Triangle of Death as an Infantry Officer in the 101st Airborne Division. There he earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Purple Heart. After his military service he moved to England and completed a graduate degree in history from Cambridge University.