摘要：In 1882, twenty-three-year-old Theodore Roosevelt published his first book, The Naval War of 1812. Reviewers praised the book's scholarship and style, the recently established Naval War College adopted it for study, and the Department of the Navy ordered a copy placed in every ship's library.[1]Roosevelt wrote, as we all are fully aware, at a time when the U.S. Navy had reached a nadir. The number of ships in service had fallen to a low, and the ships in service were completely outmoded. With his Naval War of 1812, Roosevelt contributed to the movement for naval revitalization and modernization by hammering home the lessons of naval preparedness. He underscored the folly of relying on militia forces at the commencement of an armed conflict and the necessity for success of well-trained sailors and high-quality warships. It is doubtful that publication of Roosevelt's Naval War of 1812 in 1882 had any influence on Congress's laying the foundations of the new steel navy in 1883, but the work did promote a more favorable attitude toward the navy among the reading public, establish Roosevelt's credentials as an expert in naval affairs, and presage the young politician's agenda that would see fruition decades later during his presidency in what some would come to call "Teddy Roosevelt's navy."
