The history of the US Navy is not complete without an understanding of the administrative processes under which it was created and developed. Fortunately the details of early naval administration were searched out and preserved before they were buried in the vast accumulation of records resulting from two world wars. Charles Oscar Paullin, who produced the material contained in this book, commenced his work early in the twentieth century and the last chapter was published just prior to World War I.

Paullin’s sprightly accounts of early naval administration have become well known to historians, students and researchers. His detailed knowledge of the politics and personalities involved in managing the Navy, from the Revolutionary War through the Spanish-American War, give an insight into the times not available in other work. See Paullin has become a standard answer to questions concerning much early naval history, but the student or researcher so instructed found that it is not a simple matter. To make this search easier, the US Naval Institute has produced this single volume collection of the fifteen Paullin articles written on early naval administration for Proceedings magazine.