If by Sea

Most historians trace the origins of the Continental Navy to George Washington's official inauguration of the Federal Navy in 1793, but the story actually begins years earlier: in 1775, at the advent of the American Revolution. In If By Sea, historian George C. Daughan uses decades of primary research to brilliantly trace the navy's little-recognized origins, showing that the battles of Lexington and Concord--as well as many subsequent battles, including Bunker Hill, New York, and Philadelphia--cannot be fully understood without taking the role of naval power into account.