21st Century Gorshkov
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Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Sergei Georgiyevich Gorshkov led the Soviet Navy for almost three decades during the height of the Cold War. He was the architect of the Red Fleet, turning it from little more than a coastal defense force into the most powerful navy that Russia ever possessed. It was a remarkable achievement and gave his country unprecedented influence far beyond its shores. Ahead of his time, he was a strategist who advocated a much broader view of sea power than just the naval element, drawing together the exploitation of natural resources, the conduct of mercantile business, the enabling of legal frameworks, societal needs, environmental protection, politics and maritime security into his unified vision. But, most importantly for today’s scholars, he was also a writer, capturing his thoughts in books and articles written throughout his period at the helm. Now, a century after the Russian Revolution and almost three decades after the collapse of the USSR, there is renewed interest in the history of the Cold War. The time is right for new, objective assessments of the confrontation that shaped so much of the last century, for in it there are lessons for our own. Western, predominantly Anglo-American concepts of sea power have so dominated theory and practise that they have become accepted in the West almost without question. Sergei Gorshkov showed that there is always an alternative perspective.
21st Century Gorshkov is a collection of writing by one of the twentieth century’s most revered naval figures. Articles, many of which have not previously been published in English, sit alongside notable passages from his more famous books, each with a short introduction linking the work to the challenges facing navies everywhere today. Planners from Washington, DC to Beijing, London to New Delhi have much to learn from the man behind the most rapid naval expansion program in peacetime history. Gorshkov’s ideas on teamwork, ethos, naval ‘art’ and ‘science’, power and prosperity remain as relevant today as the day they were written.
Kevin Rowlands is a Commander in the Royal Navy and has served in various ships and shore-based staffs. He holds master’s degrees in defense studies and education and a PhD in war studies from King’s College London. He has published numerous articles and is the book reviews editor of the UK’s Naval Review.