| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.5

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Comparative/World

Lance E. Davis and Stanley L. Engerman. Naval Blockades in Peace and War: An Economic History since 1750. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2006. Pp. x, 453. $85.00.

This book by Lance E. Davis and Stanley L. Engerman looks at a number of blockades carried out over the past few centuries but primarily focuses on the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, the American Civil War, and World Wars I and II. A rather brief chapter toward the end skims through a large number of post–World War II cases. An unusually large amount of tabular information is reported, primarily taken from other studies, but helpfully concentrating the data in one place. It is easy to forget what the book is about at times, but it is clear that the central question is whether blockades are successful. The answer is that some are and some are not, depending on, among other things, the vulnerability of the target and the capabilities of the blockader. But other questions are raised, including ones about the effects of changing technology and what role international law plays in modifying blockading behavior. The answer to the technology question is quite a bit, with improved technology making blockades more and less likely to be successful, as exemplified by the use of submarines against Japan in World War II and the use of radar and broken codes in the Atlantic theater of the same war. The answer for the role of international law is not much. Belligerents and targets have usually done what they felt they needed to do without much concern about rules proscribing their behavior.

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