Abstract
Russia’s power at sea has been a matter subject to speculation in the West. As the largest continental power, Western propaganda made us believe that Russia was not a maritime power‐at least not in comparison to the US. Professor Geoffrey Till reveals the actual size and strength of the Russian navy from the Tsarist period through to the 1980s. The West has had, in Till’s opinion, a rather patronising view of the Russian approach to maritime achievements. Far from a mere imitation of Western policy, however, the Russian’s were in fact innovative in their approach to naval power. Both in the Tsarist and the Soviet periods, Russia developed interesting and distinctive approaches, strategies and weaponry of its own, which have traditionally been underestimated.