TRANSITION TO TRIUMPH: HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY, 1965 -1975By G.M. Hiranandani, Lancer, Rs 1,195 Globalization is not only reshaping the Indian economy and culture but is also influencing the armed forces. The transition, in the case of the Indian defence forces, is from a purely continental approach to a maritime one. Till recently, the Indian armed forces, following the ideas of the German geo-politician, Karl Haushofer, was chiefly concerned with fighting land battles. The underlying assumption was that it was of primary importance to a nation's security that it dominated the heartland of the continent. However, the rising importance of maritime trade during the Nineties is forcing the military establishment to think about the protection of the nation's lines of communications in the seas. We are therefore witnessing a throwback to the Mahanite military tradition which claims that the prosperity of a state depends on the control it can exert over the oceans. An attempt to analyse the maritime aspects of national security is Rahul Roy Chaudhuri's Sea Power and Indian Security. Since Roy Chaudhuri's focus remains on the economic and political aspects of sea power, the military-operational context of naval power is not discussed in detail. The book under review, Transition to Triumph: History of the Indian Navy, by the retired vice admiral, G. M. Hiranandani, attempts to fill this gap. Hiranandani owes appreciation for conducting about 250 interviews with officers of all categories to get a 'feel' of the combat scenario. Hiranandani's book is an attempt to legitimize the expansion of the navy in the future by elaborating on the sailors' contribution to national security in the past. Hiranandani concentrates on the period 1965-1975 because these 10 years proved to be a crucial turning point in the history of the Indian navy. Its whole structure along with its weapons systems and functions changed. First, since the late Sixties, India started building state-of-the-art warships. The Mazgaon Dock churned out Leander class frigates when the British dockyards were building them for the Royal Navy. But, there was a limit to what the British, and the West, would supply to India. Besides, the West came close to Pakistan, and its navy was lavishly modernized by advanced American weapons. In desperation, India turned towards Russia. The Kremlin reciprocated India's positive attitude. Thus began an Indo-Russian entente which continues even today. The most famous acquisitions from Russia were the missile boats, which during the 1971 war bottled up the Pakistani forces inside Karachi harbour. By all estimates, 1971 was the Indian navy's 'finest hour'. Both in the Arabian Sea and in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Navy reigned supreme. The most critical test for the Indian navy came from the American task force, which entered the Bay of Bengal towards the end of the Bangladesh War. The entry of the nuclear-powered American aircraft carrier into the fray was Nixon and Kissinger's war by proxy, a repetition of 19th century British gunboat diplomacy. But the Indian navy refused to be bluffed into submission. Frankly, the bipolar division of the world worked favourably for India. A Soviet task force shadowed the American task force. But, what will happen in the present unipolar world? The view implicit in the book is that to prevent such a future threat, the Indian navy is required to be a blue water navy equipped with aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines. In the final analysis, Hiranandani's work, a product of methodical research, would be a valuable reference book for anyone interested in the Indian navy. The only flaw is that the author is too self-critical while asserting his personal views.