In this work Mr. Fabey seeks to outline US-Chinese interactions in the Pacific, focusing on the last decade and a half. The tensions that have developed between the budding Chinese Navy and the still dominant US force are at the fore, particularly confrontations such as the USS Cowpens incident, from which this work gains it's title.

On the plus side, this is a short and engaging read. In military works, particularly in works with no "exciting" battles it is easy to get lost in ths minutia of doctrine, manuals, and the endless acronyms that the military loves. Mr. Davey has also taken the route of consolidating his characters, mostly into a few higher ranking officers, although there are a few junior officers and higher enlisted included as well. This streamlines the book and doesn't daunt the reader with a massive cast to remember. However, it also limits how wide a picture the reader gets of this large topic.

While the book is compelling and quite readable...it has its flaws. In spite of quite a few incidents described taking place in the younger Bush administration, which initiated the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia took funding and resources away from the Pacific theater, the Obama administration takes quite a bit of flack for its policy in the waters around China. While it is mentioned that the Obama administration tried to refocus on the Pacific, Mr. Fabey repeatedly harps on the administration for it's softness without offering much more than vague concepts of a "stronger" stance. This is combined with his somewhat rosy eyed view of the Trump administration's lip service to the military and the navy in particular. There isn't much substantial in the last chapter other than a general "Trump will take us in a better direction" vibe.

While the politics of the book are thinly veiled and its tone is alarmist, the readability of Mr. Fabey's work is what saved the work, along with some attempts to understand the Chinese perspective. If you are interested and have little knowledge in the subject, I'd recommend this book...just take it with a grain of salt.