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Title details for The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds - Available

The Battle of Midway

by Craig L. Symonds
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There are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway. At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever. In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice. Symonds begins with the arrival of Admiral Chester A. Nimitz at Pearl Harbor after the devastating Japanese attack, and describes the key events leading to the climactic battle, including both Coral Sea—the first battle in history against opposing carrier forces—and Jimmy Doolittle's daring raid of Tokyo. He focuses throughout on the people involved, offering telling portraits of Admirals Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance and numerous other Americans, as well as the leading Japanese figures, including the poker-loving Admiral Yamamoto. Indeed, Symonds sheds much light on the aspects of Japanese culture—such as their single-minded devotion to combat, which led to poorly armored planes and inadequate fire-safety measures on their ships—that contributed to their defeat. The author's account of the battle itself is masterful, weaving together the many disparate threads of attack—attacks which failed in the early going—that ultimately created a five-minute window in which three of the four Japanese carriers were mortally wounded, changing the course of the Pacific war in an eye-blink. Symonds is the first historian to argue that the victory at Midway was not simply a matter of luck, pointing out that Nimitz had equal forces, superior intelligence, and the element of surprise. Nimitz had a strong hand, Symonds concludes, and he rightly expected to win.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Pivotal Moments in American History

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 5, 2011

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780199912070

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780199912070
      • File size: 5042 KB
    Kindle restrictions

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2011

      History's second aircraft carrier battle certainly deserves a place in this "Pivotal Moments" series. Through expert analysis of the details behind the battle, Symonds (history, emeritus, U.S. Naval Academy; Decision at Sea) illuminates American commanders' errors that could have lost the battle, and which were later downplayed. Japanese overconfidence and American cryptographic intelligence and luck proved decisive. VERDICT Well documented through interviews, official records, and secondary sources, the book will show readers that Midway was, as Wellington would have said, "a close-run thing." General military history enthusiasts will be fascinated, and specialists will revel in the careful dissection of the action.

      Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from August 15, 2011

      A wholly satisfying history of America's most satisfying naval victory, won in June 1942 with vastly inferior forces.

      Symonds (History Emeritus/U.S. Naval Academy; The Civil War at Sea, 2009, etc.) writes that America's overwhelming industrial superiority doomed Japan, but adds that this was nowhere in evidence following Pearl Harbor, when its immense fleet with 10 aircraft carriers dwarfed the United States' four. By April, Japan had performed so well that leaders debated what to do next. The winner was charismatic Admiral Yamamoto, whose victory at Pearl Harbor gave him unprecedented authority. He proposed attacking tiny Midway Island, 1,200 miles west of Hawaii, claiming that this would draw American carriers to its defense, and their destruction would force a negotiated peace. Yamamoto's superiors opposed the plan but caved in. Thanks to American code breakers, U.S. forces knew Japanese intentions—useful information although not as vital as some historians claim. Approaching Midway, each fleet searched for and located the other almost simultaneously. In the subsequent action, both sides experienced the confusion, blunders and blind chance that invariably accompanies battles. Better luck and fewer blunders favored the U.S., which sank four Japanese carriers.

      Essentially a history of the Pacific war from January to June 1942 (Midway does not enter the picture until 100 pages in), this is a lucid, intensely researched, mildly revisionist account of a significant moment in American military history.

      (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook
Kindle restrictions

subjects

Languages

  • English

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