Overview

"From America's preeminent naval historian, the first full-length portrait in over fifty years of the man who won the war in the Pacific in World War TwoDL""destined,"" says Andrew Roberts, ""to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come."" Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz was not the most senior candidate available, and some, including his new boss, U.S. Navy Admiral Ernest J. King, considered him a ""desk admiral,"" more suited to running a bureaucracy than a theater of war. Yet FDR's selection proved nothing less than inspired. From the precarious early months of the war after December 7th 1941 to the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay nearly four years later, Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. From the start, the pressures on Nimitz were crushing. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. He had to corral independent-minded subordinatesDLincluding Admiral Bill ""Bull"" Halsey and General Holland ""Howlin' Mad"" SmithDLand keep them focused on shared objectives. He had to maintain a sometimes-fraught relationship with his Army counterpart Douglas MacArthur, and cope with his superiors, including the formidably prickly King and the inscrutable FDR. He had to navigate the expectations of a nation impatient for revenge and eventual victory. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy, which, until the Battle of Midway, had the run of the Pacific. Craig Symonds' Nimitz at War reveals how the quiet man from the Hill Country of Texas eventually surmounted all of these challenges. Using Nimitz's headquartersDLthe eye of the hurricaneDLas his vantage point, Symonds covers all the major campaigns in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. He captures Nimitz's composure, discipline, homespun wisdom, and most of all his uncanny sense of when to assert authority and when to pull back. In retrospect it is difficult to imagine anyone else accomplishing what Nimitz did. As Symonds' absorbing, dynamic, and authoritative portrait reveals, it required qualities of leadership exhibited by few other commanders in history, qualities that are enduringly and even poignantly relevant to our own moment.Â"

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9780190062361

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Reviews

Nimitz at War is the greatest biography yet written about the greatest admiral in American history. * Ian W. Toll * Craig Symonds' ability to put the reader in the shoes of the admiral who masterminded the US Pacific Fleet's response to Pearl Harbor is truly remarkable. In his brilliant pen portraits of Nimitz's comrades (and occasional rivals), Symonds delivers a masterclass in the influence of character on decision-making. Deeply researched, extremely well-written, and often genuinely exciting, this is destined to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come. * Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny * This excellent book is the inspiring story of a great American leader, who rebuilt a broken fleet and led it to victory against a formidable foe, through four years of war without a major defeat Craig Symonds has done it with grace and a large spirit. In World War II, the United States Navy had a typically understated flag hoist for such an achievement: Baker Zebra (now Bravo Zulu): Well Done. * David Hackett Fischer, author of Albion's Seed and Washington's Crossing, winner of the Pulitzer Prize * A brilliant and balanced account of how Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz led the greatest naval campaign in history. Now often overlooked, Nimitz was the only American World War II theater commander-even compared to Eisenhower and MacArthur-who won great victories when fighting outnumbered or merely at parity. This deeply researched and highly readable book offers a timeless textbook on high command excellence. * Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942 *

Craig Symonds' ability to put the reader in the shoes of the admiral who masterminded the US Pacific Fleet's response to Pearl Harbor is truly remarkable. In his brilliant pen portraits of Nimitz's comrades (and occasional rivals), Symonds delivers a masterclass in the influence of character on decision-making. Deeply researched, extremely well-written, and often genuinely exciting, this is destined to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come. * Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny * This excellent book is the inspiring story of a great American leader, who rebuilt a broken fleet and led it to victory against a formidable foe, through four years of war without a major defeat Craig Symonds has done it with grace and a large spirit. In World War II, the United States Navy had a typically understated flag hoist for such an achievement: Baker Zebra (now Bravo Zulu): Well Done. * David Hackett Fischer, author of Albion's Seed and Washington's Crossing, winner of the Pulitzer Prize * A brilliant and balanced account of how Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz led the greatest naval campaign in history. Now often overlooked, Nimitz was the only American World War II theater commander-even compared to Eisenhower and MacArthur-who won great victories when fighting outnumbered or merely at parity. This deeply researched and highly readable book offers a timeless textbook on high command excellence. * Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942 *

Author Information

Craig L. Symonds is Professor Emeritus at the United States Naval Academy, where he taught naval history for thirty years, including four years as History Department Chair. He also taught at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. From 2017 to 2020 he was the Ernest J. King Distinguished Professor of Maritime History at the U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of seventeen books, including Decision at Sea, Lincoln and his Admirals, The Battle of Midway, Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings, and, most recently, World War II at Sea: A Global History His works have been translated into several languages and received numerous awards, including the Lincoln Prize, the Roosevelt Prize, and the Dudley Knox Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

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