Nimitz at War, Craig L. Symonds
Nimitz at War, Craig L. Symonds
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Nimitz at War
Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay

Author: Craig L. Symonds

Narrator: L.J. Ganser

Unabridged: 14 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/07/2022


Synopsis

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 Two.

Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history.

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. 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's Nimitz at War captures Nimitz's composure, discipline, homespun wisdom, and most of all his uncanny sense of when to assert authority and when to pull back. As Symonds's 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.

About Craig L. Symonds

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


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on December 14, 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I have read everything I can about Chester Nimitz over the years. This book technically is not a biography as it only covers one item about Nimitz, his leadership skills. Nimitz was Commander In-Charge of the Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Ocean Areas from 1941......more

Goodreads review by Anthony on August 15, 2024

Steady at the Wheel. Craig L. Symonds has proven himself to be an excellent WWII military historian specialising in the naval operations of the Pacific Theatre. Therefore it is with great pleasure that he has written this book on Chester Nimitz, the US Pacific Fleet Commander. The first of its kind i......more

Goodreads review by Boudewijn on June 08, 2023

Craig L. Symonds provides an in-depth examination of the leadership and strategic decisions made by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet during World War II. It delves into Nimitz's leadership style, his relationships with other militar......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on January 17, 2023

Mr. Symonds well documented his account of Admiral Chester Nimitz's years as Leader in the USN Pacific Theater during World War Two. Something of note that I was unfamiliar with, before reading this book about Nimitz, was his previous years as a Submariner. I was a surface sailor; and the term we us......more

Goodreads review by Urey on June 24, 2022

Nimitz is (was) arguably the most under-appreciated figure from WWII – he was instrumental in the successful campaign against Japan, and one of those uniquely relevant historical figures, the perfect man in the perfect place at the perfect time to affect the course of human history (as was Churchill......more