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The admirals : Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King-- the five-star admirals who won the war at sea / Walter R. Borneman.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY ; Boston : Back Bay Books, Little Brown and Company, 2013Edition: First Back Bay paperback editionDescription: xi, 559, 12 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316097833 (PB) :
  • 0316097837
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • E746 .B59 2013
Contents:
The banks of the Severn -- Saturday, December 6, 1941 -- Sailors, 1897-1918. Leahy, "The Judge, " Annapolis, Class of 1897 ; King, "Rey, " Annapolis, Class of 1901 ; Halsey, "Pudge, " Annapolis, Class of 1904 ; Nimitz, "Nim-i-tiz, " Annapolis, Class of 1905 ; First commands ; Dress rehearsal -- Ships, 1918-1941. Battleships ; Submarines ; Aircraft carriers ; First stars ; Projecting power ; At war all but in name -- Admirals, 1941-1945. Searching for scapegoats and heroes ; Spread thin ; Deciding the course ; Fighting the Japanese and MacArthur ; From Casablanca to Teheran ; Take care, my boy ; Driving it home ; The crippling blow ; Halsey's luck ; Two typhoons and five stars ; Interim President ; Toward Tokyo Bay ; Measures of men -- Appendix A. Comparative ranks of commissioned officers in U.S. military services -- Appendix B. World War II-era general protocols for naming U.S. Navy ships -- Appendix C. Comparative tonnages and armaments of selected ships -- Appendix D. Chiefs of naval operations, 1915 to 1947 -- Appendix E. Commanders-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, 1922 to 1945 -- Appendix F. World War II-era U.S. battleships -- Appendix G. World War II-era U.S. aircraft carriers -- Appendix H. Ships named for the fleet admirals -- Appendix I. Major World War II conferences and operations with code names.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 359.0092 BOR 1 Available T00555184
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power.

Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet.

In The Admirals , award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men -- who were both friends and rivals -- worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 495-544) and index.

The banks of the Severn -- Saturday, December 6, 1941 -- Sailors, 1897-1918. Leahy, "The Judge, " Annapolis, Class of 1897 ; King, "Rey, " Annapolis, Class of 1901 ; Halsey, "Pudge, " Annapolis, Class of 1904 ; Nimitz, "Nim-i-tiz, " Annapolis, Class of 1905 ; First commands ; Dress rehearsal -- Ships, 1918-1941. Battleships ; Submarines ; Aircraft carriers ; First stars ; Projecting power ; At war all but in name -- Admirals, 1941-1945. Searching for scapegoats and heroes ; Spread thin ; Deciding the course ; Fighting the Japanese and MacArthur ; From Casablanca to Teheran ; Take care, my boy ; Driving it home ; The crippling blow ; Halsey's luck ; Two typhoons and five stars ; Interim President ; Toward Tokyo Bay ; Measures of men -- Appendix A. Comparative ranks of commissioned officers in U.S. military services -- Appendix B. World War II-era general protocols for naming U.S. Navy ships -- Appendix C. Comparative tonnages and armaments of selected ships -- Appendix D. Chiefs of naval operations, 1915 to 1947 -- Appendix E. Commanders-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, 1922 to 1945 -- Appendix F. World War II-era U.S. battleships -- Appendix G. World War II-era U.S. aircraft carriers -- Appendix H. Ships named for the fleet admirals -- Appendix I. Major World War II conferences and operations with code names.

11 183 184

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • List of Maps (p. xiii)
  • Prologue: The Banks of the Severn (p. 3)
  • Saturday, December 6, 1941 (p. 4)
  • Part 1 Sailors, 1897-1918
  • 1 Leahy: "The Judge"-Annapolis, Class of 1897 (p. 11)
  • 2 King: "Rey"-Annapolis, Class of 1901 (p. 26)
  • 3 Halsey: "Pudge"-Annapolis, Class of 1904 (p. 41)
  • 4 Nimitz: "Nim-i-tiz"-Annapolis, Class of 1905 (p. 53)
  • 5 First Commands (p. 66)
  • 6 Dress Rehearsal (p. 79)
  • Part 2 Ships, 1918-1941
  • 7 Battleships (p. 99)
  • 8 Submarines (p. 113)
  • 9 Aircraft Carriers (p. 127)
  • 10 First Stars (p. 144)
  • 11 Projecting Power (p. 161)
  • 12 At War All but in Name (p. 183)
  • Part 3 Admirals, 1941-1945
  • 13 Searching for Scapegoats and Heroes (p. 209)
  • 14 Spread Thin (p. 228)
  • 15 Deciding the Course (p. 257)
  • 16 Fighting the Japanese-and MacArthur (p. 279)
  • 17 From Casablanca to Teheran (p. 306)
  • 18 Take Care, My Boy (p. 335)
  • 19 Driving It Home (p. 346)
  • 20 The Crippling Blow: Submarines or Airpower? (p. 369)
  • 21 Halsey's Luck (p. 376)
  • 22 Two Typhoons and Five Stars (p. 404)
  • 23 Interim President (p. 423)
  • 24 Toward Tokyo Bay (p. 440)
  • 25 Measures of Men (p. 458)
  • Acknowledgments (p. 475)
  • Appendixes
  • A Comparative Ranks of Commissioned Officers in U.S. Military Services (p. 479)
  • B World War II-Era General Protocols for Naming U.S. Navy Ships (p. 480)
  • C Comparative Tonnages and Armaments of Selected Ships (p. 481)
  • D Chiefs of Naval Operations, 1915-1947 (p. 483)
  • E Commanders in Chief, U.S. Fleet, 1936-1945 (p. 484)
  • F World War II-Era U.S. Battleships (p. 486)
  • G World War II-Era U.S. Aircraft Carriers (p. 489)
  • H Ships Named for the Fleet Admirals (p. 491)
  • I Major World War II Conferences and Operations with Code Names (p. 493)
  • Notes (p. 495)
  • Bibliography (p. 533)
  • Index (p. 545)
  • Reading Group Guide (p. 563)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Only four men have risen to five-star admiral in the U.S. Navy: Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, William Leahy, and William Halsey. Their careers began at the turn of the 20th century and culminated in WWII. Each had a different personality; each played a different role. Halsey was the profane, hard-driving sea dog. Nimitz, imperturbable and measured, developed as arguably history's greatest naval strategist. The abrasive King spoke eloquently for sea power while a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Leahy, as discreet as he was blunt-spoken, was chief of staff and unofficial national security adviser to Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. The four had in common "an enduring sense of duty, mission, and love of country," and shared an unusually high level of ability and a clear understanding of the military's place in a republic. Freelance historian Borneman (1812) demonstrates comprehensive command of published and unpublished sources, fingertip understanding of the period, and a polished writing style in this unique collective biography of the four men who "with a combination of nimble counsel, exasperating ego, studied patience, and street-fighter tactics" shaped the modern U.S. Navy to win WWII at sea. 16 pages of b&w photos; 11 maps. (May 1) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

In this collective biography, maritime buffs may follow the careers of three well-known leaders of the U.S. Navy in WWII: its chief, Ernest King; Pacific Fleet commander Chester Nimitz; and famed task-force commander William Halsey. An admiral whom Borneman also includes, William Leahy, served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Recounting their routes to the naval academy and the first vessels they captained, Borneman details their formative duties in WWI (or, in Leahy's case, the Spanish-American War) and the influence those experiences had on their views on what capital ship the navy should be built around for a future world war, the battleship or the aircraft carrier? Ending the debate with Pearl Harbor's decisive answer, Borneman sends his quartet forth to war, narrating the events that fell into the purviews of their positions, from issuing strategic directives to undertaking the naval battles and amphibious campaigns in the Pacific theater. Borneman's meticulous research into these admirals will engage readers interested in styles of naval command.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Prolific author and historian Borneman (Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad, 2010, etc.) fashions a comparative history involving four five-star admirals whose tireless efforts and relative strengths tell the moving story of triumph and tragedy during World War II. The author chose his subjects--Chester Nimitz, William Halsey, William Leahy and Ernest King--because they were the first and only five-star fleet admirals, when five stars were first authorized by Congress in 1944. The four were key to rebuilding the fleet after the debacle of Pearl Harbor: Leahy, the oldest of the Annapolis grads, already a proponent of building up the interwar gunnery as commander of destroyers, was the first to earn an admiral stripe, an early advocate of the "big ship-big gun" strategy; King, formerly head of the postgraduate Naval School, a steely, volatile leader, was appointed commander in chief of the U.S. Fleet after the Japanese attack, eventually muscling out co-consul "Betty" Stark and demonstrating astute strategic insight in dividing command between the North Atlantic and Pacific; Nimitz, who cut his teeth on submarines, was the consummate commander, ferociously exacting but devoted to his men, appointed commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet and proved bold and decisive from one Pacific strike to another; and "Bull" Halsey, a scrappy fighter, commander of destroyers, lauded for his "can-do" leadership in the Solomons--though he endured questioning over his handling of the attack at Leyte in 1944. Borneman deftly manipulates multiple narrative strands and a wealth of detail. He vividly fleshes out the numerous vain, ambitious men vying for power at the top and examines their important decisions and lasting ramifications. An accomplished, readable history lesson.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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