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.

From the author of the acclaimed biography of Harry Hopkins comes this first full-scale portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt's top military advisor, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy. The president's personal chief of staff and chairman of the newly established Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Leahy was the highest-ranking military officer in the nation and one of the most powerful men in Washington during the war years. Along with Hopkins he enjoyed Roosevelt's complete trust. But unlike his better-known White House counterpart and the prominent military leaders of the day, Leahy quietly performed his valuable services behind the scenes. Consequently, he never received the fame of his more dynamic colleagues and soon after retirement faded into history. Henry H. Adams takes this forgotten figure out of the shadows and places him beside the president he so brilliantly and devotedly served. He shows how Leahy, as FDR's confidant, his contributions to the war effort were so valuable that Adams credits Leahy, along with Hopkins, as being chiefly responsible for the smooth transfer of power to Truman upon Roosevelt's death. This biography is equally revealing of Leahy's earlier years of service to the government as chief of naval starting the buildup of what would become a powerful two-ocean navy. It describes his brief but important tenure as governor of Puerto Rico and his later service as ambassador to Vichy France. Witness to Power ensures that Leahy, because of the central role he played during one of America's most important eras, will assume his rightful place on the historical stage.

He also is known for his success as a writer, and the best of his work makes up a significant part of this book - excerpts from magazine articles, short stories, and letters that are incorporated into this biography by two English professors who vividly portray the highly original man behind the deeds and the writings."--BOOK JACKET.

From one of the most distinguished admirals of our time and a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, a meditation on leadership and character refracted through the lives of ten of the most illustrious naval commanders in history In Sailing True North, Admiral Stavridis offers lessons of leadership and character from the lives and careers of history's most significant naval commanders. He also brings a lifetime of reflection to bear on the subjects of his study--naval history, the vocation of the admiral, and global geopolitics. Above all, this is a book that will help you navigate your own life's voyage: the voyage of leadership of course, but more important, the voyage of character. Sailing True North helps us find the right course to chart. Simply as epic lives, the tales of these ten admirals offer up a collection of the greatest imaginable sea stories. Moreover, spanning 2,500 years from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, Sailing True North is a book that offers a history of the world through the prism of our greatest naval leaders. None of the admirals in this volume were perfect, and some were deeply flawed. But from Themistocles, Drake, and Nelson to Nimitz, Rickover, and Hopper, important themes emerge, not least that serving your reputation is a poor substitute for serving your character; and that taking time to read and reflect is not a luxury, it's a necessity. By putting us on personal terms with historic leaders in the maritime sphere he knows so well, James Stavridis gives us a compass that can help us navigate the story of our own lives, wherever that voyage takes us.

American naval actions of World War II comprise the most widespread, complex, and dramatic battles in the history of sea warfare. The fighting took place over vast distances in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as in the constricted spaces of the Mediterranean and Solomon seas. Each of the major actions had an admiral, the commander in charge, who led the battle. In combat, the abilities and determination of these commanders at sea were put to the most severe test. Americas Fighting Admirals describes the course of U.S. sea action in World War II. It examines the skills, strengths, weaknesses and personalities of the American admirals who fought the battles at sea. It examines the effect that stress, tension, and responsibility have on commanders making vital decisions in the red-hot crucible of battle. And it reveals the changing nature of the responsibilities of flag officers as the war progressed and became enormously complex.

The true story of how Britain's maritime power helped gain this country unparalleled dominance of the world's economy, Admirals celebrates the rare talents of the men who shaped the most successful fighting force in world history. Told through the lives and battles of eleven of our most remarkable admirals - men such as James II and Robert Blake - Andrew Lambert's book stretches from the Spanish Armada to the Second World War, culminating with the spirit which led Andrew Browne Cunningham famously to declare, when the army feared he would lose too many ships, 'it takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build a tradition.'

Chronicles in compelling detail the historic showdown between the U.S. Air Force and the Navy over the role of carrier aviation in the national security framework of the United States.

"While Buchanan's Civil War experiences helped define the drama of the period, his fifty-year naval career illuminates the sweeping changes in the U.S. Navy of the antebellum years."--BOOK JACKET.

The definitive biography of America's best-known naval officer, who commanded the legendary fast carrier force during WWII. From the tragic aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when he fashioned America's first response to the attack, to the war's final day in Tokyo Bay when he witnessed Japan's surrender, Admiral William F. Halsey stamped a mighty imprint on the Pacific during World War II. He led or participated significantly in the Navy's first offensive strikes against the Marshall Islands and Wake Island, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the offensive toward Japan. As a commander, he never shied from engaging the enemy, but boldly entered into battle, ready for a fight. As a consequence, Halsey became the face of the Navy and its most attractive public relations phenomenon. Due to his bold tactics and quotable wit, Halsey continues to be a beloved and debated figure. In this balanced biography, historian John Wukovits illuminates the life of a man who ultimately deserves recognition as one the great naval commanders in U.S. history. Europe had Patton; the Pacific had Admiral William "the Bull" Halsey.

Nelson admired him. Marie-Antoinette counted him among France's national heroes. The exiled Napoleon sighed for what might have been had his own navy been commanded by someone of like calibre. His lascar sailors feared him as much as they admired him, and nicknamed him 'Admiral Satan'. In an age of remarkable characters, Pierre-Andre de Suffren Saint Tropez, the Bailli de Suffren, was one of the most remarkable: eccentric, irascible, slovenly, gluttonous, possessed of furious energy and lust for battle. He was also the most daring, innovative tactician in France's pre-revolutionary navy."" ""Suffren began his naval career in the service of the Knights of Malta, protecting the Order's shipping against the corsairs of the Barbary coast. Then began the long, slow climb through the ranks of the pre-revolutionary French navy, during which he saw action in the West Indies, ran the blockade during the American war of independence, and was twice taken prisoner by the British, whom he hated ever after."" ""When at last he achieved independent command, this hatred fuelled his determination to beat the British in the Indian Ocean. At stake was France's alliance with Haidar Ali, the shrewd and battle-scarred Nawab of Mysore, and hence control of southern India. Suffren brought all his tactical brilliance and radical innovation to bear: his opponent, the indomitable Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, was no less determined, and the resulting campaign was as fierce as it was evenly balanced, ending only with the declaration of peace in 1783. Suffren returned to France, to be feted and feasted by nobility and populace alike. He ended his life there, having acquired honours and avoirdupois in more or less equal measure."" ""Roderick Cavaliero's is the first English-language biography of this extraordinary man. It is a vivid portrait of an individual and his world, with sharply drawn descriptions of people, places and events - and, of course, the sea battles, with their mingled excitement and danger. Above all, Suffren himself comes to life, with his immense vitality, his volcanic rages, his eccentricities and his matchless understanding of war in his chosen element, the sea.