The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)

By: Craig L. Symonds

Narrated by: James Lurie

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.

©2011 Craig L. Symonds (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Very good history -

This is a very good history - I think it is worth the time for anyone interested in WWII history.

The details meant everything.

i stopped trying to do housework and just sat and listened to the last chapters. the personal details about the men, the ships and the enemy was just right and didn't get too cumbersome. I thought about the battle and the men long after the book ended.

Symonds does it again

author is wonderful navy historian who I have come to appreciate. highly recommend all his books and videos.

Superb historical account

The battle of Midway is a dramatic epic and Symonds' narrarative lays it out as such. The ups and downs of the battle are so enthralling that as a work of fiction you'd almost say that it is too outlandish to be believable, except for the fact that it all actually happened. Symonds gives an excellent narrative of the battle itself and the time period leading up to it, and he does a great job balancing the overall conduct of the battle with specific facts and personal accounts. This style allows the listener to easily follow along without getting too bogged down with names, times, squadron numbers, etc; but many of those details are still present for the more interested listeners.

Learn How Japan Lost World War II

I decided to read this after visiting the World War II Museum in New Orleans. The Battle of Midway was the most important battle of the Pacific Campaign. Prior to Midway, the Japanese won nearly every engagement and seemed unstoppable. Nevertheless, the Japanese feared America's small remaining fleet of aircraft carriers. Japan knew that America's industrial might would result in many more aircraft carriers being built in the future, so Japan had a narrow window to knock America out of the war. Japan believed that destroying the remainder of the American aircraft fleet would force America to reach a peace with Japan. Japan was willing to gamble for total victory.

Japan launched the attack on Midway as a ploy to draw America's aircraft carriers into a trap. Fortunately for America, code-breakers had intercepted Japanese communications and knew where and when the attack was coming. Instead of surprising and trapping America's carrier fleet, the American Navy sunk every Japanese aircraft carrier sent against Midway. This battle destroyed the myth of Japanese invincibility, buoyed American moral and shifted the tactical advantage decisively in America's favor. This battle represented the high-watermark of the Japanese in World War II and the rest of the war in the Pacific can fairly be described as Japan's death throes following its mortal defeat at Midway.

Anyone with even a slight interest in World War II history should read this book. The book does a fantastic job reciting the history and going far beyond the well-known outline of events. The book delves into the formula for American victory, such as America's code-breaking activities. I learned from this book that the code-breaking was equal parts science and educated guessing. The book provided many other similar insights. Yet, the book was not a stale history book and remained exciting.

If I had to pick one part of the book that was most fascinating, it would be the description of the rag-tag hodgepodge of airplanes that America hastily assembled at Midway Island and threw against the Japanese in near hopeless desperation before America's carriers could arrive. Some of America's pilots went up in absolute junk airplanes doing their best to protect Midway and surely knowing that their situation was hopeless. This event underscores the selfless bravery of America's military in this confrontation but really highlights how desperate America's situation was at this point in the war and how easily the battle could have been lost. Even with the advantage of knowing when and where the Japanese would attack, America was still heavily outgunned and outclassed in terms of materials and equipment. It is easy looking back today to think of America as a military juggernaut destined to win the war, but this book will show you the fallacy of that perspective and make you grateful for the "Miracle at Midway."