About this item
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.
About the Author
Walter R. Borneman writes about American military and political history. His most recent book, Brothers Down: Pearl Harbor and the Fate of the Many Brothers Aboard the USS Arizona, will be published in May 2019 by Little, Brown. The Pearl Harbor story has never been told through the eyes of the seventy-eight brothers--members of the same families--serving together aboard the battleship that fateful day.Borneman won the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize in Naval Literature for The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea (Little, Brown, 2012) . A national bestseller, The Admirals tells the story of the only four men in American history to achieve the rank of fleet admiral. Together they transformed the American navy with aircraft carriers and submarines and won World War II. Borneman's other titles include MacArthur at War: World War II in the Pacific (Little, Brown, 2016) , a finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History; American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution (Little, Brown, 2014) ; Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (Random House, 2008) , which won the Tennessee History Book Award and the Colorado Book Award for Biography; and 1812: The War That Forged a Nation (HarperCollins, 2004) . His commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and on FoxNews.com. He lives in Colorado and has spent many days climbing its mountains.QUOTE: My overriding goal in writing history has been to get the facts straight and then present them in a readable fashion. I am convinced that knowing history is not just about appreciating the past, but also about understanding the present and planning for the future.
