| Front Cover |
Book Details |
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| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
United States. Navy.; World War, 1939-1945 - Naval operations |
| Publication Date |
1943 |
| Format |
Hardcover |
| Publisher |
Halcyon House |
| Language |
English |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Powell's City of Books |
| Purchase Price |
$14.50 |
| Acquire Date |
1/30/2020 |
| Condition |
Good/Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
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|
| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
D773 .C35 1943 |
| Dewey |
940.545 |
| No. of Pages |
434 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
I'm a big fan of these journalist accounts.
In this one, our journalist is out on operations with the fleet from Pearl Harbor to Midway, roughly the middle of December 1941 to June 1942. For the most part, it sounds like a diary: date, time, weather conditions, what he saw and did. There's a bit of conjecture of what the future may hold, but not a lot of analysis of past events. Published as it was during the war it's subject to some censorship and uncertainty. He is there for one particularly notable operation and manages to describe events without mentioning the key player. Somewhat like being told the plot of a book without even a single mention of the main character. (The uncensored entries are included at the end of the book.)
A more critical reviewer might complain that the author tells the story of a war fought by aircraft carriers from the deck of a cruiser and thus misses all the action. But he seemed to know everybody on board his ships. He talked to many of the sailors and officers and he does a great job telling their tales, even if they're not the most dramatic tales of the war.
And I liked his attitude.
He was in the artillery during the First World War and published a book about his exploits. After that war he went into journalism. If I can find a fairly inexpensive copy of that first book I'll pick it up. |
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