Synopses & Reviews
In
The Search for the Japanese Fleet, David W. Jourdan, one of the worlds experts in undersea exploration, reconstructs the critical role one submarine played in the Battle of Midway, considered to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific. In the direct line of fire during this battle was one of the oldest boats in the navy, USS
Nautilus. The actions of Lt. Cdr. William Brockman and his ninety-three-man crew during an eight-hour period rank among the most important submarine contributions to the most decisive engagement in U.S. Navy history.
Fifty-seven years later, Jourdans team of deep-sea explorers set out to discover the history of the Battle of Midway and find the ships that the Allied fleet sank. Key to the mystery was Nautilus and its underwater exploits. Relying on logs, diaries, chronologies, manuals, sound recordings, and interviews with veterans of the battle, including men who spent most of June 4, 1942, in the submarine conning tower, the story breathes new life into the history of this epic engagement. Woven into the tale of World War II is the modern drama of deep-sea discovery, as explorers deploy new technology three miles beneath the ocean surface to uncover history and commemorate fallen heroes.
Review
“A superb combination of history, strategy, tactics, and science, David Jourdan’s new treatment of the epic Battle of Midway is a masterpiece. He takes us deep—both literally and figuratively—into acoustic exploration at sea, unlocks the mysteries of the undersea portion of Midway, and tells a gripping tale of war at sea in what many believe was the pivotal battle of the Pacific theater of World War II. An instant classic!”—Adm. James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), former supreme Allied commander at NATO, 2009–13
Review
“David Jourdan and his team discovered the sunken Japanese submarine I-52 and found the lost Israeli submarine Dakar, but could they find the Japanese carrier Kaga, sunk at the Battle of Midway, when, despite the best efforts of others, its location remained a mystery? Two submarines, incredibly sharing the hull number 168, played key roles in the battle. One was Japanese, I-168, whose torpedoes sent the wounded Yorktown into the deep. The other was the American Nautilus (SS-168), which played a crucial role during the battle itself, and again, fifty-seven years later, in the hunt for Kaga. Jourdan brings both to life in this fascinating account.”—Vice Admiral George W. Emery USN (Ret.), former commander U.S. and Allied Submarine Commands, Atlantic
Review
“David W. Jourdan’s superb study of the Battle of Midway reexamines the crucial strategic and tactical decisions made in the battle and, perhaps just as important, puts a face on the decision makers and combatants. It was a battle America had to win, but reading The Search for the Japanese Fleet made me acutely aware of the human cost of the battle for Japan. And to have this military study folded into a heart-pounding adventure story—well, hats off to David Jourdan!”—Randy Roberts, Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University
Synopsis
On June 22, 1941, Germany launched the greatest land assault in history on the Soviet Union, an attack that Adolf Hitler deemed crucial to ensure German economic and political survival. As the key theater of the war for the Germans, the eastern front consumed enormous levels of resources and accounted for 75 percent of all German casualties. Despite the significance of this campaign to Germany and to the war as a whole, few English-language publications of the last thirty-five years have addressed these pivotal events.
In "Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East," Stephen G. Fritz bridges the gap in scholarship by incorporating historical research from the last several decades into an accessible, comprehensive, and coherent narrative. His analysis of the Russo-German War from a German perspective covers all aspects of the eastern front, demonstrating the interrelation of military events, economic policy, resource exploitation, and racial policy that first motivated the invasion. This in-depth account challenges accepted notions about World War II and promotes greater understanding of a topic that has been neglected by historians.
Synopsis
In violation of the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, inaugurating the largest land war in history. Adolf Hitler believed this surprise attack was crucial for German success in World War II. It aimed to destroy what Hitler perceived as a Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy and to ensure German economic, political and cultural prosperity. A huge percentage of German resources were allocated to the campaign against the Soviet Union, and the total percentage of German casualities on the eastern front was a staggering seventy percent. Despite the significance of this campaign to Germany and to the war as a whole, there has been little published on it in the last thirty-five years. The majority of work is either in German or focuses stricity on military strategy and ignores other aspects of the campaign. In Barbarossa: Hitler's War of Extermination in the Soviet Union, 1941-1945, Stephen G. Fritz fills the gap in scholarship by incorporating historical research from the last several decades into an accessible, comprehensive, and coherent narrative. He covers all aspects of the campaign, including economic policy, resource exploitation, military involvement, and the racial policy that first motivated the invasion. Fritz's thorough research and in-depth account will generate greateter understanding of a topic that has been neglected by historians for too long. According to our second reader, "Fritz is among the leading scholars of the German experience on the Russian Front."
About the Author
David W. Jourdan is the founder and president of Nauticos, a company devoted to the exploration of the deep sea. Jourdan and his Nauticos team are responsible for the discovery of the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga and the Japanese World War II submarine I-52. He is the author of The Deep Sea Quest for Amelia Earhart and Never Forgotten: The Search and Discovery of Israel’s Lost Submarine Dakar. Capt. Philip G. Renaud, USN (Ret.), is the current executive director of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and a former commanding officer at the Naval Oceanographic Office.