Walter R. Borneman - The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea

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Copyright 2012 by Walter R. Borneman

Reading group guide copyright 2013 by Walter R. Borneman and Little, Brown and Company

Historys Lesson: Sea Power Defines a Nation originally appeared on Time.com.

Cover design by Ploy Siripant

Cover photograph by US Navy/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Cover copyright 2013 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

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First ebook edition: May 2012

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Maps by David Lambert

ISBN 978-0-316-20252-7

The first book to deal with the four admirals together, focusing on their intertwined lives, friendships, and rivalries. A very well-crafted book.

John Lehman, Washington Post

In his superbly reported new book, historian Walter R. Borneman tackles the essential question of military leadership: What makes some men, but not others, able to motivate a fighting force into battle?

Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

Engagingly written and deeply researched. Mr. Borneman makes it easy to understand the complex series of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers at Leyte Gulf which is not always the case with accounts of the battle.

Andrew Roberts, Wall Street Journal

A brilliant, intriguing, and important book. In The Admirals Borneman not only presents balanced mini-biographies of his four principal subjects but also gives an overview of the evolution of the navy from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries and provides fascinating details about the naval, political, and diplomatic aspects of World War II.

Timothy J. Lockhart, Virginian-Pilot

Borneman demonstrates comprehensive command of published and unpublished sources, fingertip understanding of the period, and a polished writing style in this unique collective biography of the four men who with a combination of nimble counsel, exasperating ego, studied patience, and street-fighter tactics shaped the modern U.S. Navy to win World War II at sea.

Publishers Weekly

Borneman deftly manipulates multiple narrative strands and a wealth of detail. He vividly fleshes out the numerous vain, ambitious men vying for power at the top and examines their important decisions and lasting ramifications. An accomplished, readable history lesson.

Kirkus Reviews

They were completely different in temperament and personality, but the U.S. Navys four five-star admirals in World War II shared a sense of vision, devotion, and courage. Walter Borneman has written a rousing tale of victory at sea.

Evan Thomas, author of The War Lovers

The Admirals is a masterpiece of research and storytelling, narrative history at its absolute finest. A vivid, action-packed portrait of four remarkable American giants.

William Doyle, author of A Soldiers Dream, Inside the Oval Office, An American Insurrection, and A Mission from God

Walter Bornemans The Admirals is an epic group portrait of Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King. Not since the heyday of Samuel Eliot Morison has a historian painted such a fine portrait of the five-star admirals who helped America beat Japan during the Second World War. Highly recommended!

Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and author of The Wilderness Warrior

This is Walter Borneman at his best. The portrait of the forgotten admiral, Leahy, is worth the whole book. But theres scarcely a page where a reader wont learn something unexpected, and occasionally shocking.

Thomas Fleming, author of Time and Tide

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For all who have served our country

I t is graduation day at Annapolisthe United States Naval Academy. The year is not important. The date might be in the past, today, or one of many to come. The speakers words reverberate across the field, but something more resonates here.

Nearby, the broad estuary of the Severn River meets the waters of Chesapeake Bay. The warm breeze carries with it the scent of tidewater and the squawks of gulls, but there is more here, too, than salty smells and aerial cacophony.

The academys motto is simple and direct: Ex Scientia TridensFrom Knowledge, Sea Power. From this place has come that and much more.

The tree-lined pathways, the grassy parade grounds, and even the small boats tugging gently at their moorings are heavy with it. The names of the buildings that rise above the banks of the Severn shout it: history and tradition, duty and honor, vision and courage, abound here.

The granite walls of Leahy Hall are the first stop for aspiring midshipmen. King Hall serves thousands of meals daily with a proficiency its no-nonsense namesake would demand. Nimitz Library overlooks College Creek, beyond which the academy cemetery holds the bones of many whose history fills its books. Halsey Field House is a testing ground, the focal point of hard-fought athletic competition.