Book : Nimitz At War Command Leadership From Pearl Harbor To

-Titulo Original : Nimitz At War Command Leadership From Pearl Harbor To Tokyo Bay

-Fabricante :

Oxford University Press

-Descripcion Original:

From Americas preeminent naval historian, the first full-length portrait in over fifty years of the man who won the war in the Pacific in World War Two destined, says Andrew Roberts, to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come. Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz was not the most senior candidate available, and some, including his new boss, U.S. Navy Admiral Ernest J. King, considered him a deskadmiral, more suited to running a bureaucracy than a theater of war. Yet FDRs selection proved nothing less than inspired. From the precarious early months of the war after December 7th 1941 to the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay nearly four years later, Nimitz transformed the devastated anddispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. From the start, the pressures on Nimitz were crushing. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. He had to corral independent-minded subordinates includingAdmiral Bill Bull Halsey and General Holland Howlin Mad Smith and keep them focused on shared objectives. He had to maintain a sometimes-fraught relationship with his Army counterpart Douglas MacArthur, and cope with his superiors, including the formidably prickly King and the inscrutable FDR.He had to navigate the expectations of a nation impatient for revenge and eventual victory. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy, which, until the Battle of Midway, had the run of the Pacific. Craig Symonds Nimitz at War reveals how the quiet man from the Hill Country of Texas eventually surmounted all of these challenges. Using Nimitzs headquarters the eye of the hurricane as his vantage point, Symonds covers all the major campaigns in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. Hecaptures Nimitzs composure, discipline, homespun wisdom, and most of all his uncanny sense of when to assert authority and when to pull back. In retrospect it is difficult to imagine anyone else accomplishing what Nimitz did. As Symonds absorbing, dynamic, and authoritative portrait reveals, itrequired qualities of leadership exhibited by few other commanders in history, qualities that are enduringly and even poignantly relevant to our own moment. Review In December 1941, FDRs choice to take over the shattered US Pacific Fleet was an obscure desk admiral. His selection proved inspired beyond all expectation. Within six months, Nimitz helped set the stage for the ultimate defeat of Japan, holding his own with his superiors while quietly fashioningan outstanding set of subordinate commanders. Symonds has given us a Nimitz for the 21st Century. -- John B. Lundstrom, Author of lack Shoe Carrier AdmiralNimitzs genius lay in his ability to convince others that they could do great things. In that respect he was a force multiplier in the Pacific War, one whose legacy was the Allied victory itself. Immersive, deeply researched, and superbly written, imitz at War will become the standard. --General Mike Hagee, USMC(Ret) 33rd Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, CEO Admiral Nimitz FoundationNimitz at War is the greatest biography yet written about the greatest admiral in American history. -- Ian W. TollCraig Symonds ability to put the reader in the shoes of the admiral who masterminded the US Pacific Fleets response to Pearl Harbor is truly remarkable. In his brilliant pen portraits of Nimitzs comrades (and occasional rivals), Symonds delivers a masterclass in the influence of character ondecision-making. Deeply researched, extremely well-written, and often genuinely exciting, this is destined to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come.