A Glorious Page in Our History, Adm. Chester Nimitz, 1942: The Battle of Midway, 4-6 June 1942

. This is THE definitive work on the Battle of Midway. It accurately provides the detail that most of the others omit or get wrong, and it corrects all of the popular myths about the battle that some of the others perpetuate, i.e. the controversial flight of the USS Hornet's air group on the morning of 4 June 1942, and the "Midway is short of water" ruse pulled off by the signal intelligence wizards at Pearl Harbor. . You have to be very familiar with the events and personnel involved in the battle to find even a minor flaw in this book. This reviewer knows of only two (in the 4th printing, March '98); one photo caption cites the wrong PBY squadron and another has the wrong names for an SBD aircrew. Beyond that sort of miniscule nitpicking that very few would notice, "A Glorious Page" can be relied upon as meticulously thorough and accurate to a level that no other volume on the Battle of Midway approaches. . If you are researching the battle, start here. And if you can only afford one book on the Battle of Midway, this is the one you want. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

This book is the result of a cooperative effort by a number of noted experts in the field of naval history. It provides the latest known facts regarding tactical details, numerous pertinent photos and previously unpublished (to my knowledge) biographical info about many heros of the battle. Every student of the war in the Pacific needs this book.

This is another book about the critical Battle of Midway in WWII- but not just any book. I first read about this story in grade school. The fate of our country came down to a small outnumbered fleet and a few obsolete airplanes. The aircrew in particular faced almost certain death in many cases but the battle was so critical they took off anyhow... Needless to say I was hooked from then on. That has always inspired me- the unbelievable courage displayed here. I have tried to find out more ever since. This book is promoted as a pictorial history and the pictures are excellent and cover almost all of the amazing aircrew. But the narrative could also easily stand by itself. It is as detailed as any I have ever read about this. A must-have for Midway buffs. How did they get so much in this small space? The best account I have ever read about a truly inspiring story.

There have been numerous accounts of Midway, to mention just two, Walter Lord's wonderful _Incredible Victory_ and Fuchida et al's _Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan. Each of these is superb in its own right, but what the collaborative effort of these writers had turned out is certain to rank not much from the top of the list. There are probably more illustrations in this one book than in the others combined, and the fine text clears up many points in which earlier accounts were mistaken. By tracing the history of Midway from its first U.S. occupation until much after the battle itself, a nice framework is given into which the battle is set; and in its own right, what the writers termed their book's appendix, is a superb collection of Midway-related essays that alone would have made me spend my money.