As to the book, by this morning, I've gotten as far as the first combat in the Guadalcanal campaign. Like I said before, Cdr. Stafford tells the stories from the men who served, so we get an eyewitness view of the action, and he pulls no punches, when it comes to describing combat action aboard a carrier.
If there's any downside to the book, it's that it's dated regarding some of its broader historical details, but that is a function of the year in which it was written (1962). For example, he described the Japanese decks at Midway as full of aircraft, ready for launch against our ships. I think "Shattered Sword" has sufficiently demonstrated that that couldn't have been the case, based on info we have that wasn't available to Western historians. Also, he notes that it was Army cryptoanalysts who broke the IJN code and revealed the Japanese plan to attack Midway, which is a more glaring error, considering that Stafford was a serving Naval officer, and the Navy's cryptanalysts really did the work. And though he notes that it was Scouting 6 that hit the Akagi, he doesn't note at all that it was Dick Best and his 3-plane section that carried out that attack.
However, none of this takes away from the story. I think it's of a class with "Day of Infamy", "Midway-Incredible Victory", or the more recent "A Dawn Like Thunder" or "Doomed at the Start". Or "Band of Brothers". It's the stories of the men themselves that really grip you, I think.
Prost!
Brad
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Au...litical-Figures/A-Life-in-Peace-and-War/17188
