History Happy Hour

Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully An amazing book that breaks new ground in our understanding of how the Japanese Navy performed at Midway and why its commanders made the decisions that they did. Parshall and Tully were able to look at often overlooked Japanese naval records to give a refreshing new look at the battle. I highly recommend this book.  

The Battle of Midway, Craig L. Symonds Symonds, a HHH alum, is one of the foremost historians of naval warfare writing today. His history of Midway is well-written and makes the most of current research on the battle. The thing I like so much about Symonds is that he makes the, oftentimes, confusing technicalities of war at sea understandable.  

World War II at Sea, Craig L. Symonds If you want a broader overview of the war at sea that places the Battle of Midway in its proper context this is a great place to start. If you only had time to read one book about the naval aspects of World War II, this would be my recommendation.  

Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway, Walter Lord For many years, Lord’s history was the “go-to” popular history of the battle. While I think it has been surpassed by Symonds, if you have the time/interest it is still a good read and still appears frequently in bibliographies of the battle.