FLEET ADMIRAL KING: A Naval Record

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 1952

As the record of the life and service of one of the most important and respected of our admirals and significantly, one who commanded victory in World War II, this may get considerable attention. For the market however, it is a strategist's and Navy specialist's volume. Commander Whitehill's re-telling of Admiral King's story is pedantic and painstaking. Three books- half the total volume- deal with King's early life from his ancestry and childhood, cadet days, and through his worthy career as a submariner, line officer, and aviator, going with almost minute care into each step as King took it, each port as he saw it, yet doing it so unvividly as to make the admiral- as perhaps he was- no human, but the Navy itself in microcosm. The fourth book- the last half- is the naval history of World War II from the 1941 Argentia meeting through the Potadam conference in 1945. From Commander in Chief King's point of view, subsequent campaigns in the Pacific are carefully analysed with more reference to battle position and technique than political expediency. In fact little political judgment is passed and incidents like Pearl Harbor are mentioned only as having occurred, the rest being dry detail on lend lease, fleet movements and campaigns. Specialized naval archive material.

Pub Date: Nov. 21, 1952

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1952

Categories: NONFICTION