Then there’s the supposedly crucial late launch of a Japanese reconnaissance plane, which Symonds, contrary to the standard story, shows may well have worked to the Japanese’s advantage. Navy’s triumph on June 4, 1942, was so unlikely as to defy rational explanation-or, as Symonds puts it, that victory was “the product of fate, or chance, or luck, or even divine will.” For instance, previous writers have stressed-Symonds says they’ve overstressed-the fortuitous fact that the American torpedo planes heading for the Japanese aircraft carriers arrived just at the right time to occupy the Japanese Zeroes, which were then unable to deal with the subsequent dive-bombers. As their titles suggest, however, they seemed to be saying that the U.S. Most notably, Walter Lord’s Incredible Victory (1967) and Gordon Prange’s Miracle at Midway (1982) both attracted many, many readers. Not that the Battle of Midway has lacked for popular attention. Indeed, it demonstrates why military history should not be considered “merely” a “niche” subject, but part of the mainstream of the national narrative. I have read a fair amount of military history, but am hardly a specialist, so I can say confidently that this book will be read appreciatively by other non-specialists. Symonds follows up his opening remark with a little over 350 pages of superb narrative, clearly, vividly, and energetically written, with attention to detail that is always relevant to his interpretation and almost never descends into minutiae for its own sake. Such an ambiguous introduction makes for a weird start (what is Oxford thinking?). But except for Symonds’s early remark, quoted above, and series editor McPherson’s 2-page introduction, one would never know this book was part of any series: there’s no mention of it anywhere on the cover or in the book. Board of Education, and the election of 1800. His book is apparently part of Oxford University Press’s series on “Pivotal Moments in American History,” which already includes military histories such as David Hackett Fischer’s Washington’s Crossing (about the Battle of Trenton) and James McPherson’s Crossroads of Freedom (on the Battle of Antietam), along with treatises on civilian topics such as rock ‘n’ roll, Brown v. “In a series that focuses on historical contingency, it is appropriate, perhaps even essential, to include the Battle of Midway,” says Craig Symonds, a historian at the Naval Academy and author of Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History (one of which was, yes, the Battle of Midway) and the award-winning Lincoln and His Admirals. Luther Spoehr is an HNN Book Editor and Senior Lecturer in Education & History at Brown University.
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