Rating: 
Summary: A rediscovered history of the Greatest Generation
Review: This book falls into the same grade as Dr. Ballards other excellent books such as on the Titanic and the Bismark. To most WWII Navy History buffs, the story of Midway is both great and a little over told. The dumb fact is America won the battle because the IJNS Cruiser Tone couldn't launch a recon aircraft. I don't think the American dumb luck factor was stressed enough in the book. However, luck makes a huge amount of difference in war. Right now the CSA would be alive and well had General Robert E. Lee had not made an extra copy of his orders of attack prior to the Battle of Antitiam. I can't fault the fantastic pictures of the USS Yorktown. The book is worth the price of that alone. Seeing the 1.1 inch machine guns pointing skyward is like seeing a moment frozen in time. There are few things like this in American history. The cold fact is Midway was THAT important of a battle. Had the three American carriers been sunk then the USA could not have gone on the offensive until 1944 or later. The stories of veterans of the battle were quite insightful. However, you can't get over this weird feeling that both groups of veterans still really don't like one another over the war. Strange, old hatred dies hard. I look forward to Dr. Ballard getting funding from Japan to find the Japanise carriers. If the Akagi or any of her sister ships are in this good condition then we could look forward to a small salvage operation being done to raise a small part of the ship in the future. Now, all readers should know that National Geographic ran a shorter version of this book in just the last year. You can read it for free if you just go to your local library. This is a great coffee table book and would make a great history present to any Navy buff.
Rating:
Summary: Return to Midway
Review: This book is a very good read and is written exceptionally well. The historical information on the Battle of Midway is very easy to read, interesting and thought provocative. The author attempts, and succeeds, to involve the reader in the actual battle by introducing personal accounts from a number of American and Japanese veterans. The images within the book are very impressive and the artwork is very detailed and realistic. The discovery of the Yorktown is written concisely and the technical information is well described, yet not out of the understanding of any educated person. The only down side of the book is the poor renditions of tactical maps and lack of photographs of the actual Yorktown as it is today, despite the author noting that hundreds of images were taken. Well worth the effort to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Return to Midway
Review: This book is a very good read and is written exceptionally well. The historical information on the Battle of Midway is very easy to read, interesting and thought provocative. The author attempts, and succeeds, to involve the reader in the actual battle by introducing personal accounts from a number of American and Japanese veterans. The images within the book are very impressive and the artwork is very detailed and realistic. The discovery of the Yorktown is written concisely and the technical information is well described, yet not out of the understanding of any educated person. The only down side of the book is the poor renditions of tactical maps and lack of photographs of the actual Yorktown as it is today, despite the author noting that hundreds of images were taken. Well worth the effort to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent overview of the battle and expedition
Review: This was an excellent overview of both the battle and the expedition to find the 5 carriers. Well illustrated. The only thing I would like to have seen more of was the details of the Yorktown wreck. Only a few photos of the wreck are included, although the text mentions that they took hundreds of detailed photos. Get the companion video, too!
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