Nimitz | 
| Author: E. B. Potter
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 115656
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Naval Institute Press Pbk
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 1591145805
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.545973092
EAN: 9781591145806
ASIN: 1591145805
Publication Date: March 17, 2008
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Product Description
Called a great book worthy of a great man, this definitive biography of the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet in World War II, first published in 1976 and now available in paperback for the first time, continues to be considered the best book ever written about Adm. Chester W. Nimitz. Highly respected by both the civilian and naval communities, Nimitz was sometimes overshadowed by more colorful warriors such as MacArthur and Halsey. Potter's lively and authoritative style fleshes out Admiral Nimitz's personality to help readers appreciate the contributions he made as the principal architect of Japan's defeat. The book covers his full life, from a poverty-stricken childhood to postwar appointments as Chief of Naval Operations and U.N. mediator. It candidly reveals Nimitz's opinions of Halsey, Kimmel, King, Spruance, MacArthur, Forrestal, Roosevelt, and Truman.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Real Hero September 25, 2007
This is a wonderfully done work! The best account of the war in the Pacific I have read. The overblown accounts of MacArthur and Halsey over shadowed the real brains, the true hero of the victory. It depicts Nimitz as a strong, but caring man whose tactical and strategic skills are not widely known. It should be required reading for high school/college literature courses.
 Great subject; less than stellar execution February 26, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
E.B. Potter's Nimitz is an adequate depiction of the Navy's preeminent leader of WWII. Adequate, vice great, as Potter did not seem willing to criticize, although Nimitz was evidently a man who did provide few episodes worthy of criticism. He was loved by the troops, respected by his peers and immediate subordinates, and worked well with superiors (King, Knox, and Roosevelt) that demanded excellence in all of their subordinates. The reader may wonder why there are so few narratives dedicated to Nimitz during WWII, as compared to the plethora available depicting the wartime exploits of MacArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, and Patton. It would appear that his quiet competence, as compared to the showmanship of some of the others, did not lend itself to a flashy best-seller, thus Potter is the only one who has attempted to tell his story.
Potter did a good job, but his personal friendship with Nimitz appears to have rendered him incapable of criticizing the man. While Nimitz did apparently have few faults, Potter did a disservice to the reader by failing to scrutinize some of Nimitz's faults, such as his apparent indecisive streak when it came to strategic decision-making (for instance deciding the correct avenue of approach to Japan, whether the Philippines, Taiwan, or the Bonins, especially in discussions with Roosevelt and MacArthur).
Also, as a practitioner, I felt that the lack of discussion of the specifics of operational planning and decision-making under Nimitz's command, missed an opportunity for comparison with the methods that the military uses, successfully or not, in today's formulation of strategy and operational construction.
Finally, I would have liked to have read a little bit more of the leadership philosophy that made Nimitz successful during his years at sea. The chapter on his command aboard AUGUSTA went a long ways toward scratching this itch, but what the Navy leader of today needs is a discussion, through framework or anecdote, of what made a successful career.
Despite my criticism, I have to say that Nimitz's life is one worth studying, and as discussed above, there are few choices of books dedicated to Nimitz's life, so I do recommend Potter's work. I would just like to see another biography written through a cynical twenty-first century eye, so that we can reap the benefit of a critical discussion of his mistakes, as well as his triumphs.
 Useful war biography December 17, 2006
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Potter's biography of Chester Nimitz, CinCPac, is a good war biography. It can usefully be read in conjunction with Potter's volume on William Halsey, "Bull Halsey," and Thomas Buell's biography of the less flamboyant Raymond Spruance, "The Quiet Warrior."
The book is functionally--but surely not elegantly--written. It traces the life of Chester Nimitz from his childhood to Annapolis to his rise in the ranks of the Navy to World War II and beyond. Much detail is provided, including information on his family life.
The maps of the various campaigns in the Pacific are extremely helpful to the reader. The book traces the kind of decisions that Nimitz had to make--from replacing Admiral Kimmell after the surprise attack on Pearly Harbor to assigning Raymond Spruance to carrier command at Midway to relieving Admiral Ghormley at Guadalcanal with Admiral Halsey, to working with the mercurial General Douglas MacArthur, to the climactic battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
This is the kind of functional biography that provides great detail on combat strategy and tactics as well as on the person being studied.
A good volume if one wants to understand the role and importance of Chester Nimitz in World War II. Not an elegantly written book, but a good functional work.
The single most important man in U.S. Naval History November 8, 2005
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
I bought this book at the Navy Exchange on a whim. Two pages into this book and I was hooked. After 20 years in the Navy after reading this book, I can see Nimitz's impact everywhere I look.
Most biographies are written by hero worshiping sychophants, or worse written by the subject of the biography whose recollection of events are always flattering. Potter tackles the single most important man in U.S. Naval history with appriciation, but not at the expense of his detachment.
You begin with the Admiral's family history, how his grand father came to America. You then follow his lack luster school performance that explodes into focused determination to pass the Naval Academy's entrance exams. Because the Admiral's claim to fame was his leadership during WW II, the lion's share of the book covers his assumption of command U.S. Forces Pacific and follows it through his presence at the signing of the Japanese surrender at Tokyo bay. However; the last few chapters covering his dedicated work to maintain the U.S. Navy as a seperate and powerful force is eye opening and gives the reader (especialy if your a sailor) a scare at how close the U.S. Navy came to being dismantled like it had been after every war.
The thing I took away from the book was as you look around the Navy, many officers are detail minded. The higher the rank, the more of a bean counter they become. I used to be disappointed that we no longer had officers like Perry or John Paul Jones, that they had all become accountant politicians. However; reading this book, I now see that men like Jones, Perry, and Halsey might win battles. It was the detail minded officers like Nimitz that win wars. It is very obvious that in today's Navy officers are trained in the shadow of Nimitz. Many of our ceremonies are now patterned after the way that Nimitz conducted ceremonies. The way we refuel, the submarine, the way we detail sailors, so much of the Navy was forged by Nimitz.
This book covers not only his triumphs but his defeats, his short commings. It deals honestly with the subject, with out elevating him to super human. You see a man. This book should be mandatory reading for every sailor on earth. I highly recommend this book!
Outstanding bio of an outstanding leader June 23, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Some WWII commanders. such as Patton, Ike or MacArthur, seem to have a new book written about them every year or so. For no particular reason, others, no less important, seem to be virtually ignored. Nimitz is one of these men, and it is fortunate that the one biography (as far as I can tell) written about him is quite excellent. Potter writes very well, did some outstanding research, and has an enormous love for his subject, letting Nimitz's natural charm, humor, professionalism, and common sense come through on every page. My only real complaint is that the author's near worship of his subject precludes any real discussion of the admiral's strategy, decisions, and mistakes. Some nice maps, footnotes, an excellent bibliography. Definitely one of those books worth purchasing and reading over and over.
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