100 Books Like Nimitz

Anna Rosenberg is a name I never heard of, despite being a US History and US Government teacher. I was spellbound by the life she made for herself as a Hungarian immigrant, imprinting her stamp on this Country as a public servant, spanning President Roosevelt through Eisenhower.

I was entranced by how effortlessly she navigated the male-dominated political and military arenas, rising to become the first and only Female Assistant Secretary of Defense. I love her approach to always looking for a mutually agreeable solution to the problems she has to resolve. Having three daughters of my own, Anna Rosenberg is a role model I truly want my girls to emulate.

I met John H. Dalton, a former Secretary of the Navy, at a fireside chat and book signing held at my current employer. I served under him while on Active Duty in the Marine Corps, so the opportunity to confirm how I viewed him during that time and match his character with the tales in his book was a once-in-a-lifetime joy.

I was struck by how every chapter in his life was handled with the utmost humility and grace. Whether a Navy circumstance, private industry adventure, or personal struggle, he looked for the lesson to be learned and the opportunity to be gained. Each chapter provided a guidepost I found to be of lifetime value. 

I taught about the Falklands War in my final position within the Department of Defense. I found this unheralded engagement to be as riveting and visually engaging as any publication I have read about this conflict. I found the tales of individual courage, along with the mistaken assumptions, lack of basic survival resources, and the sheer magnitude of their struggle for the cause they believed in, to shed an entirely new light on this forgotten time in the post-Vietnam, pre-Gulf War period.

I came to appreciate the Argentinian force's behavior despite the deprivations on the field and at home. Their resiliency was admirable. The emotional and physical scars on the sides were honestly and sensitively portrayed, many of which linger to this day.

I love a story in which the central character is approachable and authentic. Joshua Chamberlain had no family legacy of military service, but putting his academic background to use, in understanding the purpose of his unit, the mission, and the war, I found myself reliving every moment of his life, as if I was a member of his unit.

His humility and genuine appreciation for those serving with him was yet another example of how I sought to lead those I served. I found myself immersed in who he was and how he was able to put into context the struggles of those serving with him. I, too, try to ‘live the talk’ as he did during and after the Civil War.

The narrative is so vivid that it made me take sides, rooting for some characters and muttering something unprintable each time their nemeses did silly and/or ego-driven things. What I found astounding is that long after Pearl Harbor, U.S. Navy decision-making protocols remained confusingly tentative, and the chain of command was convoluted.

When I began researching and writing for my books this fifteen-volume set by distinguished historian Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, was one of my first purchases for my World War II library. I consider his series a must-have for any WWII researcher or history buff. I did much of my research and writing on freighters and always took selected volumes with me.

This non-fiction biography by Laurie Hallmark and illustrated by Katy Wu tells the story of computer scientist Grace Hopper. The story is engaging and fascinating, as we learn about Grace’s contributions to computer science, including coining the term “computer bug” and moving code from numbers to the English language. This book is inspiring, enjoyable, and informative for a wide range of ages.

Any research into the codebreaking arm of British Intelligence during the Great War will quickly point to one man as the mastermind: Admiral Sir Reginald “Blinker” Hall. He is, at a glance, one of the most intriguing historical figures you’ll ever come across…and the more you learn, the more convinced you’ll be of that. In Blinker Hall, Spymaster, Ramsay delivers not only a thorough look into intelligence and codebreaking, using documents that have been declassified only recently to his writing, but also an insightful look into the man who orchestrated one of the most complex intelligence systems of the modern era. For anyone interested in intelligence, cryptography, or even just the invisible world behind a war that spanned continents, this book delivers it all, and does it in an engaging, entertaining style.

No one stands for what really mattered in this war more than Admiral Sir James Saumarez, Commander in chief in the Baltic between 1808 and 1812, a crucial period in the war. No famous battle ensued.

Using patience and diplomacy, Saumarez used the power of his fleet to ensure that vital trade with Britain continued and that Sweden was protected. A Swedish official wrote to Saumarez in 1813, after the danger from Napoleon had passed: "Had you fired one shot when we declared war against England, all had been ended, and Europe would have been enslaved."

Confederate Raphael Semmes had drawn many biographers before Stephen Fox’s 2007 account of his Civil War high seas exploits. Fox’s book immediately established itself as the best told of the lot, a result of the author’s writerly skill and his gifted delineation of character.

The book has established itself as the one that I and other historians return to time and again for its authoritative account of how the two warships under Semmes’ command traveled by sail and steam over tens of thousands of miles, as they wreaked havoc on vessels operating near five continents, across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In burning dozens of prizes across the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the tale of infamy exemplified the global scope of Civil War belligerency.