Morison's genius for capturing the flash and fire and the pathos of combat infuses his narrative with an immense vitality and suspense. This is not an official history, in the ordinary sense of that term, but "Morison's history, " a gripping, face-to-face encounter with the human drama of war.

Volume 4: Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942 -- August 1942 details the American victory in the Coral Sea and the U.S. Navy's stunning defeat of a far superior Japanese force at Midway, as well as the events leading up to the six-month struggle at Guadalcanal. This volume also provides a richly detailed look at the first-year exploits of the "Silent Service": the fledgling American submarine corps in the Pacific. Morison supplements his firsthand experience of American operations and access to Allied documents with critical information from the Japanese side.