In this book, Craig Symonds aims to write about how the Allied powers lost World War II until the Battle of Midway occurred. Symonds claims that it was in fact the Battle of Midway that balanced the power and possibility for the Allied powers to win the war (Symonds 2013, 3). Throughout the book, Symonds writes chronologically explaining the events leading up to and throughout the Battle of Midway, explaining the importance of these events through the lens of both the Japanese and American eyes. The book is not only based on factual evidence, but evidence from survivors who had firsthand accounts regarding the events that happened throughout the book, such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway too. Symonds also adds several pictures throughout the book to …show more content…
Symonds spent a great deal on ensuring the reader knew the reasons why the American military spent time on planning various counterattacks, how the planes and ships functioned throughout the attacks, and various Japanese and American leaders opinions on these events leading up to Midway. While it is important for the reader to have background information to fully understand the importance of the Battle of Midway, it seemed as if Symonds thesis was not fully fleshed out, as it seemed that there was a lot of build up to only mention the Battle of Midway itself in just six chapters. While there was a lot of build up pre-Midway, it would have been full circle if Symonds would have continued the book to discuss the significance of Midway after the events of Midway took place. Symonds briefly mentioned the importance of Midway within the last chapter by stating, “The Japanese continued to fight courageously, and they inflicted heavy casualties, but they never succeeded in halting the