Samuel Eliot MorisonRecensioni

Just what it says. Near contemporaneous narrative history. Familiar ground but well told. Casual racism throughout.

Especially appreciated the submarine action reports, need to get to Silent Victory.

Accidently started to read, and couldn't put down. Near contemporary narrative history. Started to collect the set through a book club in high school some 30+ years ago, reunited when mom cleaned out a storage unit.

Starts with an 80-page prelude to the war, covers the opening attacks, Coral Sea, and through the Doolittle raid.

Casual racism throughout.

$10 to $30

The result was a normal historical work, not a prescribed official history. Limitations of the History of U.S. Naval Operations are mostly due to its shortened period of publication. Some material, especially related to codebreaking, was still classified, and later in-depth research into particular occurrences in the war did clarify points that had been passed over rather lightly. Some rewriting was incorporated in the later printings of this series. This History of U.S. Naval Operations also intentionally avoided a certain amount of analysis, for instance deferring to other works for the causes of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. The intended audience for the work, to quote from the preface, was "the general reader rather than the professional sailor."
MISSING: #2. Operations in North African Waters: October 1942 – June 1943
#4. Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Actions: May 1942 – August 1942
#8. New Guinea and the Marianas: March 1944 – August 1944

Just finished Samuel Eliot Morisson's, The Two-Ocean War. A short 586 page, which vividly describes both by theater and chronologically, the Naval War in both the Pacific and European theaters of World War II.

Originally published in 1963, Morrison starts in inter-war years, and the beginning stages of the war and thematically alternating between the Pacific and Atlantic Wars.

Some of the highlights the problems caused by the German U Boats leading to the convoy system being implemented and the losses in merchant shipping early in the war, the early setbacks in the Pacific, folliwed by victories at Coral Sea and Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, North Africa and Sicilian campaigns.

Morrison then spends several chapters in Pacific on the Solomons, Gilbert, and Marshall Islands, New Guinea and the Marianas, then jumps back to the Mediterranean and Italy and the Naval aspects of Overlord.

He finishes with the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the end of the war. While an ongoing topic, Morrison dedicates a section in the contributions of the submarine campaign in both theaters but concentrating on the Pacific where its contributions against both warships and Japanese merchant shipping were profound.

The best single volume on the Naval War I have read, and a solid 5 stars.

Published in fifteen volumes, Morison provides a clear & detailed view of American efforts to keep transport lanes open, German reluctance to allocate major resources to the war at sea, & the influence on strategy of what each side thought the other capable. Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939- May 1943 concerns Allied efforts to protect shipping, supply, & troop transport against Axis submarines & their supporting aircraft & ships.

Having completed the larger multi-volumne work on the US Navy of WWII, Morison boiled it down to a mass-market book for more popular consumption. It is adequate, but not to the depth anywhere necessary for the serious student.

A chatty, gossipy, and dated (especially when discussing the "Indians" that first lived on the island) history of Mount Desert Island. This is the island in Maine where Acadia National Park is located and where I recently vacationed. It is an absolutely beautiful spot. I picked this book up in a gift shop. It was ok, but not really what I was looking for. I would have preferred more info about the original inhabitants of the island, info about the creation of the national park, and about the 1947 fire. Instead this was mainly about the first European explorers and then life on the island in the mid to late 1800s. Fine, but not for everyone.

As a child I used to get in trouble. I went to a Catholic school, St. Thomas of Villanova, for two years in Illinois because the public schools were too crowded. Even though our friends and neighbors were these same people, we were looked upon by the other Catholic schoolchildren as though we had descended from another planet. Anyway, I always tried to keep a low profile because I was and am very shy. I didn't question stuff and tried to go with the flow mostly. However, teachers throughout my school years, indeed until college, would say the most astonishing things. I was constantly corrected and embarrassed about things that I found many years later I was entirely correct about. It gradually grew upon me, by the time I was in high school, that I might, just might, have been somewhat more intelligent and observant than some of my teachers. Lack of self confidence you might say.

This story comes from the second or third grade. You have to remember that Columbus was nearly a saint and Columbus Day was practically a saint's holiday in Chicago where I lived. I think we actually got school off. There were lots of Italians and lots of Catholics where I lived. In history, or social studies, or whatever they called what should have been called history back then, we were studying the patently incorrect European discovery of North America. The teacher asked: "Who discovered America?" I almost never volunteered to answer anything unless compelled due to my native shyness. Some clever girl responded brilliantly: "Christopher Columbus!" Everyone seemed overjoyed, but this made absolutely no sense to me since not more than minutes before the teacher had been reading the fact that: "the Indians of Hispanola had waded out to greet him." I simply had to state the obvious, I couldn't help myself in spite of my shyness: "Columbus couldn't have discovered America." The teacher asked, equally as astonished, "How can you say that?" To which I replied: "Where did the Indians that came to greet him think they were?"...

Covers five eventful months of the Pacific war and describes the submarine patrols, the fast carrier strikes of March and April, and the bold leaps of the Southwest Pacific Forces under General MacArthur's command. Here also is the story of Pacific Fleet operations from the end of the Marshall Islands campaign to the recovery of Guam). Covers five eventful months of the Pacific war and describes the submarine patrols, the fast carrier strikes of March and April, and the bold leaps of the Southwest Pacific Forces under General MacArthur's command. Here also is the story of Pacific Fleet operations from the end of the Marshall Islands campaign to the recovery of Guam).

Large comprehensive book that covers just about every movement of the US Navy in the 2nd World War.

NA

This is the volume that completes Morison's useful contribution to the history of South America and the Hispanic Empire. The maps are adequate, though the reader is advised to xerox them and move them separately to use them to flesh out the descriptions of the tracks of the expeditions. This volume deals heavily with both Columbus (Morison had written a biography of the Genoese), and Ferdinand Magellan. There are accounts of the careers of Cabeza de Vaca, and of Sebastian Cabot, which alter my understanding of both men. The quality of the prose is racier than many of the academic community indulge in, and thus the book is an easier read than many on this topic. The attempt for completeness is admirable, and the range of sources is deep.

Adm. Morison has several advantages over a the majority of naval historians. One of those is his considerable expertise in the area of small boat sailing in sailing craft, and the large body of expertise he has tapped in this book. The other arises from his having already produced the fifteen volumes of the Official American Navy account of WWII. This gave him sufficient pull with the publishers to provide a large number of illustrations and charts covering the points raised by his texts. From the point of view described he produced a very readable account of the northern voyages . the direct sources are sometimes obscure to the modern reader, and thus the notes at the end of the chapters are quite a contribution to the understanding of the material.. He is also, quite even-handed in his examination of the personalities involved in the interactions across the European North American cultural boundaries. All in all, the best one volume account of the pre 1600 CE European efforts to explore the Atlantic coast. There are even moments of light-heartedness, very much appreciated in this genre. This is a book very likely to be further reprinted even after its fifty year career .

A good, old-fashioned account of Christopher Columbus's life and voyages. Written in the 1940s by a historian of the old school, and a seaman to boot, it is chock full of nautical references, terminology, and description. If you're bored easily by tacks and compass points and knots and winds and currents and sails and such, you'll find this boring. Morison and a group of scholars from Harvard sailed Columbus's routes in sailing ships in an attempt to identify his exact sailing route and ports of call. So there is much jumping back and forth from the 1490s/1500s to the 1930s/1940s. Which could be disappointing for those looking for a straight biography of Columbus (read Morison's abridgment of an abridgment Christopher Columbus, Mariner for a short account). Written at a time when Columbus was considered a hero, not the slaving, religious-maniac, white supremacist he is often depicted as today, Morison presents a heroesque picture of the Admiral. He is a brave man, a smart man, and one of the finest dead-reckoning sailors ever. And, Morison contends he wanted better relations with the Indians than eventually played out. Perhaps. It is a jarring portrait for those who have grown up on the "Columbus was evil" trope. Any serious scholar of Columbus must contend with Morison's biography (either this one-volume abridgment, or the two-volume behemoth), especially Morison's contentions on routes and landfalls (especially the first landfall in 1492). However, as a work of pure scholarship, Fernandez-Armesto's biography of Columbus is probably better and up-to-date, but this one has a certain novelistic quality that won it (the two-volume version, that is) the Pulitzer.

College text outdated now. I kept it all these years and remember it kindly.

Excellent history, a counterpart to Morison's history discussing the voyages of exploration of Central and South America in roughly the same time period. Morison is particularly good at throwing cold water on alleged voyages before the Norse, and putting the original Norse voyages in perspective. (The archaeological discoveries at L'Anse Aux Meadows were relatively new when this book came out.) Morison goes into a great deal of detail as to why so many of the English voyages failed -- and why they kept going and kept trying. Many shrewd guesses as to what might have happened to fill in the blanks -- which Morison clearly identifies as guesses. As with the other book, many treasures are in the chapter-end notes, so don't miss those. Recommended.

The low score on this book is actually a reflection of the fact that I read (out of publication order) Morison's book on the southern voyages of exploration, which covered Columbus' voyages. The first chunk of that book is a revised and expanded version of this book, and frankly, you're better off reading that other book, which was published in the early 1970s by Oxford University Press.

Highly entertaining and literate account of what the title promises: the southern voyages of exploration from the time of Columbus to the very early 17th century. Some of this appears to be reworked material from Morison's other books; I happened to read this one, first, in part because I acquired it first. Morison does a credible job of debunking a lot of the myths surrounding Columbus' life; a worthy antidote for some of the much rolling about. The notes at the end of the chapters are a good way of providing interesting side information, and is better than sticking it at the end of the book. Highly recommended.

Highly entertaining look at, as the title says, the maritime history of the Bay State from independence to the Civil Warr. First published in 1921, the book covers such areas as fishing, whalers, clipper ships and trade with various countries. Morison dug into a lot of primary source material still available at that time, including personal recollections. Very good for nautical history fans.

By Samuel Eliot Morrison. Never read anything by Morrison before, although I knew his reputation. This biography manages to be both scholarly and entertaining; part of that, of course, is due to the subject. Morrison portrays Jones “warts and all” and the man must have handled a lot of toads in his time.


As the only successful captain in the Continental Navy, Jones was the subject of a lot of hagiography; Morrison has to sift through all this and devotes a whole appendix to debunking various claims about him – that he was the illegitimate son of a Scottish lord, that he served in the Royal Navy, that Napoleon planned to use him in the war against England, and numerous others (Morrison goes so far as to say that a biography of Jones that was once on the required reading list for Annapolis student is a “complete fabrication”.


The truths about Jones are interesting enough. He did serve on a slaver, although he left quickly (Morrison points out that Jones wasn’t interested in anything but naval affairs; he traveled all over Russia and lived in Revolutionary France without ever writing a word about conditions in either place. But he did express his disgust with slavery). He had an eye for the ladies, and this was frequently reciprocated; one French noblewoman wrote offering to leave her husband and stow away on his ship. Although he was usually solicitous for the welfare of his crews there was a lot of grumbling because Jones was frequently away enjoying himself while his ships were in port. His career in Catherine the Great’s navy came to an abrupt end when Jones was accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. Morrison goes into some detail on this, and it’s pretty damning by modern standards. The girl apparently was a prostitute, pimped by her mother. Jones had engaged in what he called ”badinage” with her twice before; the third time, according to Jones’ testimony, she tore her clothes and fled, screaming “RAPE!”. After the police questioned her and her mother – and one expects the police at the time could be fairly persuasive – it was determined that Jones had been set up by his enemies in the Russian navy; someone had hired the girl to seduce Jones and make the accusation. Nevertheless, Jones got himself in the position where the plot would work and Catherine the Great “granted” him an unlimited leave of absence.


For a citizen of the American republic, Jones was quite jealous of rank and title, petitioning Congress to allow him to accept the title “Chevalier” from the King of France and pestering the Navy to promote him to Admiral (there were no admirals in the US Navy until the Civil War). As a self-imposed exile in France at the end of his life he kept proposing grandiose schemes – the conquest of India or the invasion of England, for example – with himself as the focus.


That being said, Morrison allows Jones was an excellent sailor and fighting captain. He won victories over stronger ships – USS Ranger vs HMS Drake and USS Bon Homme Richard vs HMS Serapis. He raided the Scottish coast in the Ranger; a second attempt to raid in the Bon Homme Richard was foiled by a wind shift. His service in the Russian navy was problematical; Morrison argues that Jones’ battle plans were good but were handicapped by internecine warfare between other Russian commanders (he notes that all of the other admirals Jones worked with were foreigners in Russian service as well). Nevertheless, the Russians won the battles (Morrison calls these “The First Battle of Liman” and the “Second Battle of Liman”; Лиман is a Russian word meaning “estuary”, not a place name by itself. The battles are probably more correctly known as the First and Second Naval Battles of Ochakov).


Morrison’s narrative is detailed but straightforward and eminently readable. Illustrations are contemporary paintings or engravings plus photographs of various Jones-related locations. The maps of naval actions are excellent; I’ve noted before how older books that employed professional cartographers get much better maps than modern ones where the authors do their own graphics. The bibliography is extensive; Morrison notes there are a couple of periods during Jones’ life that are unaccounted for – where he didn’t write any letters or get mentioned elsewhere – and expresses hope that something will eventually turn up.

This volume is about the evolution of the USN's amphibious warfare techniques towards their final level of efficiency. While there isn't a great open sea battle to describe, the student of the Pacific theatre should find a good deal of useful information. The OBs have their usual completeness, and the maps are standard.

A basic building block for the serious student or the war gamer. His OBs are very good, and the maps reliable. the prose is clear and workmanlike.½

The description of a most complex naval battle of WWII. There are accurate Orders of battle, and some discussion of the strategic effects of the two navies' planning for these operations. It is clear and well written, but there's no mention of the intelligence war during this period. The maps are adequate.