Admiral William H. McRaven is a part of American military history, having been involved in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Sea Stories begins in 1960 at the American Officers' Club in France, where Allied officers and their wives gathered to have drinks and tell stories about their adventures during World War II...

John Paul Jones, at sea and in the heat of battle, was the great American hero of the Age of Sail. He was to history what Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower are to fiction. Ruthless, indomitable, clever; he vowed to sail, as he put it, "in harm's way." John Paul Jones is more than a great sea story. Jones is a character for the ages. John Adams called him the "most ambitious and intriguing officer in the American...

Blazing sea fights and undercurrents of intrigue: these are among the compelling ingredients of a biography that brings to life the most illustrious and formidable figure of the United States Navy. His name is carried by more than two dozen towns and cities. Here at last is a full exploration of Stephen Decatur's complex character. Reckless in youth, cool yet audacious in combat, loved by those who sailed under his command yet plotted against by rivals...

Nicknames like the "Mother of Modern Naval Computing" and "Grandma COBOL" described the impact mathematical genius Grace Hopper had on the computer's development. In 1942, the first electronic computer filled an entire room. One simple calculation took hours to finish. As the first woman to program the United States' first computer, Hopper earned herself another nickname, "Amazing Grace." With fascinating details and period photographs, this fascinating...

In his 37 years in the military, McRaven saw both the best and worst of humanity and shares stories of the real, everyday heroes who have inspired him. Growing up in Texas, McRaven dreamed of being a superhero and saving the earth from destruction. As he grew older he found real heroes everywhere he went-- and none of them had superpowers, none wore capes or cowls. But they all possessed qualities that gave them the power to help others, to make...

"NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO, as a new assistant professor in the History Department at the U.S. Naval Academy, I shared an office suite with Elmer B. "Ned" Potter. Ned had taught at the Naval Academy since before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was also the co-editor with Chester Nimitz of the book Sea Power (1961), which we all used as a text in the required naval history course that I subsequently taught at the Academy for thirty years. Ned knew...

Describes the life of John Paul Jones, who served in America's navy during the Revolutionary War and is remembered for saying, "I have not yet begun to fight."

In Grace Hopper, learn how the American computer scientist chose to pursue a career in science and revolutionized the way we program computers. Features include a timeline, a glossary, essential facts, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.

A unique collective biography of the four men who "with a combination of nimble counsel, exasperating ego, studied patience, and street-fighter tactics" shaped the modern U.S. Navy to win WWII at sea.

"William Halsey was the most famous naval officer of World War II. His fearlessness in carrier raids against Japan, his steely resolve at Guadalcanal, and his impulsive blunder at the Battle of Leyte Gulf made him the "Patton of the Pacific" and solidified his reputation as a decisive, aggressive fighter prone to impetuous errors of judgment in the heat of battle. In this definitive biography, Thomas Alexander Hughes punctures the popular caricature...