Battle of Leyte Gulf, The

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, the last great naval battle of World War II, is remembered as the biggest naval battle ever fought anywhere. Every facet of naval warfare was involved in the struggle that engaged some two hundred thousand men and 282 American, Japanese, and Australian ships over more than a hundred thousand square miles of sea. Yet, despite its mammoth scope, the author blends history with human drama to give the reader a real sense of what happened. Thomas J. Cutler captures the milieu, analyses the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants - from seaman to admiral, both Japanese and American - and a cast of characters including Halsey, Nimitz, Ozawa, MacArthur, and Roosevelt. That Cutler succeeds at such a difficult task is no surprise. The award-winning author saw service aboard many types of ships in combat during his naval career, and as a historian and professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College, he has studied the battle for many years.