This is a very well written book by a very smart man. It is a bit wordy towards the end but the parts where he relates his experiences is very interesting. Good book!

Very few admirals (or generals for that matter) pay much attention to history. (Examples abound, including recent events.) But Jim Holloway not only reads and writes history--he lived it as well. From his spellbinding account of the shootout in Surigao Strait to the bombardment of Haiphong 28 years later, his career both aloft and afloat would fill a book whether or not he became chief of naval operations.

Holloway's memoir is divided into numerous segments providing both the personal and the overall perspective of events in wars hot and cold. Probably the most illuminating portion is his extremely detailed description of Korean War operations, to a degree this reader has not previously seen.

There is plenty of other significant material including development of nuclear powered aircraft carriers (Holloway commanded USS Enterprise) and the post-Vietnam doldrums when the fleet's human and materiel condition had been permitted to degrade to alarming levels. However, his busy post-retirement career has benefitted everyone interested in nautical lore, especially the Naval History web site.

In an era when active-duty admirals think that Douglas Devastators flew alongside Grumman Bearcats, when a Canadian Spitfire ace knows more about carriers than many naval officers, Holloway's book comes as a refreshing change.

Admiral Holloway's story begins with a destroyer torpedo attack on a battleship during the Battle of Suriago Strait in WW II. At the time Holloway was a lieutenant assigned as the gunnery and torpedo officer in the destroyer USS Bennion. There is a rule of thumb in the Navy that a destroyer making a torpedo attack on a battleship in a sea battle has a life expectancy of less than five minutes before being sunk. You can imagine the feelings of the crew aboard Bennion realizing as they turned in to attack that many of them probably had less than five minutes to live.

Less than a week after that battle Lieutenant Holloway departed for flight training. His parting comments to the commanding officer were "In the past 48 hours we have silenced two shore batteries, shot down three Zeros, battled a Japanese cruiser, sunk a destroyer by gunfire, and torpedoed a Japanese battleship. I think I'm ready to try something new."

The book goes on to describe Holloway's experience in flight training and eventual assignment as operations officer of a carrier air task group where he flew as a pilot with Fighter Squadron 111 in combat in Korea. Later in the war he served as executive officer and then commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 52. His descriptions of flying in that war are as detailed, readable and understandable as any air combat stories I have ever read. The intensity of the naval air campaign in Korea is little understood or appreciated. An example is that one of the squadrons in his task group, VF-653, lost 12 of its 26 pilots during his 1951-52 tour.

Aircraft Carriers at War could well have been titled A History of the US Navy in our Time. Admiral Holloway next describes many of the naval operations during the cold war where his assignments included command of Attack Squadron 83 whose mission was delivery of nuclear weapons. The operations of such squadrons are described in easily understood terms.

The most significant operational descriptions in the book are included in Holloway's command tour of the nuclear powered attack aircraft carrier Enterprise during the Vietnam War. We seldom read descriptions of carrier operations by carrier commanders and this book has the best description of carrier warfare I have ever read. The command responsibilities and day to day operations of a carrier captain are clearly described and explained.

The remainder of the book is the most important historically as Holloway describes his operational experiences as an admiral in command of various fleet components and his Washington assignments leading to his selection as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). The description of his tour as CNO gives seldom revealed insights into the inner workings of the Department of Defense and the relationship of the service commanders with the president and congress.

Aircraft Carriers at War is a historical review of naval operations in our time including three hot wars, the cold war and numerous international incidents written by a participant rather than an observer. Admiral Holloway is generally considered the most knowledgeable and dedicated proponent of aircraft carriers in our time and this book clearly reflects his knowledge and experience.

You may have noted this is not an entirely unbiased review. I confess that I commanded an attack aircraft squadron and an attack aircraft carrier at the same time as Admiral Holloway and we sometimes operated together.