Hone’s study shows Nimitz understood command is an art based on collaboration that relies on effective personal relationships to extract ideas and understand new opportunities. He adopted his subordinates’ ideas and made them part of his own plans. Nimitz never backed away from difficult decisions and when appropriate was as bold as any commander. He relied on unified command with decentralized execution combined with the continual consideration of options; the figures and tables Hone provides show this in operation.
A Microhistory of World War II: #Reviewing Dogfight over Tokyo
Most books about the final phase of the Pacific War detail the firebombing of Japanese cities, raise questions concerning dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or participate in a debate whether U.S. actions or Soviet intervention forced the Japanese to surrender…The approach Wukovits employs tells the reader about the air operations of a single air group on a single aircraft carrier. At the same time there are very few macro studies of the immediate aftermath of the Japanese surrender in August 1945.