Taking Midway: Naval Warfare, Secret Codes, and the Battle That Turned the Tide of World War II

From Martin Dugard, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Bill O'Reilly's Killing series, comes a fast-paced, dramatic account of the famous yet little-understood battle that turned the tide of World War II.

1942. Everywhere around the world, the Allies are losing the war. Nowhere is this felt more completely than in the Pacific, where Japanese sea and ground forces claim victory after victory. Singapore falls. Then the Philippines. The vaunted American Navy fights to a draw with the Japanese at the Battle of Coral Sea. America's lone moral victory is Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's bombing raid on Tokyo--though even that is tinged with tragedy as two crew members are shot down and beheaded.

Meanwhile in Honolulu, a brilliant young naval officer is determined to break Japan's top secret codes. Lieutenant Commander Joseph Rochefort is close to cracking the code by April. He is then startled to learn that the Japanese are planning yet another major invasion somewhere in the Pacific. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is planning to send four aircraft carriers to complete this task, in a bold attack that will be even larger than the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Rochefort's methods are unique, and those in power in the US Navy find his data flawed. Simply, many don't believe him. The best mind in the US Navy believes the next big attack will come at New Guinea or Australia.

To prove himself, Rochefort must not only find the precise location but predict the date. What ensues is the cat-and-mouse adventure that will become the epic fight known as the Battle of Midway. American and Japanese pilots duel in the skies. Japan's Yamamoto will go toe-to-toe with American admirals Chester Nimitz, Jack Fletcher, and Raymond Spruance. The dramatic battle will involve strategy, luck, heartbreak--and will dramatically alter the course of World War II.

Author: Martin Dugard
Publisher: Dutton
Published: 05/20/2025
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.13lbs
Size: 9.23h x 6.36w x 1.28d
ISBN: 9780593473245


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/21/2025 pg. 12
Publishers Weekly 03/24/2025

About the Author
Martin Dugard is the New York Times bestselling author of Taking London, Taking Paris, and Taking Berlin, and coauthor of the Killing series, and, most recently, Confronting the Presidents.