Admiral Arleigh (31-Knot) Burke: The Story of a Fighting Sailor [Paperback]

Ken Jones (Author), Hubert Kelley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bluejacket Books | Publication Date: March 2001

Burke's World War II heroics and unprecedented three terms as chief of naval operations are recounted in this stirring biography.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ken Jones served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and went to Korea as a war correspondent. He is the author of Destroyer Squadron 23. Hubert Kelley, a veteran of the Pacific War, is the author of many war-related stories that appeared in Harper's and other publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0155750185
• ISBN-13: 978-1557500182
• ASIN: 1557500185
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,404,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Send this title to Iron Bottom Sound!, October 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Admiral Arleigh (31-Knot) Burke: The Story of a Fighting Sailor (Paperback)

Arleigh Burke might have been a great Destroyerman, but there has got to be a better book than this one. It is not written as history, it seems more like a book written by a journalist weaving back and forth between boring background trivia of an antiquated style (it details how ship commanders met their future wives at Annapolis) and an inordinate amount of time promoting Commodore Burke as God's gift to Destroyer combat. The details of combat Pre-Burke around Guadalcanal are well written but short. There are no references to information gathered from Japanese sources. Indeed, by the time Burke gets to actually fight the enemy they are a worn out, demoralized bunch, constatnly under air attack and on the retreat down the Slot. This book makes no effort to balance its view of Burke's successful doctrine of ship combat with the affects of poor logistics, poor maintenance, poor leadership, and overwhelming air superiority on his Japanese adverseries which are surely important subjects even as background to the final battles of the Solomon's Campaign.