The Restless Wave: A Novel of the United States Navy

(Paperback, Large Print Edition)

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From the New York Times bestselling former NATO commander comes a riveting historical novel that charts the coming-of-age of a gifted but immature young naval officer as he is tested in the crucible of World War II in the Pacific

Scott Bradley James arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, as a plebe in the class of 1941 without a terribly good idea why he wants to be a naval officer, other than that his father was a sailor, and he wants to see the world, whatever that means. Scott and his roommate become fast friends, and, after surviving scrapes of their own making, the two fetch up at Pearl Harbor. War is brewing, and their class has graduated early. They have been sent to battle stations.

Admiral James Stavridis is an acclaimed novelist, a decorated military leader, and a great student of military history. He draws on it all to capture the experience of being storm-tossed by the bloody first years of the Second World War. Scott Bradley James is a talented young officer, but he has a lot to learn. And war will have a lot to teach him.

The Restless Wave offers a gripping account of the U.S. Navys astonishing progress through the first three years of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor through to Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Coral Sea. A story of character under pressure in the harshest of proving grounds, it is written with careful fidelity to the truths of war that have made sea stories essential to the art of storytelling since Odysseus.

Reviews

Not since Churchill has there been as prolific a writer with as intimate an understanding of world events as Admiral James Stavridis . . . The Restless Wave brings together Stavridis deep understanding of history and world events with his gifted storytelling ability in the first volume of a series that will take its place with Patrick OBrians AubreyMaturin series and C.S Foresters Horatio Hornblower novels . . . A rich tale of friendship, courage, and romance intertwined with complex moral choices and valuable leadership lessons. Naval Review

Fascinating . . . The descriptions of warfare at Midway and other Pacific theaters are exhilarating . . . Stavridis is a gifted dramatizer of naval warfare. Booklist

A satisfying novel . . . The author immerses the reader in the world of the Navy and cannily mixes fictional characters with real ones such as Admiral Bull Halsey and Commander Wade McClusky. This well-told tale is worthy of The Caine Mutiny and In Harms Way. Publishers Weekly

Stavridis own love of the Navy (where hes a retired admiral) shows well on these pages . . . First-rate naval fiction. Kirkus (starred review)

Author Bio

Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.) spent more than thirty years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of four-star admiral. He was Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and previously commanded U.S. Southern Command, overseeing military operations through Latin America. At sea, he commanded a Navy destroyer, a destroyer squadron, and an aircraft carrier battle group in combat. He holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he recently served five years as dean. He received fifty medals in the course of his military career, including twenty-eight from foreign nations. He has published thirteen other books and is chief international analyst for NBC News and a Bloomberg Opinion weekly columnist. He is currently a partner and the vice chair, global affairs of the Carlyle Group, and the chair of the board of the Rockefeller Foundation.