Samuel Eliot Morison's monumental fifteen volume series, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, covering the complete record of the U.S. Navy during the war, is a critically acclaimed work of history. First published by Little Brown and later by the University of Illinois, the complete series will now be published by the Naval Institute Press in updated paperback editions with new introductions by noted military historians. THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC, SEPTEMBER 1939- MAY 1943 is the first volume of what Morison called his "shooting history" of World War II, because it was documented by historical observation during each specific naval operation. While first chronologically, it was actually the second in order of publication. The first to be published was Volume II, OPERATIONS IN NORTH AFRICAN WATERS, October 1942-June 1943, of which Fletcher Pratt wrote in the New York Sun,"If the remaining volumes are up to the level of this one, it will stand not only as the most complete, but also the most readable work of its kind ever published."

Author Biography

Samuel Eliot Morison taught history at Harvard from 1915 to 1955, except for active duty service in the Navy on board eleven different ships in all theaters of the war. In addition to this series, Rear Admiral Morison wrote many other popular and award-winning books on maritime history, including Two Ocean War. Morison, who died in 1976, was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes, two Bancroft Prizes, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.