The Longest Battle The War at Sea 1939-45, by Richard Hough (read 4 Feb 2017) This is the 8th book by Richard Hough I have read, and was read because I so enjoyed some of the other books by him which I have read (The Fleet That Had to Die (read 26 Dec 1963), Admirals in Collision (read 1 Aug 1971)(my Book of the Year for 1971), Admiral of the Fleet (read 8 May 1976), Captain Bligh & Mr. Christian (read 2 Jul 1994), Edward and Alexandra (read 27 Jul 1994), The Potemkin Mutiny (read 5 Jan 2005), and The Battle of Britain (read 16 Dec 2009). This book, The Longest Battle, is an account o the naval aspect of World War II. Some of the book is great reading: the account of the sinking of the Bismarck, the account of Midway (alway great to read about), the account of the battle of the Coral Sea, and the last part of the book telling of the victories in the Pacific in 1944. But some of the minor incidents are less intriguing, and some of the quotations from other books are too long. (On page 221 he says some airmen were 12 miles above the Pacific Ocean--which would be 63,360 feet--which I don't believe,) . Maybe some of the accounts were too familiar, since I have read a lot of World War II narratives. ( )