Prosaic Victory

Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II, by Andrieu d’Albas. Translated from the French by Anthony Rippon. Introduction, notes and maps by Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, U.S.N. Ret. 362 pp. New York: The Devin-Adair Company. $5.50

After World War Two a lieutenant was regaling some friends with stories of inepitude in the Army command, stories illustrative of what the G.I. insouciantly described as snafu. One of his listeners asked: “If that is characteristic of the high command, how is it that we won the war?” “The other side,” replied the lieutenant, “was more snafu than we were.”

Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II, by Andrieu d’Albas. Translated from the French by Anthony Rippon. Introduction, notes and maps by Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, U.S.N. Ret. 362 pp. New York: The Devin-Adair Company. $5.50

After World War Two a lieutenant was regaling some friends with stories of inepitude in the Army command, stories illustrative of what the G.I. insouciantly described as snafu. One of his listeners asked: “If that is characteristic of the high command, how is it that we won the war?” “The other side,” replied the lieutenant, “was more snafu than we were.”