Seventy years ago, over the course of the first week of June 1942, naval, air, and ground forces of the United States and Imperial Japan fought what would be known as the Battle of Midway. Although other battles would soon eclipse Midway in size and scope, no naval battle of World War II—and few others, if any, in all of naval history—would have so many momentous consequences ascribed to it as this singular engagement. Going into the battle, Japan's martial fortunes were advancing in every theater of Asia, and the United States and its allies were reeling from one defeat after another. Less than a week later, four Japanese fleet carriers would be twisted ruins on the bottom of the Pacific, and the Imperial High Command would be so stunned that it would keep the results of the battle a secret from the Japanese people for the rest of the war.
The story of the battle has been told and retold over the years, and Midway continues to hold a mythological place in the collective memory of the U.S. Navy and the United States. In the past decade and a half in particular, however, a new generation of scholars has greatly added to our understanding of the battle. This article will present a portrait of this work that will hopefully prove illuminating for both those who follow the field and those who do not.
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