An easy to read overview of the author's real life submarine experience in the Pacific during WWII. It's not a linear narrative of just one ship, but rather a loosely chronological collection of stories -- not all of them about subs that the author served on, but rather those most interesting. Edward Beach went on to a long and influential career in Navy submarines, so the fact he presents such a high-level perspective sheds light on why. I would choose this book as one of the best WWII memoirs for getting started in this area, as it's easy to read, and full of stories.It's true the author's cavelier attitude towards the war is a little tiring -- he makes only the most rudimentary observations about the awfulness of what is happening ... this gives some insight into mindset & attitudes that enabled the war to take place. However it seems the height of arrogance to judge someone from the past who went through such trials.
This book was a mediocre read in terms of understanding what was going on. The author often used abbreviations and terminology that wasn't explained and made it difficult to understand what he was talking about specifically; at times it made it difficult to know what was happening. However, this book had several breathtaking moments in it. I enjoyed how the author retold stories from multiple submarines and the submariners in them as well as his own experiences; it gave a greater look at how each submarine operated under different commands in each location during patrols. Out of everything, I feel like the author really immersed himself in this piece of work and deeply cared about it. He used descriptive words that made me as the reader feel as if I was in the submarine right alongside of the men serving.
