DOC U.S. Navy Codebreakers; Linguists; and Intelligence Officers against Japan; 1910-1941: A Biographical Dictionary by Steven E. Maffeo in History

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The little-known story of a group of giants of American naval historyBy resqspcThe US Naval intelligence branch as we know it now is a child of the Second World War. Prior to that; it was a collection of specialties that were spread over multiple bureaus and offices across the Navy; with little central coordination; few basic controlling regulations that allowed for blatant empire building by individuals who might or might not have any competence in the areas they sought to control; and staffed by individuals whose training often more closely resembled the medieval guild apprenticeship system rather than an organized professional development program. Naval intelligence practitioners were often derided as "crazy men" and "blue sky merchants" by their fellow sailors; and success in the field often meant nothing in a Navy where shipboard duty ruled over all in the quest for professional advancement and promotion.In this; his fourth book; Captain Steven Maffeo; a retired career intelligence officer and instructor at the National Defense Intelligence College seeks to tell the stories of a number of the men and woman (not a typo--as is perversely true of many fields before the war; there is only one major female player in intelligence) who built intelligence into a major; defined; professional specialty on a par with; say; the aviation; engineering; or surface warfare communities. Included in this volume are entries on fifty eight Navy; Marine; and Coast Guard officers and petty officers; and one civilian woman. The majority of the officers are Naval Academy graduates; however Maffeo gives equal weight to to the educational and professional backgrounds of all his subjects; regardless of how they came into the service at a time when there was no conscription to guarantee a broad cross-section of background; education; and experience. Many; but not all; attended a three-year total immersion program in spoken and written Japanese in Japan. Each entry is a summary of the career of the profiled individual before; during; and after their intelligence experience (some would effectively spend their entire working career in intelligence billets; and one; RADM Edward Layton; would go on to become chief of Naval Intelligence after the war). These biographies; long or short; are warts and all; the reader will meet knights and knaves alike. Wherever possible; each piece is accompanied by a photograph of the individual. However; reflecting the state of record keeping; archiving and technology of the first half of the 20th century; many of the profiled had only their photos from The Lucky Bag; the Naval Academy's yearbook; available to use.The book is subdivided into multiple sections: The Scanners (radio direction finders and radio traffic analysts); The Book Breakers (cryptographers; cryptanalysts; and codebreakers); The Blue Sky Merchants (linguists; translators; and intelligence officers); The "Hybrids" (individuals who were proficient across multiple specialties); and the Appendices (14 short entries that deal with clarifying certain topics that form the background of the environments that these specialists worked in. There is a glossary and a list of acronyms to help readers unfamiliar with either the Navy of the interwar and WWII years or of the Naval intelligence community understand more fully the concepts; technology; or techniques under discussion. It's written in a clean and fairly conversational style of narrative that cuts no corners in terms of describing the people profiled; their deeds; and their influences. The names of other profilees are highlighted on their first mention in each essay.Maffeo starts the reader down the path of his text with a quote from the late science fiction and fantasy author; Sir Terry Pratchett: "A man is not dead while his name is still spoken." His intent; he points out; is to bring back to life and into attention outside the circle of specialists in intelligence history the work of a comparatively small; highly specialized group of people whose labors made victory possible when the Pacific War finally came. He relates their successes; their failures; and their infighting. This is a story of giants; and he tells it well in the dictionary format.I found myself wishing at more than one point that this story had been written in the form of a more conventional narrative. However; by the time I finished; I came to realize that such a book would require multiple volumes and probably still need a dictionary such as this just to keep all the players straight. Also; it's rather pricey; the publisher; Roman Littlefield; opted to aim for the academic; library; and archive market rather than for the enthusiast and amateur researcher. I can understand their reasoning; even as I hope that a paperback edition will be significantly less expensive.If the subject is of *any* interest to you; get a copy. In the end; you'll be glad you did.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Masterful Work on Military IntelligenceBy tfinneganAn exceptional work comprehensively covering the history of warfare in much of the 20th century; dramatically spelling out the significant accomplishments of a few resulting in the US Navy’s victory over the Japanese in WW2. Captain Maffeo has culled out all relevant sources leading to the biographies of 59 key persons that created; maintained; and successfully exploited the vital intelligence networks that saved countless US lives. In the case of the battle of Midway; probably the most significant battle fought by the US Navy in its entire history; it took the brilliance of one naval officer (Commander Joe Rochefort) and his team to correctly decipher Japanese intentions and alert Admiral Nimitz to effectively destroy the Japanese carrier fleet; resulting in the turning point for American military operations in the Pacific. Such an accomplishment was only recognized by a few due to the critically secret nature of cryptologic analysis. A few over the years paid tribute; such as famous WW2 submarine commander (and author of "Run Silent; Run Deep") Captain Edward Beach; who stated "to Joe Rochefort must forever go the acclaim for having made more difference; at a more important time; than any other naval officer in history.” What is fascinating about Maffeo’s comprehensive work is the entire book covers countless other naval personnel of such stature. The sad reality of the prevailing US Naval culture described within brings up a negative history where senior officers penalized these heroes and took them out of the operation that benefited US Naval operations. Reading the accounts show the pettiness of those decisions; probably doing more damage to ongoing US Naval operations than the enemy being fought.Captain Maffeo’s work is rightly considered a classic for understanding naval intelligence and cryptology in the 20th century. It should be required reading for all US Naval personnel in a training environment such as the service schools or the academies. The biographies should be clearly understood and the debate on how this force of experts reached the height of excellence in the field of military intelligence is maintained. In the 21st century of rapidly changing dynamics due to the fast paced information age; Maffeo’s work provides a roadmap on intelligence for military historians trying to comprehensively cover the greatest war in history.A final comment is the publisher rightfully treats this work as a serious reference piece for all libraries. The book is labeled on the front cover as a dictionary. However; what is challenging for the reader is trying to comprehend why the cost of such an important work becomes out of reach for the average consumer. A better marketing strategy would be to greatly reduce the cost and increase the production so that a broader audience can be treated to this master work of history.