Japanese Private Kikujiro Shimura needed to pee and started World War II.

[NNadir]

4. There is an excellent comprehensive counterpoint to...

...Prange's Miracle at Midway which I have in my personal library and read many years ago, for a long time having thought it to be the definitive account.

The counterpoint is Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully"s Shattered Sword.

Their book is remarkable for its highly analytical approach to carrier operations, both on the Japanese and American side. They cut through many of the romantic myths about the battle to make a case that the US victory was no miracle but was the result of careful preparation on the part of Chester Nimitz, and outstanding leadership by Jack Fletcher and in particular Raymond Spruance. We could have, of course lost the battle but everything was in place to give us the highest probability of coming to what was the ultimate outcome. It was the epitome of Nimitz's policy of "calculated risk."

Check it out. For any person interested in the naval history of the Pacific War, I think it to be a "must have."