James D. Hornfischer (1965–2021)
Author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
About the Author
James D. Hornfischer, an American literary agent, naval historian and author, was born in Massachusetts in 1965. He attended Colgate University, where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and graduated in 1987. He received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001, and show more is a non-practicing member of the State Bar of Texas. Hornfischer, a former editor at HarperCollins, is currently a literary agent, representing non-fiction authors in a myriad of subject areas. Hornfischer's lifelong interest in the Pacific Theater during World War II led to his writing numerous books on the subject. His titles include: Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts. He also co-wrote Service: A Navy Seal at War with Marcus Luttrell, the author of Lone Survivor. Hornfischer's title The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945 made the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Historian James Hornfischer at the 2016 Texas Book Festival. By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53296731
Works by James D. Hornfischer
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour (2004) 1,060 copies, 24 reviews
Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors (2006) 537 copies, 11 reviews
The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945 (2016) 321 copies, 8 reviews
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour - A Graphic… (2021) — Author — 8 copies, 1 review
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1965-11-18
- Date of death
- 2021-06-02
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Cause of death
- glioblastoma
- Places of residence
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Education
- Colgate University
University of Texas (JD) - Occupations
- editor
agent - Organizations
- Naval Order of the United States
HarperCollins - Short biography
- A native of Massachusetts, and a graduate of Colgate University and the University of Texas School of Law, Hornfischer is a member of the Naval Order of the United States, the Navy League, and was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry as an “Admiral in the Texas Navy.” A former New York book editor, Hornfischer is president of the literary agency Hornfischer Literary Management, located in Austin, Texas, where he lives with his wife and their three children.
Members
Reviews
Destroyer Captain: The Life of Ernest E. Evans… by James D. Hornfischer
Very interesting review of destroyer naval warfare in the Pacific during WWII. Unfortunately much of the book seems to be a reading of the captain's log, yet the final chapters become quite exciting, so hang in there.
The book hits it's stride about 100 pages in and doesn't let up from there. The stories of courage and daring are so amazing if it were a novel it would seem over the top. Great history telling.
Excellent account of the bloody and brutal naval actions off Guadalcanal. Thoroughly readable and loaded with information. Hornfischer was a master of naval combat accounts. I have read many of the books that cover all or part of this material and recommend them his title unhesistatingly.
With their chances of winning WW2 quickly waning, Imperial Japan hurls one last Pacific offensive against the US at Leyte Gulf. Devising a three-prong attack with top and bottom feints designed to draw US ships away from the center, Japan nearly pulled off a dramatic victory. Against all odds and logic, the center held. This story draws the focus of WW2 down to that center offensive through the San Bernardino straight—where dramatically over-matched US forces stymied what should have been overwhelming forces. There is some well-handled big picture stuff, but the guts and glory of this book is the staggering amount of detail about the American “oil can sailors” and their fate. Once it gets rolling the narrative will take your breath away. Shifting perspective from ship to ship during the course of the battle could have made the book uneven but the tempo never slows.So much is going on, and clearly related, that I kept being stunned when given a time check reminding me almost everything was happening within a 6am to 8am window. Because of the often staggering amount of detail, kept having flashbacks of the first time I saw SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and their assault on Omaha Beach. Even a watered down filming of this could have the same effect. If you love the sea and history, how people and rise and fall confronted by hell, then grab a copy of this and pull up a deck chair.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 9
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 2,732
- Popularity
- #9,402
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 70
- ISBNs
- 43
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 4
