I am pleased and honored to have been provided by Random House with an ARC of James D. Hornfischer's last work, written even as he succumbed to the illness which took him far too young. It is entitled "Who Can Hold the Sea: The U.S. Navy in the Cold War 1945-1960," and it is a fitting capstone to his distinguished body of work, well known to any of you interested in twentieth century naval history. Hornfischer is perhaps best known for the book which first introduced me to his canon, "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors," but that is far from being his only contribution to his field of study. In "Who Can Hold the Sea" he departs from the taut battle narratives which have distinguished him and takes on the massive technogical, strategic, diplomatic and inter-service rivalries which dominated the growth and development of U.S. naval power in the period between 1945 and 1960. I left the book somewhat exhausted by its breadth and the clear depth of the author's understanding of his materials, but feeling a new appreciation for the men and women who shaped the the modern U.S. Navy. Most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough, both Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower emerged from these pages as much more significant in their contributions and decision making as they presided over challenges ranging from the Korean War to the Suez Crisis and from the development of nuclear weapons and related naval developments, to include the new face of the American way of projecting power. This is must reading for anyone looking to understand the enormous changes in the U.S. Navy following World War II. It is a capstone to the legacy of excellence by which Hornfischer distinguished himself in both the depth of his research and the charm of his prose. There are few who are his equals.