The Submarine Novels of Edward L. Beach Jr.

I recently finished re-reading one of my all-time favorite trilogies, the submarine novels of the highly-decorated Navy captain Edward L. Beach Jr.  Those novels, by the way, are the 1955 classic, Run Silent, Run Deep which TIME magazine called "the liveliest and most authentic account of underseas combat to come out of World War II; Dust on the Sea (1972); and a thriller set in the early age of nuclear submarines, Cold is the Sea (1978).

These riveting action novels make for exciting reading but there is plenty of history, human interest, even life-oriented philosophy to be gleaned as well. And Beach is an incredibly gifted author whose experience is uniquely rich: a Navy combat veteran; winner of the Navy Cross, the Silver Star with Gold Star in lieu of a second Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with a combat Distinguished "V" and Gold Star in lieu of a second Bronze Star Medal; three Presidential Unit Citations, and many more awards; the naval aide to the President Dwight D. Eisenhower; and the submarine commander in the first
submerged circumnavigation of the globe.

Impressive? You better believe it. But again, I recommend Beach's submarine novels not because they were written by a genuine American patriot and hero but because they are simply the best naval stories I've ever read.