James Stavridis

Scott Bradley James, like the US Navy in which he serves, is uncertain of the course he sails, both in war and love. While the threat of defeat that loomed over the first half of America's war against Japan is behind him, much danger lies ahead. Disastrous mistakes can still be made--and they will be. For James and his comrades, their cost will be high indeed--both at sea against a fanatic foe, and on the home front in relations of the heart. Reminiscent of Herman Wouk's War and Remembrance, The Turning Tide fuses disparate elements into a masterpiece of historical fiction. It is a riveting account of some of the US military's most iconic battles, from the Leyte Gulf to Iwo Jima, and on to Okinawa and the dropping of the atomic bomb. It is also a meditation on command. But what distinguishes this lyrical novel is its power to capture the forces at work on those caught in the whirlwind of war: their courage, fear, and loyalty to friend and country in contrast to the pettiness of vanity and personal ambition. Rarely has an understanding of the canvas of war been more happily married to a reckoning with the character of combatants alongside their lovers at home. As in Dante's Inferno, Scott Bradley James passes through the pain of conflict and confusion navigating an uncaring sea, learning as he sails. Through the power of fiction, the fruits of his hard-won education in the most consequential war of our nation's history is within reach of every reader.

A gripping drama and chilling prophecy about the possible path to war for a planet devastated by climate change In their novel 2034, decorated military officers and award-winning authors Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis imagined a war between the US and China. In their follow-up novel, 2054, they envisioned a breakdown in American politics fueled by a radical advance in AI. Now they make their boldest, most astonishing, and arguably most necessary leap--imagining the consequences of a climate war. By the year 2084, the world is divided into the equatorial countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis--led by Nigeria, Brazil, and Indonesia--and wealthier countries like China and the US, beset by their own problems after a series of civil wars. Tensions between the two sets of countries have reached a breaking point, until finally the so-called Reparationist nations of the equator decide that only military force can bring them justice. A fascinating and disturbingly plausible extrapolation from current realities, 2084, like other classics of the genre such as Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future and Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock, deploys a global cast of characters, all protecting their interests as the fate of human civilization hangs in the balance. Individuals often seem small in the face of the forces that drive global change, but in the end human agency proves surprisingly decisive. Big doors can swing on small hinges. We have it within ourselves to write a different destiny, if only we can imagine it.

"The Restless Wave is not only a stirring and gripping story of the sea, but also of love and war and leadership. Admiral Stavridis's sweeping knowledge of history and life in the Navy shines on every page, imbuing this work with authenticity and power." --David Grann, #1 NYT bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon "In the engaging tradition of Herman Wouk and Patrick O'Brian, Admiral James Stavridis has given us a fascinating novel of one young man's--and one great nation's--war at sea. The book is at once entertaining and illuminating, touching on the most fundamental of human themes with deftness and an appreciation of the immense achievements of the United States Navy in the deadliest of eras." --Jon Meacham From the New York Times bestselling former NATO commander comes a riveting historical novel that charts the coming-of-age of a gifted but immature young naval officer as he is tested in the crucible of World War II in the Pacific Scott Bradley James arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, as a plebe in the class of 1941 without a terribly good idea why he wants to be a naval officer, other than that his father was a sailor, and he wants to see the world, whatever that means. Scott and his roommate become fast friends, and, after surviving scrapes of their own making, the two fetch up at Pearl Harbor. War is brewing, and their class has graduated early. They have been sent to battle stations. Admiral James Stavridis is an acclaimed novelist, a decorated military leader, and a great student of military history. He draws on it all to capture the experience of being storm-tossed by the first bloody years of the Second World War. Scott Bradley James is a talented young officer, but he has a lot to learn. And war will have a lot to teach him. The Restless Wave offers a gripping account of the U.S. Navy's astonishing progress through the first three years of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor through to the Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal. A story of character under pressure in the harshest of proving grounds, it is written with careful fidelity to the truths of war that have made tales of the sea essential to the art of storytelling since Odysseus.

From the acclaimed authors of the runaway New York Times bestseller 2034, another explosive work of speculative fiction set twenty years further in the future, at a moment when a radical leap forward in artificial intelligence combines with America's violent partisan divide to create an existential threat to the country, and the world It is twenty years after the catastrophic war between the United States and China that brought down the old American political order. A new party has emerged in the US, one that's held power for over a decade. Efforts to cement its grip have resulted in mounting violent resistance. The American president has control of the media, but he is beginning to lose control of the streets. Many fear he'll stop at nothing to remain in the White House. Suddenly, he collapses in the middle of an address to the nation. After an initial flurry of misinformation, the administration reluctantly announces his death. A cover-up ensues, conspiracy theories abound, and the country descends into a new type of civil war. A handful of elite actors from the worlds of computer science, intelligence, and business have a fairly good idea what happened. All signs point to a profound breakthrough in AI, of which the remote assassination of an American president is hardly the most game-changing ramification. The trail leads to an outpost in the Amazon rainforest, the last known whereabouts of the tech visionary who predicted this breakthrough. As some of the world's great powers, old and new, state and nonstate alike, struggle to outmaneuver one another in this new Great Game of scientific discovery, the outcome becomes entangled with the fate of American democracy. Combining a deep understanding of AI, biotech, and the possibility of a coming Singularity, along with their signature geopolitical sophistication, Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis have once again written a visionary work. 2054 is a novel that reads like a thriller even as it demands that we consider the trajectory of our society and its potentially calamitous destination.

"The Restless Wave is not only a stirring and gripping story of the sea, but also of love and war and leadership. Admiral Stavridis's sweeping knowledge of history and life in the Navy shines on every page, imbuing this work with authenticity and power." --David Grann, #1 NYT bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon "In the engaging tradition of Herman Wouk and Patrick O'Brian, Admiral James Stavridis has given us a fascinating novel of one young man's--and one great nation's--war at sea. The book is at once entertaining and illuminating, touching on the most fundamental of human themes with deftness and an appreciation of the immense achievements of the United States Navy in the deadliest of eras." --Jon Meacham From the New York Times bestselling former NATO commander comes a riveting historical novel that charts the coming-of-age of a gifted but immature young naval officer as he is tested in the crucible of World War II in the Pacific Scott Bradley James arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, as a plebe in the class of 1941 without a terribly good idea why he wants to be a naval officer, other than that his father was a sailor, and he wants to see the world, whatever that means. Scott and his roommate become fast friends, and, after surviving scrapes of their own making, the two fetch up at Pearl Harbor. War is brewing, and their class has graduated early. They have been sent to battle stations. Admiral James Stavridis is an acclaimed novelist, a decorated military leader, and a great student of military history. He draws on it all to capture the experience of being storm-tossed by the bloody first years of the Second World War. Scott Bradley James is a talented young officer, but he has a lot to learn. And war will have a lot to teach him. The Restless Wave offers a gripping account of the U.S. Navy's astonishing progress through the first three years of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor through to Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Coral Sea. A story of character under pressure in the harshest of proving grounds, it is written with careful fidelity to the truths of war that have made sea stories essential to the art of storytelling since Odysseus.

"The Restless Wave is not only a stirring and gripping story of the sea, but also of love and war and leadership. Admiral Stavridis's sweeping knowledge of history and life in the Navy shines on every page, imbuing this work with authenticity and power." --David Grann, #1 NYT bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon "In the engaging tradition of Herman Wouk and Patrick O'Brian, Admiral James Stavridis has given us a fascinating novel of one young man's--and one great nation's--war at sea. The book is at once entertaining and illuminating, touching on the most fundamental of human themes with deftness and an appreciation of the immense achievements of the United States Navy in the deadliest of eras." --Jon Meacham From the New York Times bestselling former NATO commander comes a riveting historical novel that charts the coming-of-age of a gifted but immature young naval officer as he is tested in the crucible of World War II in the Pacific Scott Bradley James arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, as a plebe in the class of 1941 without a terribly good idea why he wants to be a naval officer, other than that his father was a sailor, and he wants to see the world, whatever that means. Scott and his roommate become fast friends, and, after surviving scrapes of their own making, the two fetch up at Pearl Harbor. War is brewing, and their class has graduated early. They have been sent to battle stations. Admiral James Stavridis is an acclaimed novelist, a decorated military leader, and a great student of military history. He draws on it all to capture the experience of being storm-tossed by the bloody first years of the Second World War. Scott Bradley James is a talented young officer, but he has a lot to learn. And war will have a lot to teach him. The Restless Wave offers a gripping account of the U.S. Navy's astonishing progress through the first three years of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor through to Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Coral Sea. A story of character under pressure in the harshest of proving grounds, it is written with careful fidelity to the truths of war that have made sea stories essential to the art of storytelling since Odysseus.

‘A pacy, gripping page-turner of a thriller . . . Don’t venture into the future without having read this book’ Andrew RobertsFrom the acclaimed authors of the runaway New York Times bestseller 2034 comes an explosive work of speculative fiction about a radical leap forward in artificial intelligence that combines with America’s violent partisan divide to create an existential threat to the country – and the world.The year is 2054. It is twenty years after the nuclear war between the United States and China that brought down the old American political order. The new American Dream Party has emerged in the US and held power for over a decade. Many fear the president will stop at nothing to remain in the White House. Suddenly, he collapses in the middle of an address to the nation. After a flurry of misinformation, the administration reluctantly announces his death. A cover-up ensues, conspiracy theories spread like wildfire and the country descends into civil war.A handful of elite actors from the worlds of computer science, intelligence and business have a fairly good idea what happened. All signs point to a profound breakthrough in AI, of which the remote assassination of an American president is hardly the most game-changing ramification. The trail leads to an outpost in the Amazon rainforest: the last known whereabouts of the tech visionary who predicted this breakthrough. As some of the world’s great powers – old and new, state and nonstate alike – struggle to outmanoeuvre one another in this new Great Game of scientific discovery, the outcome becomes entangled with the fate of democracy itself.Combining a deep understanding of AI, biotech and the possibility of a coming singularity, along with their signature geopolitical sophistication, Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis have once again written a visionary work. 2054 is a novel that reads like a thriller even as it demands that we consider the trajectory of our society and its potentially calamitous destination.'A satisfying combination of two very different things: “chilling vision of things to come” and “page-turning beach-read”' Daily Telegraph

From the acclaimed authors of the runaway New York Times bestseller 2034 comes another explosive work of speculative fiction set twenty years further in the future, at a moment when a radical leap forward in artificial intelligence combines with America's violent partisan divide to create an existential threat to the country, and the world It is twenty years after the catastrophic war between the United States and China that brought down the old American political order. A new party has emerged in the US, one that's held power for over a decade. Efforts to cement its grip have resulted in mounting violent resistance. The American president has control of the media, but he is beginning to lose control of the streets. Many fear he'll stop at nothing to remain in the White House. Suddenly, he collapses in the middle of an address to the nation. After an initial flurry of misinformation, the administration reluctantly announces his death. A cover-up ensues, conspiracy theories abound, and the country descends into a new type of civil war. A handful of elite actors from the worlds of computer science, intelligence, and business have a fairly good idea what happened. All signs point to a profound breakthrough in AI, of which the remote assassination of an American president is hardly the most game-changing ramification. The trail leads to an outpost in the Amazon rainforest, the last known whereabouts of the tech visionary who predicted this breakthrough. As some of the world's great powers, old and new, state and nonstate alike, struggle to outmaneuver one another in this new Great Game of scientific discovery, the outcome becomes entangled with the fate of American democracy. Combining a deep understanding of AI, biotech, and the possibility of a coming Singularity, along with their signature geopolitical sophistication, Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis have once again written a visionary work. 2054 is a novel that reads like a thriller even as it demands that we consider the trajectory of our society and its potentially calamitous destination.

A chilling geopolitical thriller and real-world cautionary tale presenting a dark yet very possible future of war between the US and China – from two former military officers and award-winning authors THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ‘A rippingly good read’ Wired______________12 March 2034.In the South China Sea, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is conducting routine freedom of navigation patrol while US Marine aviator Major Chris ‘Wedge’ Mitchell tests a new stealth technology near Iranian airspace.By the end of the day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Hunt’s destroyer will lie at the bottom of the ocean.And a new, terrifying era will be at hand.So begins a disturbingly plausible novel, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral.Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground, informed by the authors’ years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Because sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings.‘I could not stop reading 2034’ Phil Klay, author of Redeployment2054: A NOVEL IS OUT NOW

From one of the great naval leaders of our time, a master class in decision-making under pressure through the stories of nine famous acts of leadership in battle, drawn from the history of the United States Navy, with outcomes both glorious and notorious At the heart of Admiral James Stavridis's training as a naval officer was the preparation to lead sailors in combat, to face the decisive moment in battle whenever it might arise. In To Risk it All, he offers up nine of the most useful and enthralling stories from the US Navy's nearly 250-year history, and draws from them a set of insights that we can all put to use when confronted with fateful choices. Conflict. Crisis. Risk. These words have a distinct meaning in a military context that we hope will never apply identically in our own lives. But at the same time, as Admiral Stavridis shows with great clarity, many lessons are universal. To Risk it All is filled with thrilling and heroic exploits, but it is anything but a shallow exercise in myth burnishing. Every leader in this book has real flaws, as all humans do, and the stories of failure, or at least the decisions that have been defined as such, are as crucial as the stories of success. In the end, when this master class is concluded, we will be better armed for hard decisions both expected and not.

From one of the great naval leaders of our time, a master class in decision making under pressure through the stories of nine famous acts of leadership in battle drawn from the history of the United States Navy, with outcomes both glorious and notorious At the heart of Admiral James Stavridis's training as a naval officer was the preparation to lead sailors in combat, to face the decisive moment in battle when it arises and make the best decision possible given the situation at hand. Over the course of his illustrious career he returned again and again to a relatively small number of legendary cases in point, holding them to the light repeatedly to see what lessons they yielded. Now, in To Risk it All, he offers up nine of the most useful and enthralling stories from the US Navy's nearly 250-year history and draws from them a set of insights that can be of use to all of us when confronted with fateful choices. Conflict. Crisis. Risk. These are words that have a meaning in a military context that we hope will never apply in quite the same way in our own lives. At the same time, as To Risk it All shows with great clarity, many lessons are universal. The first is simply understanding whether you're really in an acute short-terms crisis or are confusing it with a more long-term challenge that can't and shouldn't be met with a short-term fix. Second, while fortune favors the bold, it favors the prepared even more. A huge part of preparation is learning how to observe a situation clearly on its own terms first, avoiding biases and misinformation, before applying the lens of your values and analysis. Easier said than done, but there is a learning path. With the right preparation, you can force time to slow down, and draw on the best of yourself, and leave the rest out of it. To Risk it All is filled with heroic exploits, thrillingly told, but it is anything but a shallow exercise in myth burnishing. Every leader in this book has real flaws, as all humans do, and Admiral Stavridis takes the analysis of their flaws as seriously as he does their strengths. The stories of failure, or at least decisions that have often been defined as such, are as crucial to the book as the stories of success. In the end, when this master class is dismissed, we can feel lucky for the hard situations we will never have to face, and better armed for the hard decisions we surely will, whether we expect them or not.

An instant New York Times Bestseller "Consider this another vaccine against disaster. Fortunately, this dose won't cause a temporary fever--and it happens to be a rippingly good read." --Wired "This crisply written and well-paced book reads like an all-caps warning for a world shackled to the machines we carry in our pockets and place on our laps . . . --The Washington Post From two former military officers and award-winning authors, a chillingly authentic geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034--and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration. On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris Wedge Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is in tatters. A new, terrifying era is at hand. So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically outmaneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters--Americans, Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Indians--as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm. In the end, China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost, one that forever alters the global balance of power. Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors' years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: 2034 is all too close at hand, and this cautionary tale presents the reader a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.

Set in the fictitious world of Westeros, the hit television series Game of Thrones chronicles the bitter and violent struggle between the realm’s noble dynasties for control of the Seven Kingdoms. But this beloved fantasy drama has just as much to say about the successful strategies and real-life warfare waged in our own time and place. Winning Westeros brings together more than thirty of today’s top military and strategic experts, including generals and admirals, policy advisors, counterinsurgency tacticians, science fiction and fantasy writers, and ground-level military officers, to explain the strategy and art of war by way of the Game of Thrones saga. Each chapter provides a relatable, outside-the-box way to simplify and clarify the complexities of modern military conflict. A book as captivating and enthralling as Game of Thrones itself, Winning Westeros gives fans of the show and aspiring military minds alike an inspiring and entertaining means of understanding the many facets of modern warfare.

An update edition of Solomon’s Code—now The AI Generation—the thought-provoking examination of artificial intelligence and how it reshapes human values, trust, and power around the world.Whether in medicine, money, or love, technologies powered by forms of artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly prominent role in our lives. As we cede more decisions to thinking machines, we face new questions about staying safe, keeping a job and having a say over the direction of our lives. The answers to those questions might depend on your race, gender, age, behavior, or nationality. New AI technologies can drive cars, treat damaged brains and nudge workers to be more productive, but they also can threaten, manipulate, and alienate us from others. They can pit nation against nation, but they also can help the global community tackle some of its greatest challenges—from food crises to global climate change. In clear and accessible prose, global trends and strategy adviser Olaf Groth, AI scientist and social entrepreneur Mark Nitzberg, along with seasoned economics reporter Dan Zehr, provide a unique human-focused, global view of humanity in a world of thinking machines.

From one of the most distinguished admirals of our time and a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, a meditation on leadership and character refracted through the lives of ten of the most illustrious naval commanders in history In Sailing True North, Admiral Stavridis offers lessons of leadership and character from the lives and careers of history's most significant naval commanders. He also brings a lifetime of reflection to bear on the subjects of his study--naval history, the vocation of the admiral, and global geopolitics. Above all, this is a book that will help you navigate your own life's voyage: the voyage of leadership of course, but more important, the voyage of character. Sailing True North helps us find the right course to chart. Simply as epic lives, the tales of these ten admirals offer up a collection of the greatest imaginable sea stories. Moreover, spanning 2,500 years from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, Sailing True North is a book that offers a history of the world through the prism of our greatest naval leaders. None of the admirals in this volume were perfect, and some were deeply flawed. But from Themistocles, Drake, and Nelson to Nimitz, Rickover, and Hopper, important themes emerge, not least that serving your reputation is a poor substitute for serving your character; and that taking time to read and reflect is not a luxury, it's a necessity. By putting us on personal terms with historic leaders in the maritime sphere he knows so well, James Stavridis gives us a compass that can help us navigate the story of our own lives, wherever that voyage takes us.

Set in the fictitious world of Westeros, the hit television series Game of Thrones chronicles the bitter and violent struggle between the realm’s noble dynasties for control of the Seven Kingdoms. But this beloved fantasy drama has just as much to say about the successful strategies and real-life warfare waged in our own time and place. Winning Westeros brings together more than thirty of today’s top military and strategic experts, including generals and admirals, policy advisors, counterinsurgency tacticians, science fiction and fantasy writers, and ground-level military officers, to explain the strategy and art of war by way of the Game of Thrones saga. Each chapter provides a relatable, outside-the-box way to simplify and clarify the complexities of modern military conflict. A book as captivating and enthralling as Game of Thrones itself, Winning Westeros gives fans of the show and aspiring military minds alike an inspiring and entertaining means of understanding the many facets of modern warfare.