The Battle of Midway is one of those pivotal moments from World War II that a lot of Americans have heard of but know little about. I count myself among them -- my knowledge of the war is more focused on the European theater, so I jumped at the chance to learn about (and see) this key encounter between the forces of the United States and Imperial Japan over the course of four days in early June 1942.

As the series title implies, any book in the Images of War collection is packed full of photographs. Early in the book I was, I confess, a little disappointed; many of the photos of ships, planes and people were taken either before or after Midway, not at the battle itself, and some of the images are of paintings or dioramas that show artistic impressions of the scene.

Of course, that makes sense -- in the heat of combat, most people aren't grabbing for a camera.

But any feelings of disappointment were swept away as the battle intensified, and photos from the midst of the action -- taken in most cases from the deck of a ship or cockpit of a plane involved in the combat -- began to dominate the pages. Combined with author John Grehan's brief but very information-packed captions, the reader comes away with a fairly thorough understanding of the battle as it developed.

In particular, the images of the USS Yorktown after it was hit, as it struggled to stay afloat and eventually succumbed to the sea are a powerful reminder of the costs of war and the sheer power of its engines. Similar photos show Japanese vessels in peril, with smoke billowing into the skies even as planes on both sides make attack runs against their foes.

This is an excellent book for anyone with even a passing interest in naval combat, battleships, carriers and bombers, and the Pacific theater of World War II.