From the translator's preface: this book is one of those extremely rare exceptions where you involuntarily become perplexed. What, exactly, should the translator indicate in the preface? The book is written simply superbly. Samuel Eliot Morison is, in my opinion, one of the most talented military historians who has ever picked up a pen. As far as possible within the limited space, he covered his topic superbly. We present to your attention the review work “Two ocean war”. What interesting things can you learn from this book? The story of the transformation of an ordinary, seedy fleet, which valued more than anything else the opportunity to spend weekends in the brothels of Pearl Harbor, into an instrument of world politics, is presented quite colorfully and in detail. It is unlikely that the Japanese, when starting the war, foresaw such a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Before the war, the state of the American fleet is best characterized by the Russian proverb: “Great Fedora, but a fool.” After the war, it became a force that had outgrown its purely military significance. The reference part of this publication turned out to be so large that it will be released a little later as a separate book, “Sea battles close-up 15/3.” A.G. Sick.