Bringing together the disparate threads of Rochefort's life and career, which began with his enlistment in the Naval Reserve in 1918 at age 17 after dropping out of high school and adding a year to his age, this biography chronicles his earliest days as a mustang (an officer who has risen from the ranks), his fortuitous posting to Washington, where he headed the Navy's codebreaking desk at age 25, then, in another unexpected twist, found himself assigned to Tokyo to learn Japanese.

Ultimately, this book is aimed at bringing Joe Rochefort to life as the irreverent, fiercely independent and consequential officer that he was. It assumes his career can't be understood without looking at his entire life and seeks to capture the interplay of policy and personality, the role played by politics and personal rifts at the highest levels of Navy power during a time of national crisis.

About the Author
Elliot Carlson is a longtime journalist who has worked as a reporter, editor and staff writer for such newspapers and magazines as the Honolulu Advertiser, the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. A graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford University.