Craig L. Symonds, a prizewinning historian "whose books conveyed the critical role played by U.S. naval superiority since the Civil War," died October 13 the New York Times reported. He was 79. Symonds taught at the U.S. Naval Academy for three decades.
In 2023, Symonds won the Pritzker Military Museum and Library Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military writing. Other honors include the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for Lincoln and His Admirals (2008) and the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature for Neptune: the Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings (2014). His other books include The Battle of Midway (2011) and Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History (2005). At the time of his death, he was writing a book about the 12 most decisive maritime engagements in history.
"Craig L. Symonds's books on Civil War generals and admirals, on naval history and on World War II entitle him to first rank among military historians," said Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson, who shared the Lincoln Prize with Symonds in 2014.
Historian Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City, described Symonds as "unique because he addressed two separate conflicts: the Civil War and World War II.... As his many honors demonstrate, he was the very best naval historian in the country, not to mention so graceful a writer that he made even landlubbers comprehend the most technical material."
Holzer and Symonds edited The New York Times Complete Civil War, 1861-1865 and, with Frank J. Williams, The Lincoln Assassination: Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory, both of which were published in 2010. Holzer noted that Symonds's "overarching premise was: First, that the naval branch's contributions to U.S. military success have always been underestimated."
Military historian Ian W. Toll said Symonds, "by spending his entire career studying and thinking about these different eras, appreciated the through lines, the 'eternal verities'--everything about naval warfare changed, but the sea always remained the same."
Symonds received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1967 and a master's degree from the University of Florida in 1969, both in history. He joined the Navy Reserve in 1971 and served at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. After rising to the rank of lieutenant, he returned to the University of Florida and earned a doctorate in naval history in 1976, the Times noted. After a stint as an assistant professor at the Naval Academy, he was promoted to full professor in 1985. According to the academy, he was the first person to win its teacher and researcher of the year awards. In 1989, he received the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award.