---
product_id: 8051477
title: "The Accidental Admiral: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO"
price: "€ 55.65"
currency: EUR
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reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.it/products/8051477-the-accidental-admiral-a-sailor-takes-command-at-nato
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---

# The Accidental Admiral: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO

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Review: Anything But Accidental - It is getting harder and harder to be a Renaissance man or woman in this complex world. At the same time, The American, and perhaps many other country's public, often have little or no real experience with military life and career military people. To be introduced to a high level career officer who transcends both stereotypes and traditional professional paths is both exhilarating and illuminating. Stavridis has held some very rarefied positions. His observations confirm his qualifications. I am proud to have spent 25 years in the Naval Reserve and have great respect and appreciation for the sea service. Through this book, one doesn't learn how Stavridis reached the pinnacle of military and public office, but one does glean that he had the intellect, energy, discipline, political skills and imagination to handle the assignments with panache and diplomacy. Throughout the book, he scarcely has a bad word for anyone, world leaders, fellow officers and subordinates. Seeing the best in others is certainly an attribute of a leader. Erudite, thoughtful and both a strategic and tactical thinker and planner, he comes across as someone who would be both inspiring and enjoyable to work for or with. My personal disappointment is that there were only clues as to how he rose from 1 star to 4 stars so rapidly. The Reserves are or were a separate world, but as a Captain, I saw and worked, mostly at a distance, with a handful of 1 and 2 star Admirals. They were driven and mostly admirable officers. The full story of Stavridis' mettle will or will not be told elsewhere. Here, he does provide an ongoing and intriguing perspective on many of the international stories that have and will continue to impact our national security and our way of life.Lots of name dropping is not grating when you glean some further insight into the character and personality of the subjects. While I appreciate his hopeful and positive approach, his characterization of the Libyan campaign as an overall success appears unrealistic. The military aspects of that campaign may have been highly competent, but the "strategic" and political components were not. His description of the anonymous expense account complaint and lengthy investigation which appear to have cost him the "next" job of CNO are bittersweet. His self-defense seems both fair and obsessive.Still, no one can fault a defense of one's good name. The book changes course, from a description of the parameters of his SACEUR and NATO duties, to a treatise on both a blueprint for leadership and future challenges and opportunities for NATO. The book is worth your time and reflection.
Review: Essential Reading from the Finest Naval Officer of a Generation - Admiral James Stavridis is the finest naval officer of a generation and almost parenthetically a magnificently gifted writer. This memoir, his second, is an incredibly incisive book packed with meaning, history, and introspection. Published just after his retirement from active duty and taking the helm of The Fletcher School, THE ACCIDENTAL ADMIRAL is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the challenges and struggles of modern statecraft from a distinctly military vantage. Stavridis employs a thematic rather than episodic structure, to highly effective advantage. His finest chapters are about Afghanistan and Libya, and he addresses frontally the US-NATO-Russia equation and enduring issues in the Balkans, Israel, and Syria—where he ventures boldly predictive and prescriptive. While probably not self-consciously intentional, the book’s style reflects Eisenhower’s CRUSADE IN EUROPE—quite fitting for a man who followed Ike by a few generations as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. What’s most interesting here is Stavridis’s voice, clearly bearing diplomatic tonalities. He shares a lot of level-headed detail about President Obama, Defense Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates, and Generals Stan McChrystal, Dave Petraeus, and John Allen (his Annapolis classmate and 40-year friend). But he refrains from overtly criticizing any of them, drawing instead multi-dimensional character studies with thoughtful, graceful differences. Frank assessments—you have to think about what you’re reading and work for them—are contained within nuanced, measured language, which is also a pretty good summary of the book as a whole. The chapter endings, including the chapters on leadership, communications, and planning, are remarkable in their outlines of strategy, where Stavridis becomes less of an author and more of a participating cultural historian of the post-9/11 age. He takes notable risks by defining himself variously (as I read him) as a pragmatist, unrepentant internationalist, collective action advocate, rational actor, and generally an involved interventionist. That perspective puts him in very good stead as the US military leader of NATO, but makes him something of a voice in the wilderness in the American political midlands of 2014. He certainly didn’t write this book with an eye on a career in partisan politics. His admiral’s stars were anything but accidental. And while he’s correct about being an unusual choice for SHAPE/SACEUR, Stavridis demonstrates once again, with alacrity, extraordinary gifts of command and story. They combine to make THE ACCIDENTAL ADMIRAL essential reading. Michael Pocalyko, author of THE NAVIGATOR (2013) from Macmillan/Forge, CEO of Monticello Capital, former Navy pilot and strategist.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,002,428 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #278 in United States Military Veterans History #1,550 in Naval Military History #2,630 in Military Leader Biographies |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 181 Reviews |

## Images

![The Accidental Admiral: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71uzvZmR1fL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Anything But Accidental
*by U***4 on December 28, 2017*

It is getting harder and harder to be a Renaissance man or woman in this complex world. At the same time, The American, and perhaps many other country's public, often have little or no real experience with military life and career military people. To be introduced to a high level career officer who transcends both stereotypes and traditional professional paths is both exhilarating and illuminating. Stavridis has held some very rarefied positions. His observations confirm his qualifications. I am proud to have spent 25 years in the Naval Reserve and have great respect and appreciation for the sea service. Through this book, one doesn't learn how Stavridis reached the pinnacle of military and public office, but one does glean that he had the intellect, energy, discipline, political skills and imagination to handle the assignments with panache and diplomacy. Throughout the book, he scarcely has a bad word for anyone, world leaders, fellow officers and subordinates. Seeing the best in others is certainly an attribute of a leader. Erudite, thoughtful and both a strategic and tactical thinker and planner, he comes across as someone who would be both inspiring and enjoyable to work for or with. My personal disappointment is that there were only clues as to how he rose from 1 star to 4 stars so rapidly. The Reserves are or were a separate world, but as a Captain, I saw and worked, mostly at a distance, with a handful of 1 and 2 star Admirals. They were driven and mostly admirable officers. The full story of Stavridis' mettle will or will not be told elsewhere. Here, he does provide an ongoing and intriguing perspective on many of the international stories that have and will continue to impact our national security and our way of life.Lots of name dropping is not grating when you glean some further insight into the character and personality of the subjects. While I appreciate his hopeful and positive approach, his characterization of the Libyan campaign as an overall success appears unrealistic. The military aspects of that campaign may have been highly competent, but the "strategic" and political components were not. His description of the anonymous expense account complaint and lengthy investigation which appear to have cost him the "next" job of CNO are bittersweet. His self-defense seems both fair and obsessive.Still, no one can fault a defense of one's good name. The book changes course, from a description of the parameters of his SACEUR and NATO duties, to a treatise on both a blueprint for leadership and future challenges and opportunities for NATO. The book is worth your time and reflection.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Essential Reading from the Finest Naval Officer of a Generation
*by M***O on November 3, 2014*

Admiral James Stavridis is the finest naval officer of a generation and almost parenthetically a magnificently gifted writer. This memoir, his second, is an incredibly incisive book packed with meaning, history, and introspection. Published just after his retirement from active duty and taking the helm of The Fletcher School, THE ACCIDENTAL ADMIRAL is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the challenges and struggles of modern statecraft from a distinctly military vantage. Stavridis employs a thematic rather than episodic structure, to highly effective advantage. His finest chapters are about Afghanistan and Libya, and he addresses frontally the US-NATO-Russia equation and enduring issues in the Balkans, Israel, and Syria—where he ventures boldly predictive and prescriptive. While probably not self-consciously intentional, the book’s style reflects Eisenhower’s CRUSADE IN EUROPE—quite fitting for a man who followed Ike by a few generations as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. What’s most interesting here is Stavridis’s voice, clearly bearing diplomatic tonalities. He shares a lot of level-headed detail about President Obama, Defense Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates, and Generals Stan McChrystal, Dave Petraeus, and John Allen (his Annapolis classmate and 40-year friend). But he refrains from overtly criticizing any of them, drawing instead multi-dimensional character studies with thoughtful, graceful differences. Frank assessments—you have to think about what you’re reading and work for them—are contained within nuanced, measured language, which is also a pretty good summary of the book as a whole. The chapter endings, including the chapters on leadership, communications, and planning, are remarkable in their outlines of strategy, where Stavridis becomes less of an author and more of a participating cultural historian of the post-9/11 age. He takes notable risks by defining himself variously (as I read him) as a pragmatist, unrepentant internationalist, collective action advocate, rational actor, and generally an involved interventionist. That perspective puts him in very good stead as the US military leader of NATO, but makes him something of a voice in the wilderness in the American political midlands of 2014. He certainly didn’t write this book with an eye on a career in partisan politics. His admiral’s stars were anything but accidental. And while he’s correct about being an unusual choice for SHAPE/SACEUR, Stavridis demonstrates once again, with alacrity, extraordinary gifts of command and story. They combine to make THE ACCIDENTAL ADMIRAL essential reading. Michael Pocalyko, author of THE NAVIGATOR (2013) from Macmillan/Forge, CEO of Monticello Capital, former Navy pilot and strategist.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Intelligent and compassionate
*by A***E on December 7, 2016*

This is a wonderful and extraordinary book written by a wonderful and extraordinary man. Loved reading about NATO's inner workings. It is the best up close and personal book on the military/international relations I have read in a long long time. The Admiral has great command of the written word. So many of these political tomes are written so badly, and are so deadly dull that I usually fall out my chair in boredom before I'have exited chapter one. Not so with this one! The elegant narration is humane, insightful, intelligent, and invariably compassionate. His cultural interests do not confine themselves to NATO countries. Would a few more of our leaders read the Koran to gain insight into this complex and deeply divided religion! We are so lucky to have had Admiral Stavridis serve our country in so many capacities. Here's hoping Washington will continue to know what it has!

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*Last updated: 2026-03-22*