The determining factors in the Battle for Leyte Gulf were superb skill, heroism, and aggressiveness, but confusion, surprise, and faulty assumptions also played significant roles. The Japanese Centre Force, comprising more than half of Japan's naval gunfire, steamed undetected into gun range and caught the Seventh Fleet completely by surprise.

The twelfth volume returns to the Pacific for a dramatic retelling of one of the greatest naval battles of all time. The determining factors in the Battle for Leyte Gulf were superb skill, heroism, and aggressiveness, but confusion, surprise, and faulty assumptions also played significant roles. The Allied victory at Leyte enabled the U.S. Navy to transport troops and base long-range bomber planes in positions so close to Japan that victory was all but assured. Morison's classic account details all of the key engagements surrounding the taking of Leyte.