TODAY AT NOON: Lunch with Books: Three Oceans and a Fifth: The Battle of Midway in Global Perspective

June 07, 2022
12:00pm - 1:00pm

This June marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. America’s victory not only turned the tide against Japan in the central Pacific, it turned the key that interlocked Allied advantage across three oceans. Winston Churchill believed Midway helped secure command of the Indian Ocean at the critical moment in 1942 and thereby laid the foundation for the subsequent Allied victories at Alamein and Stalingrad. In short, Midway proved the adage that the ocean is one. Although historians, especially in recent years, have increasingly come to emphasize this global perspective, they still tend to miss how Midway’s example illuminates the significance of later ‘sideshows’—not least the Falklands War of 1982—and remains instructive in the twenty-first century.
John Brobst is an associate professor of history at Ohio University, where he teaches courses on the British Empire, geopolitics, and naval history. He is the author of The Future of the Great Game: Sir Olaf Caroe, India’s Independence, and the Defense of Asia, and is currently completing a book about maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean during the Cold War. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in history from the University of Kansas.

In addition to being in-person in the Library auditorium, this program will be available to watch live on Facebook Live, on YouTube, and on the OCPL website's LWB Livestream page.  Log into your Facebook or YouTube account during the program to leave questions for our presenters in the comments box. They will answer them during the live broadcast. 

PRESENTER BIO: John Brobst is an associate professor of history at Ohio University, where he teaches courses on the British Empire, geopolitics, and naval history. He is the author of The Future of the Great Game: Sir Olaf Caroe, India’s Independence, and the Defense of Asia, and is currently completing a book about maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean during the Cold War. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in history from the University of Kansas.

FEATURED BOOK: Coming soon

Lunch With Books Livestream starts at noon on Facebook and YouTube.

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"Lunch With Books" is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. These lunchtime programs feature authors, poets, musicians, historians, and more every Tuesday at noon. Bring lunch (to the Library Auditorium or your computer), feed your brain!