The Great Nightfall : How We Win the New Cold War

The greatest threat to U.S. military strength is the misconception that America can no longer afford military superiority. The military strength we need will not come cheaply, but the costs of weakness and complacency are far greater. The costs of failing to meet America’s crisis of national defense and national security will be measured in American lives. Former Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf II analyzes the threats and challenges to America from a rising China and other adversaries and shows us how we must face them.

“What a superb book,” John Odegaard, former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy said. “It should be required reading for every soldier, sailor and marine in the service today.” In his review of The Great Nightfall, U.S. Senator Jack Reed, (R.I.) a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said “With great knowledge and extraordinary experience, Ambassador Middendorf masterfully charts the daunting strategy and technological threat facing the nation as our Cold War advantage erodes in the face of a rising China, a reinvigorated Russia and other bad actors.”

Middendorf declares that his purpose for writing this book is not a call for war but to better prepare for war should it occur. “The best way to prepare for war is to be prepared to win it,” he writes. “The only good war is the one that is never fought. Peace Through Strength,” he writes.

J. William Middendorf II is former Secretary of the Navy, Ambassador to the Netherlands, Ambassador to the Organization of American States and Ambassador to the European Community. Some of the most important weapon systems in U.S. history were deployed under Bill Middendorf's tenure as Secretary of the Navy (1974-1977) including the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine fleet, Trident missiles, the Aegis Battle Managed Systems and the FA-18 warplane.