# Craig L. Symonds

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Craig_L._Symonds
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Craig_L._Symonds.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_L._Symonds
> Source revision: 1336342188
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

American historian

Craig L. Symonds Symonds in 2012 Born (1946-12-31) December 31, 1946 (age 79) Long Beach, California, U.S. Works Lincoln and His Admirals Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings Awards Lincoln Prize for Lincoln and His Admirals 2015 recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature

**Craig Lee Symonds** (born December 31, 1946) is an American naval historian. He was the Distinguished Visiting [Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History](/source/Ernest_J._King_Professor_of_Maritime_History) from 2017 to 2020 at the [Naval War College](/source/Naval_War_College) in [Newport, Rhode Island](/source/Newport%2C_Rhode_Island). He is also professor emeritus at the [United States Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy), where he served as chairman of the history department. He is a distinguished historian of the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), [World War II](/source/World_War_II), and maritime history. His book *Lincoln and His Admirals* won the [Lincoln Prize](/source/Lincoln_Prize). His book *[Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings](/source/Neptune%3A_The_Allied_Invasion_of_Europe_and_the_D-Day_Landings)* was the 2015 recipient of the [Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature](/source/Samuel_Eliot_Morison_Award_for_Naval_Literature), and his book *Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay* won the Gilder-Lehrman Military History prize. In 2023, he was awarded the Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.[1]

## Early life and education

The son of Lee and Virginia Symonds, Craig Symonds attended [Anaheim High School](/source/Anaheim_High_School) in [Anaheim, California](/source/Anaheim%2C_California) and then the [University of California, Los Angeles](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles) (UCLA), where he earned his [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree in 1967. Going on to graduate work, he obtained his [M.A.](/source/Master_of_Arts) in history at the [University of Florida](/source/University_of_Florida) in 1969 with a thesis on "The defense of the southwestern frontier, 1784–1794: a study in governmental relations." He married Marylou Hayden on 17 January 1969 and the couple had one son. In 1971, Symonds joined the [United States Naval Reserve](/source/United_States_Naval_Reserve), serving for three years until 1974 and rising to the grade of [Lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant). While in the Navy, he served on the staff and faculty of the [Naval War College](/source/Naval_War_College). On his release from active duty, he returned to his graduate studies in history at the [University of Florida](/source/University_of_Florida), where he obtained his [Ph.D.](/source/Ph.D.) in 1976 under the tutelage of Professor [John K. Mahon](/source/John_K._Mahon) with a dissertation on "Navalists and antinavalists: the naval policy debate in the United States, 1785–1827."

## Academic career

In 1976, the [United States Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy) in [Annapolis, Maryland](/source/Annapolis%2C_Maryland) appointed Symonds [assistant professor](/source/Assistant_professor) of history to succeed Professor [E. B. Potter](/source/E._B._Potter) as a specialist in [Naval history](/source/Naval_history). He was subsequently promoted to [associate professor](/source/Associate_professor) in 1980 and [professor](/source/Professor) of history in 1985. He served as chairman of the history department in 1988–1992 and appointed professor emeritus on his retirement in 2005.[2][3] In 1994–1995, he was [visiting lecturer](/source/Visiting_lecturer) at [Britannia Royal Naval College](/source/Britannia_Royal_Naval_College) in [Dartmouth, England](/source/Dartmouth%2C_England). He returned to teach at the Naval Academy as The Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of American Naval Heritage for 2011–12. In 2017, he was appointed to a two-year term as the [Ernest J. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Maritime History](/source/Ernest_J._King_Professor_of_Maritime_History) at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.[4]

## Awards

- Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writingory in 2023

- Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature in 2015 for *[Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings](/source/Neptune%3A_The_Allied_Invasion_of_Europe_and_the_D-Day_Landings)*.[5]

- In 2014, The [Naval Historical Foundation](/source/Naval_Historical_Foundation) awarded him the [Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award](/source/Commodore_Dudley_W._Knox_Naval_History_Lifetime_Achievement_Award).[6]

- The Abraham Lincoln Book Award, 2010

- The [Lincoln Prize](/source/Lincoln_Prize), 2009 (co-winner with James M. McPherson) for *Lincoln and His Admirals*.[7]

- [The Barondess Prize](https://web.archive.org/web/20130825065350/http://cwrtnyc.org/barondess.html), 2009

- [The Daniel and Marilyn Laney Prize](https://web.archive.org/web/20030527091611/http://www.austincivilwar.org/laney.htm), 2009

- [The Nevins-Freeman Prize](http://chicagocwrt.org/anfa.html), 2009

- The [Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize in Naval History](/source/Theodore_and_Franklin_D._Roosevelt_Prize_in_Naval_History), 2006

- Anne Arundel County Award for Literary Arts, 2006

- [John Lyman Book Awards](/source/John_Lyman_Book_Awards), 1995, 1999, 2009

- USNA Research Excellence Award, 1998

- USNA Teaching Excellence Award, 1988

- [Navy Superior Civilian Service Award](/source/Navy_Superior_Civilian_Service_Award), 1994, 1998, 2005, 2020

- [Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award](/source/Navy_Meritorious_Civilian_Service_Award), 1989

- History Book Club Author, 1983, 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2010

- Military Book Club Author, 1983, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005

- Book-of-the-Month Club Author, 1983, 1986, 1992, 2001, 2005

## Published works

- *Charleston Blockade: The Journals of John B. Marchand, USN*, edited by Craig Symonds. (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 1976.

- *Navalists and Antinavalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785–1827*. (University of Delaware Press, 1980).

- *New Aspects of Naval History,* edited by Craig Symonds. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1981).

- *A Battlefield Atlas of the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War)*. (Annapolis, MD: Nautical and Aviation Press, 1983). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0933852495](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0933852495)

- [William H. Parker](/source/William_Harwar_Parker) (1985). Craig Symonds (ed.). [*Recollections of a Naval Officer, 1841–1865*](https://books.google.com/books?id=R4odz6mD0qUC&q=Craig+Symonds). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-87021-533-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87021-533-9).

- *A Battlefield Atlas of the [American Revolution](/source/American_Revolution)*. (Annapolis, MD: Nautical and Aviation Press, 1986).

- Alvah F. Hunter (1987). Craig Symonds (ed.). [*A Year on a Monitor*](https://books.google.com/books?id=pFBz64hxS74C&q=Craig+Symonds). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-87249-761-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87249-761-0). (reprint 1991)

- [*Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ykSEvcmi4owC&q=Craig+Symonds). New York: Norton. 1992. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-393-31130-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-31130-3).

- *Gettysburg: A Battlefield Atlas,* by Craig Symonds with William J. Clipson. (Annapolis, MD: Nautical and Aviation, 1992).

- [*The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy*](https://books.google.com/books?id=q_HIcc8n3K4C&q=Craig+Symonds). Illustrator William J. Clipson. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. 1995. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-55750-984-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-55750-984-0).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: others ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_others))

- *Stonewall of the West: [Patrick Cleburne](/source/Patrick_Cleburne) and the Civil War*. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1997).

- *Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of [Franklin Buchanan](/source/Franklin_Buchanan)*. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1591148463](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1591148463)

- [*American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg*](https://books.google.com/books?id=P0-_stFws60C&q=Craig+Symonds). New York: HarperCollins. 2001. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-06-054933-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-054933-6).

- *New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Fourteenth Naval History Symposium, Held at Annapolis, Maryland, 23–25 September 1999,* Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 2001.

- [*Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3Te8UfCpV7MC&dq=Craig+Symonds&pg=PP1). New York: Oxford University Press. 2005. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-531211-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-531211-9).

- [*Lincoln and his Admirals*](https://books.google.com/books?id=cnq4UO9YD5IC&q=Craig+Symonds). New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-531022-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-531022-1).

- [*The Battle of Midway*](https://books.google.com/books?id=goIo0gCHiE4C). New York: Oxford University Press. 2011. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-539793-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-539793-2).

- [*The Civil War at Sea*](https://books.google.com/books?id=qpIYke2ZehIC&q=Symonds+civil+war+at+sea). New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0199931682](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0199931682).

- *[Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings](/source/Neptune%3A_The_Allied_Invasion_of_Europe_and_the_D-Day_Landings)*. Oxford University Press. 2014. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0199986118](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0199986118).

- *World War Two at Sea: A Global History*. Oxford University Press. 2018. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0190243678](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0190243678).

- *Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay*. Oxford University Press. 2022. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0190062361](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0190062361).

- *Annapolis Goes to War: The Naval Academy Class of 1940 and its Trial by Fire in World War II*. Oxford University Press. 2025. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0197752678](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0197752678).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Pritzker Military Museum & Library](https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/pritzker-military-museum-library-bestows-its-literature-award-lifetime-achievement-military-writing)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["History News Network - Craig Symonds: Sea battle book earns prize for professor"](http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/28751.html). *hnn.us*. 30 July 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Smithsonian Civil War Studies: Seminar Review – Ten At Gettysburg, by Craig L. Symonds; Reviewed by Antigoni Ladd"](http://civilwarstudies.org/articles/Vol_4/ten-at-gettysburg.shtm). *civilwarstudies.org*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [The Great Courses](https://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/craig-l-symonds)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Neptune by Craig L. Symonds – 2015 Samuel Eliot Morison Award For Naval Literature"](https://www.navalorder.org/awards/2015/10/16/neptune-by-craig-l-symonds-2015-samuel-eliot-morison-award-for-naval-literature). [Naval Order of the United States](/source/Naval_Order_of_the_United_States). September 14, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** David F. Winkler, "Naval Historians to Receive Knox Award," *Pull Together* (Volume 53 No. 3, Summer 2014) / *Daybook* (Volume 17 Issue 3), p. 12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Real Estate"](http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2009/03/05-31/Retired-academy-professor-wins-his-25K-Lincoln-Prize.html). *hometownannapolis.com*.

## External links

- [Appearances](https://www.c-span.org/person/?58489) on [C-SPAN](/source/C-SPAN)

- [Interview](http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/craig-l-symonds-battle-midway/) on *The Battle of Midway* at the [Pritzker Military Museum & Library](/source/Pritzker_Military_Museum_%26_Library) on October 7, 2011

- [Executive Committee of The Lincoln Forum profile](https://www.thelincolnforum.org/officers)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Japan Czech Republic Netherlands Latvia Israel Belgium Academics CiNii People Deutsche Biographie Other IdRef Open Library Yale LUX

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Craig L. Symonds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_L._Symonds) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_L._Symonds?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.