Welcome! Today we’ll be reviewing Sea Stories: My Life In Special Operations by Admiral William H. McRaven.
Review Summary
- Length: 18 chapters, 335 pages
- Cover Type: Hard
- Personal Completion Time: One Month
- TL;DR Summary: A comprehensive book covering the adventurous life of Admiral McRaven – a fantastic read for anyone interested in the military or Navy SEALs.
- Book Link: Amazon
- Final Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
William H. McRaven, serving both as a Navy SEAL and 4-star Admiral, has had one hell of a life. He nearly paralyzed himself, personally directed the troops that captured Sadaam Hussein, and can almost single handedly be held responsible as “the guy” who required the TSA to have potential flyers get their shoes checked before boarding the plane (sorry, frequent fliers, I know its a pain). Somehow, someway, the Admiral delivered on this book. From the get-go if you had told me this was written by a professional author or a ghost writer I would have absolutely believed you – the way the Admiral skillfully weaves together the story of his life is nothing short of masterful, a very impressive display and even more impressive considering he likely has no prior experience writing books.
If you like reading about the heart-pounding experiences of the Navy SEALs, the bravado and discipline taught by Jocko Willink, or the order and sage advice of Dr. Jordan Peterson than this book is for you – period. It covers all of those bases and much, much more. I don’t recall being such a fanatic about the book at the time of reading, but looking back I remember this book fondly as being a perfect example of a “life well lived” summarized in one, wholly complete, book. If you often find yourself struggling with problems in your life and wish you had a mentor or hand pointing you in the right direction, or if you have someone in your life who needs the same or loves reading about the adventurous military life, this book is almost certainly for you.