How Carriers Fought explores how aircraft carriers were used, particularly by the U.S. Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy, during World War II. It offers a uniquely detailed insight into carrier operations and reassessment of a number of carrier battles, busting a number of myths about carriers and naval aviation along the way.

Preface -- Glossary -- Introduction -- Part I. Carrier operations. 1. Navigation and communication -- 2. Flight operations -- 3. Aircraft carried -- 4. Finding the enemy -- 5. Detecting incoming strikes -- 6. Aerial attacks -- 7. Defending against aerial attacks -- 8. Fighter direction -- 9. Logistics -- Part II. Carrier battles of World War II. 10. Early scouting and raiding by carriers -- 11. Battle of the Coral Sea -- 12. Battle of Midway -- 13. Operation Pedestal -- 14. Battle of the Eastern Solomonms -- 15. Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands -- 16. Battle of the Philippine Sea -- 17. Battle of Leyte Gulf -- 18. Carrier operations in a larger context -- Part III. The art and evolution of carrier operations. 19. Combat models -- 20. Concentration vs. dispersion -- 21. Fighters vs. bombers -- 22. Battleships vs. carriers -- 23. Armored flight deck vs. size of air group -- 24. Effectiveness of heavy AA guns -- 25. World War II carrier design revisited -- 26. The art of carrier operations -- 27. Evolution of carrier operations -- Appendix - Postwar developments -- Notes on sources.