[henkster]

Great recent book on Midway:

“Shattered Sword, the Untold Story of the Battle of Midway.”

It explodes a number of popular myths about the battle, most of which was the victory was a “Miracle.” In terms of the decisive weapon, carrier aircraft, the two sides were about equal. Also, even if we had “lost” Midway, we weren’t going to lose the war. A really good discussion of those economic realities is found here:

http://www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm

Still, Midway was a dramatic victory for the United States and a crushing defeat for Japan.

[mavfin]

The ‘miracle’ was simply luck in timing, and the torpedo squadrons paid in blood for it, which allowed the dive bombers to attack without opposition.

[pfflier]

The early devastating losses to the American flyers, despite their advantage in radio intercept intelligence, did not bode well for the battle's outcome. The SBDs were in the right place at the right time with the right circumstances to convert a losing air battle into an Incredible Victory. That is the name of Walter Lord's book on the battle.

It was the point in the Pacific war where the IJN never went on the offensive again. To me, that is a significant turning point bordering on miraculous.