Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present
This work provides biographies of more than 500 individuals who have served as admiral, vice admiral, or rear admiral. While officers from the U.S., British, French and Japanese navies make up the bulk of the work, biographies are included on admirals from 22 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain.
The majority of entries are detailed, although some are shorter because of limited records or lack of information.
The main criterion for inclusion was that each person must have actively served in the rank of at least rear admiral, although each individual did not necessarily become involved in enemy action. This effectively rules out people who were granted the rank on retirement, as a courtesy title or posthumously.
The book also includes a list of admirals organized by nationality and a timeline.