The idea for By Water Beneath the Walls: The Rise of the Navy SEALs came in 2011 after two major events in the history of the War on Terror: The first was the killing of Usama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. And the second was the downing of the Extortion 17 helicopter, the largest single-event loss of life for coalition forces in the war in Afghanistan. Both operations had been undertaken largely by Navy SEALs. Both had occurred more than 600 miles from the closest salt water.

Solving the riddle of why a Navy unit had been routinely operating so far from a coast — especially when there had existed so many competitor special operations units in the Army and Marine Corps — took the author more than a decade to unravel. In the end, however, it was a book that told not just the origin story of the Navy SEALs but also those of all units in US special operations.

Since By Water’s publication, it has become required reading throughout the US Special Operations and Intelligence communities and — despite its focus on the Navy — a book that is regularly recommended to leaders of the US Marine Corps and US Army, including its top-tier special operations units.