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Summary: It really IS the definitive account- hands down!
Review: Being a WWII buff, I have read other accounts of this critical battle but never have found anywhere near the amount of information and detail about it in one source. An outstanding job and very deeply researched. If you want to know all you can about Guadalcanal, you've got to have this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written and clear history
Review: Guadalcanal was one of the key battles in the Pacific Campaign. This is a history of both the land and naval battles and is written in a clear and easy to understand way. Broadly what happened was that the Japanese military siezed the Island of Tulagi early in the Pacific War. They decided to build an airstrip on the Island of Guadalcanal which was a short distance away. The allies in their first offensive of the Pacific war decided to sieze both Guadalcanal and Tulagi. A large naval operation dropped over 12,000 troops on both targets who brushed aside the various construction groups responsible for the air strip construction. The Japanese however infiltrated a naval force at night to attack the invasion convey. In one of the more spectaular victories of the war the Japanese sunk most of the escort vessels but did not attack the transports which were at anchor off the Island. A fairly typical Japanese response. To have destroyed the transport vessels would have led to an immediate American defeat. Over the next few months the Japanese would land troops on the island to try to oust the American troops whilst the allies would attempt to foil these landings and to hang on. The campaign saw a large number of naval battles and on the island there was a continued infantry campaign. The book shows how the Japanese as ever in the Pacific war acted as if logistics did not exist. Their troops were so poorly supplied that most were incapable of combat at the end of the campaign. They recieved no medical supplies minimal food and very little amunition. There was no attempt by the Japanese to build air strips on islands near Guadalcanal to support their troops or to effectively challenge American air control. The book shows clearly how the Japanese military could only think in tactical and not strategic ways. Potentially the Japanese could have won this battle but instead of concentrating forces they turned the campaign into one of attrition so that the allies were able to inflict serious causalties on all combat arms. The book is a good one as it discusses all issues and it gives a clear history talking about the prospects of both sides so that one can see the sorts of options which would have been available for both sides and one realises why the allies won and the Japanese lost. A good book.
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Summary: Well-researched and well-told history of Guadalcanal
Review: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle is an extremely well-researched and balanced history of Guadalcanal. First and foremost, I'd describe this book as a first-class history book. It is unique in it's account of Guadalcanal in it's balance and depth of research. By balance, I mean the book covers the naval, land, and air battles -- as well as from both the American and Japanese perspecive. And the book is exceptionally well-researched from newly declassified primary sources. So when I say this is a "history" book, I mean a serious history book. In particular, I liked the insight and interplay of the American commanders -- particularly King -- as well as Roosevelt, Chruchill,Nimitz and McArthur, and all the way down the chain of command to the Marine commanders. There is signifcantly more politics, maneuvering, debate, and confusion than I would have previously thought. The book did not elicit the strong emotional response of Bradley's "Flags of Our Fathers", a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Nor did it match the Flags in its detailed accounts of struggle, bravery, and heroism. But this book may exceed Flags in it's overall excellent historical account of a landmark battle. If you're a WWII history buff, I recommend both books for different reasons.
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Summary: Frank has a mastery of the facts.
Review: I am disheartened to see that this book has not received more attention. The book is a masterful mix of facts and suspense in which ships, careers and battalions are squandered. Frank unfolds the battle nearly week to week tactically and strategically; as the subtititle declares, this is a definitive account of the landmark battle. With such a large selection, it is understandable but unfortuanate to see such a gem be overlooked.
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Summary: The definitive account for the naval battle for Guadalcanal.
Review: I posted chapters of my book, "Joining The War At Sea 1939-1945" on our website. After a chapter in which I questioned the use of SG radar at Casablanca in 1942, a reader who had served on the staff of RAdm Richmond Kelly Turner at Guadalcanal informed me that Richard Frank in his book "Guadalcanal" had expressed similar views. I bought Mr. Frank's book. I had a hard time putting it down. It is detailed and that is its strength. We lost many of the naval actions but the Japanese never broke the thrust of our amphibious operations. And I learned from Mr. Frank that the Japanese never solved their own amphibious dilemna. A superb book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellently researched
Review: I thought Frank did an incredible doing research not only on the allied side but also on Japanese side. If Allied documentation claimed something (the sinking of a Japanese ship for example), Frank would look for Japanese documentation to confirm it. He also was able to track individual units throughout the campaign. His book was the most detailed military history book that I have read and I will use it as my primary source of reference for anything on Guadalcanal.
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Summary: Essential read -- comprehensive accounts of exciting drama
Review: I'm sad to browse this site and see this one book is out of print. I looked it up merely to see the "other books read by people who read this one" lists. The reason for this is the profound appreciation I have for this book. Mr. Frank catalogs the campaign from every angle, and achieves a remarkable overview that does not lose track of the details. For the uninitiated, the naval surface actions between the US and Japanese navies are an eye-opening subplot in the Pacific struggle, and the shining element that is the first dropped from the books when the war is summarized as Pearl Harbor/Coral Sea/Midway/buncha other battles/Leyte/VICTORY. This is unfortunate, because never has naval action in the WW-II era been so immediate and at such close, desperate quarters. The intensity of the action brought out the greatest efforts of both navies, and defies the usual perception that painted the Japanese warriors as being on the run after Midway. If ever you have enjoyed a book on the Guadalcanal campaign, this is the book you might have missed reading instead. It is one that has caused me to seek out other books on the subject.
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Summary: The Definitive Guadalcanal History
Review: If you have an interest in the Solomons Campaign & specifically the air, land, and naval battles of Guadalcanal this book is the one to read first. Highly recommended, particularly for the fabulous recountings of the brutal surface-to-surface battles that were a trademark of that period. -Chas Argent
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Summary: Campaign that changed the War in the Pacific
Review: Most references to World War Two in the Pacific cite the decisive American victory at the Battle of Midway as the turning point in that conflict - the high tide of Japanese aggression. This book carefully refutes that position. The Japanese were still on the offensive after Midway (in part because the Japanese Navy neglected to inform the Japanese Army of the loss of four front line fleet carriers in that battle). The Japanese were still fully capable of seizing and severing American lines of communication with Australia - depriving the U.S. of a required base for future offensive operations. The dual campaigns in New Guinea and Guadalcanal from August 1942 to January 1943 (both resulting in successful Allied counter-offensives) represented the critical shift from the strategic defensive to the offensive for the Allies for the balance of the war. As Frank so ably demonstrates, there was nothing inevitable about the six-month struggle in the southern Solomons that started when the First Marine Division went ashore August 7, 1942. Both sides suffered significant setbacks and suffered from leadership lapses at critical junctures. In the end, it was the U.S. superiority in high command decisions and material that seemed to tilt the balance. The Japanese were surprised and very slow to believe that the U.S. was committing itself to an offensive campaign so early in the war. An objective analysis reveals that the Japanese had every reason to be surprised and U.S. leaders had every reason to be pessimistic as to the final outcome, especially after the early disaster at the Battle of Savo Island revealed relative U.S. weakness in surface ship actions. Guadalcanal came to be known as Starvation Island for the Japanese and the U.S. also came to recognize the conflict as a battle for logistics supremacy - which equated to air and sea supremacy, while soldiers and marines suffered tropical deprivations and hard fighting against a fanatical foe on the ground. Frank's work attempts to tell the complete story - air, sea and land - and he is successful. No mean feat. His research casts new light on an aging but important subject. As the World War Two generation fades into the past, it is all the more important to to reassess the history and importance of these events. Guadalcanal the history by Frank is a landmark study on perhaps the critical campaign of the entire cataclysm that was the War in the Pacific.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Military History
Review: Mr. Frank brings new facts and insight to a crucial campaign. The author covers every angle and aspect of the campaign: land, sea, air, command, intelligence, logistics, etc., from both sides. The work is well-organized, well-documented, and very readable. Highly recommended. You will understand not only Guadalcanal, but the entire Pacific War much better after reading this account.
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