Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle

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Summary: Guadalcanal
Review: This book really is the definitive account of the battle for Guadalcanal and the various operations that took place in the early Solomon Islands campaign. Like many Pacific battles, this one was fought in some of the worst conditions imaginable, which were over come by sheer grit and fortitude. This is the story of how Americans and Japanese fought tooth and nail, literally (in the Japanese case at least) to the last man to control a miserable south Pacific island called Guadalcanal. Deriving from extensive research including then-recently de-classified documents, Frank has produced the greatest work yet on the landmark battle that raged from August 1942 to February 1943 and changed the course of the war in the Pacific. Highly recommended.

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Summary: An excellent and thorough account both U.S. and Japanese.
Review: This is an excellent and very thorough account of the activity at Guadalcanal. I was impressed since the author portrays the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines without bias to any one service, as well as discussing concurrent Japanese views, plans and strategies. The story unfolds very nicely. It is not simply a boring factual account since it delves into personalities, which makes the characters somewhat real. Excellent book.

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Summary: Lots of Information
Review: This is not a light read, nor should it be. While reading this book, you will not be wanting of information. Frank has loaded this volume with incredible detail. I did not give this book the full 5 star review because it needed a few more maps, eventhough the maps it contains are good. There is a plethera of names to deal with from the islands to the Japanese officers to the US officers to the ship names. This is a very thorough treatment of this critical campaign. This will stand as great reference book and a welcome addition to a WWII library. The reader should be forewarned that this is not a casual read and if one is looking for a more abridged treatment, I would refer to the Samuel Eliot Morison's volume V of the History of Naval Operations in WWII.

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Summary: Definitive Single Volume History
Review: This is the BEST single volume history of the battle. It is all encompassing and thus includes descriptions of the naval, land and air aspects of the campaign. Also discusses the conflict from both the American and Japanese perspective and even introduces a number of Japanese commanders one rarely reads about in WW2 historiography. I was especially impressed by how the author considers the campaign perspectives from the highest levels of command all the way down to the poor infantrymen fighting disease, hunger and the enemy in the dank jungles of the south Pacific. This is an ESSENTIAL book to any WW2 library.

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Summary: 1st Rate Military History
Review: This is what military history is all about. The author is able to capture the battle in one volume. Extremely well researched, with new data from Japanese reports and newly de-classified U.S. intelligence reporting. If you are looking for 1st person history such as Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers, this is not the book for you. It is written more along the classic style of military history, more on facts and analysis than the story and emotion. Well worth your time, but you must work to read, it reads like classic military history not like a novel

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Summary: Best book on the subject
Review: This must be the best book written yet on the Battle of Guadalcanal. The strength of this book lies in the fact that it tell the entire story, both American and Japanese sides are presented fairly and much to my amazement, without bias. Its pretty hard to find a book of this caliber and if anyone had only one book to read on this subject, this book have to be the one.

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Summary: Great telling of America's first offensive in WW II
Review: Thoroughly researched, and utilizing both American and Japanese field reports, Frank has written the definitive account of America's first offensive struggle of WW II. The seven naval engagements are given the same detail attention as are the multiple land clashes. Most vivid among the latter were the days and nights along Edson's ridge and the Battle for Henderson's Field. Of particular interest were the accounts of the taking of Gavutu, Tanambogo and Tulagi, adjacent islands that several works overlook altogether. This invasion should never have succeeded; we lacked both air and naval superiority, two prerequisites for any amphibious assault. In those first few months, when the enemy could have swatted us like an annoying bug, he hesitated and committed resources piecemeal, a mistake the Japanese would make over and over. The monumental strategic importance of the Solomons seems to gradually dawn on each side as the campaign progressed. Unusual for a book of such detail, from the Tenaru to Edson's Ridge to the final escape of the decimated remnants of the Japanese defenders sixth months later, the action never slows. A liberal sprinkling of front line troops' reflections would have made this a truly remarkable read. Admittedly, I've been spoiled by Ambrose.

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Summary: New insights on an oft told story.
Review: To attempt to write a work one will describe as the "definitive account" of the battle for Guadalcanal is no mean undertaking. Firstly because of the enormity of the story, due to the fact the struggle ensued for more than five months on land, sea, and in the air, and secondly, because the story has been told by so many others over the decades. Nevertheless, Richard B. Frank has succeeded.

It is likely that many who read this book are already more or less well informed about the Pacific war. I consider myself a fairly serious student of that theater and am always eager to delve into the remotest details, as well as grand strategy and political matters that affected this great contest.

This book, from cover to cover, is an unsurpassed account of the battle, but it does not merely repeat what is likely to be known by readers already familiar with it. I will cite an example that impressed me especially.

By mid-September, the Japanese Army had amassed enough strength to potentially be victorious. Aside from the tenacity and skill of the Americans who fought them, the Japanese made two errors that may well have been decisive against them. First, in their efforts to flank the US positions to the south they made navigational errors that took them too far south. This had the effect of draining their fighting strength during the extended tortuous trek, and it placed them farther from their intended point of attack than they thought they were.

This error was then compounded by the Japanese doctrine of extreme aggressiveness. While usually this is a virtue in battle, even the most aggressive force must sometimes take some time to gather their strength and assess their situation correctly. This they did not do, so instead of a well coordinated attack that may well have overrun the defending Americans, their attack was minimally coordinated and carried out by troops already exhausted from their grueling jungle march.

I had never read of the Japanese preparations for this attack in any detail, and found Frank's account illuminating.

The other specific part of the story Frank tells that I think was undertold before is the campaign of the U.S. Army troops right up until the Japanese withdrawal. After reading some accounts of the battle for Guadalcanal, one can be forgiven for thinking it was fought strictly by Marines. (And by the way, I am an ex-Marine).

There is one thing a researcher of this quality might have included that I would have avidly read, and that is a more detailed accounting of the gradual building of American strength on the island, men and materiel. These resources did not just miraculously appear; Guadalcanal was also an intense logistical struggle.

Writing this book was an ambitious undertaking that succeeded. I hope to see more work from this fine author.