Synopses & Reviews
The six-month long Guadalcanal campaign was by far the longest and most complicated operation the Marines faced in the Pacific War. It started on the fly when the Japanese were discovered building a bomber base on the island, a threat that could not be ignored. The 1st Marine Division was the only force available to take up this challenge. Although the airfield was seized without a fight when the Marines landed on August 7, 1942, the Japanese were quick to respond. A naval attack on the night of August 8 drove off the supporting U.S. Navy forces; the transports had not even finished unloading. The Marines were on their own, without naval or air support.
The Guadalcanal campaign began on less than a shoestring with the weapons and tactics of the Marine Corps’1918 combat in France and ended with the revised weapons and tactics that would sweep aside the Japanese defenders of numerous formidable island bases all across the wide Pacific. Guadalcanal served as a test bed for the leaders, weapons, and techniques that brought the United States armed forces to total victory in the Pacific in World War II. This volume of captivating photographs is a tribute to the men who sacrificed so much in winning this first stepping stone on the path to Tokyo Bay and victory over Japan.
Review
“This book can be described as the best collection of photos ever published about Marines in Guadalcanal … no one has ever assembled a more complete set and put it into print … In total, they paint a fuller visual portrait of the Marine experience on that island than any compilation previously available.”
Naval History, August, 2007
“Following his earlier achievements with Iwo Jima and Pacific Warriors, Hammel thrusts the readers into the hell and stench of battle on this Solomon island with both words and photographs, many of the most gruesome kind. Obsessed with Guadalcanal, Hammel pays tribute to the Marines’ spirit in his fourth book on the subject...Guadalcanal is truly an outstanding effort to document the sacrifice and struggle in America’s first stepping-stone on the path to victory over Japan.”
WWII History
Review
Leatherneck, August 2007 “Crisp writing and storytelling utilizing more than 270 pictures are the Hammel tools that take the reader through the assembling of a patchwork division made up of a borrowed regiment, lightly manned independent units and ill-advised Navy support … Hammel’s adept description of the action is easily followed in a collection of rare and perhaps never-before-viewed pictures of this major campaign … Hammel’s pictorial tribute is a worthy addition to the library of those who have interest in Marine history.”
Synopsis
On August 7, 1942, a scant nine months after Pearl Harbor, the Marine Corps struck back against Japan on a small island half a world away: Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The stakes were high. The Japanese had been running roughshod across Asia and the Pacific and even into the Indian Ocean. If the Marines failed in the Solomons, New Guinea would almost certainly fall, mortally threatening Australia.
The victory of the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal, told here in pictures for the first time, ranks with the most heroic, dramatic, and enduring of military history. The six-month long Guadalcanal campaign was by far the longest and most complicated operation the Marines faced in the Pacific War. It began with the weapons and tactics of the Marine Corps 1918 combat in France and ended with the revised weapons and tactics that would sweep aside the Japanese defenders of numerous formidable bases all across the wide Pacific--bringing the United States armed forces to total victory in the Pacific in World War II.
This book is a fitting tribute to the men who sacrificed so much in winning this first stepping stone on the path to Tokyo Bay and victory over Japan.
Synopsis
On August 7, 1942, the Marine Corps struck back against Japan on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The victory of the 1st Marine Division, told here in pictures for the first time, ranks with the most heroic and enduring of military history.
Synopsis
On August 7, 1942, a scant nine months after Pearl Harbor, the Marine Corps struck back against Japan on a small island half a world away: Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The stakes were high. The Japanese had been running roughshod across Asia and the Pacific and even into the Indian Ocean. If the Marines failed in the Solomons, New Guinea would almost certainly fall, mortally threatening Australia. The victory of the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal, told here in pictures for the first time, ranks with the most heroic, dramatic, and enduring of military history.
About the Author
Eric Hammel is a critically acclaimed military historian and author of more than thirty combat and pictorial histories, including several on U.S. Marine operations in World War II and Vietnam, such as Pacific Warriors: The U.S. Marines in World War II, Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle, and Marines in Hue City: A Portrait of Urban Combat, Tet 1968. He lives in Northern California.