Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tribute »

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.

On August 7, 1942, a scant nine months after Pearl Harbor, the Marine Corps struck back against Japan on an island half a world away: Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The stakes were high. The Japanese had been running roughshod across Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. If the Marines failed in the Solomons, Samoa and Fiji would almost certainly fall, mortally threatening America’s lifeline to Australia. The 1st Marine Division’s stand at Guadalcanal ranks with the most heroic, dramatic, and enduring of military history.

Contents

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

Glossary and Guide to Abbreviations

Maps

Chapter 1 August 1942

Chapter 2 September 1942

Chapter 3 October 1942

Chapter 4 November 1942—February 1943

Bibliography

Index