Book Review: 'Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle'

(C) 1992 Penguin Books 

Pros: Fascinating study of one of the most famous - and toughest - World War II battles.

Cons: None.

On August 7, 1942, eight months to the day after Japan's "dastardly attack" on Pearl Harbor and barely eight weeks after the Battle of Midway ended a 6-month-long string of defeats for the Allies in the Pacific, elements of the First Marine Division, supported by the largest U.S. fleet yet assembled, came ashore on the beaches of Guadalcanal and two nearby islands in a barely opposed initial landing. Their mission: to capture an airfield (which the Marines named Henderson Field, in honor of Maj. Lofton Henderson, who had died at Midway) that, if left in Japanese hands, could have helped cut the lifeline between Australia and the United States.

The initial success of the landings, however, was followed by some of the fiercest land, air, and naval battles of the Pacific War. Japanese and American naval forces struggled incessantly for control of the seas around the Solomon Islands, and the U.S. Navy was unpleasantly surprised to come off as second best in some of the more famous fleet encounters, particularly in the Battle of Savo Island, where four Allied cruisers were sunk in one of the worst defeats in America's long naval history.

On land, too, Guadalcanal became a living hell for the Japanese defenders and the Marines holding a perimeter around Henderson Field. Both sides endured not only the man-made horrors of battle, but also the ravages of life in the tropical jungle, including jungle rot, malaria, and -- for the Japanese -- hunger (the Japanese called Guadalcanal "Starvation Island," and wartime propaganda accounts revealed that the stranded soldiers would often eat grass just to stay alive) as American attempts to stem the trickle of reinforcements and supplies slowly but surely began to succeed.

Richard B. Frank's book, Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle, not only covers the events that took place between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943, but also deals with the Guadalcanal campaign's genesis as part of the overall Pacific War's conduct by both the Japanese and the Allies. It's Frank's firm conclusion -- and the facts of the book seem to support his opinion -- that Guadalcanal, rather than Midway, was the true turning point of World War II in the Pacific. The book is extremely well done and impeccably researched, making full use of Japanese and American sources to present a fully balanced account of this extremely complex and vital campaign.

 Frank's book is perhaps the first to use both American and Japanese archival materials; most of the previous books on Guadalcanal published in the United States tend to depend on American records and other primary sources.

Also, other American authors tend to focus on specific aspects of the campaign; one writer will write about, say, the purely naval aspects (the Battle of Savo Island, or the two Battles of Guadalcanal), while another will write mainly on the land-and-air clashes involving the Marines (the Battle of the Tenaru, the aerial dogfights over Henderson Field). Frank, however, takes a broader view of the complete campaign, incorporating Japanese accounts and data from captured Imperial Army and Navy records, giving the reader a better appreciation of one of the longest and most difficult campaigns of the Pacific War.

Frank writes clearly and never loses the reader's interest. He also helpfully provides charts, tables, a nice collection of black-and-white photographs, and maps to assist both the seasoned war buff and the novice reader in grasping the complexities of the Guadalcanal campaign, especially in the naval arena.

Product details

• Paperback: 848 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140165614
• ISBN-13: 978-0140165616
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds