A masterful account of a vital five months in the bloody battle for
the Pacific, giving fresh insights into the Guadalcanal and Solomons
campaign, a key turning point in both the Pacific Theater and World
War II as a whole.
From popular Pacific Theater expert Jeffrey R. Cox comes this insightful
new history of the critical Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign at the
height of World War II. His previous book, Morning Star, Rising Sun,
had found the US Navy at its absolute nadir and the fate of the
Enterprise, the last operational US aircraft carrier at this point in
the war, unknown. This new volume continues the history of this critical
campaign, combining detailed research with a novelist's flair for the
dramatic to reveal exactly how, despite missteps and misfortunes, the
tide of war finally began to turn. There were hard-fought and costly
American victories in the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal
in November 1942, as well as the battle of Bismarck Sea in March 1943.
By this point Japanese land forces had also been forced to withdraw from
Guadalcanal itself marking the successful completion of the first Allied
offensive campaign against Japan. From this point on, although the war
was still a long way from being won, the American star was
unquestionably on the ascendant, slowly, but surely, casting a long
shadow over the Imperial Sun.
Jeffrey Cox's analysis and attention to detail of even the smallest
events are second to none. But what truly sets this book apart is how he
combines this microscopic attention to detail, often unearthing new
facts along the way, with an engaging style that transports the reader
to the heart of the story, bringing the events on the deep blue of the
Pacific vividly to life.
