Guadalcanal Diary [Hardcover]

Richard Tregaskis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0848803221 | ISBN-13: 978-0848803223

This celebrated classic gives a soldier's-eye-view of the Guadalcanal battles--crucial to World War II, the war that continues to fascinate us all, and to military history in general. Unlike some of those on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Richard Tregaskis volunteered to be there. An on-location news correspondent (at the time, one of only two on Guadalcanal), he lived alongside the soldiers: sleeping on the ground--only to be awoken by air raids--eating the sometimes meager rations, and braving some of the most dangerous battlefields of World War II. He more than once narrowly escaped the enemy's fire, and so we have this incisive and exciting inside account of the groundbreaking initial landing of U.S. troops on Guadalcanal.

With a new Introduction by Mark Bowden--renowned journalist and author of Black Hawk Down--this edition of Guadalcanal Diary makes available once more one of the most important American works of the war.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the summer and fall of 1942, American Marines landed on the South Pacific island of Guadalcanal and began the slow, bloody work of defeating the Japanese empire. Their landing was significant not only for the outcome of World War II, but also for the conduct of war ever since, for the invasion of Guadalcanal marked the first time that a combined air, sea, and land assault had ever been attempted. It is for that reason that tacticians and military historians study the months-long battle today, and their primary guide to that conflict is Richard Tregaskis's extraordinary Guadalcanal Diary.

A volunteer combat correspondent, Tregaskis braved much danger to bring the story of the fighting to American readers. But he was not one to celebrate his own exploits, and in the pages of his book, he centers on the brave young men from all over the United States who fought and died in appalling numbers. His attention to detail yields arresting descriptions of attacks and counterattacks, of moments of low morale and of exaltation, of moments of quiet behind the lines and of sheer terror at the very point of engagement. Tregaskis's style is unadorned and matter-of-fact, and his present-tense narrative places the reader in the thick of the battle during those "hopeless weeks."

The direct literary ancestor of books of military reportage such as Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down and Michael Herr's Dispatches, Guadalcanal Diary is an exemplary work of journalism, and as vivid a portrait of men under fire as has ever been committed to print. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"A superb example of war reporting at its best."
--From the Introduction by Mark Bowden



"The book's secret is the simple secret of all good reporting--fidelity and detail."    --Time


From the Trade Paperback edition. --Review

"A superb example of war reporting at its best."
--From the Introduction by Mark Bowden



"The book's secret is the simple secret of all good reporting--fidelity and detail." --Time


From the Trade Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (September 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848803221
• ISBN-13: 978-0848803223
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,041,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Tregaskis was a writer and reporter. He received the Overseas Press Club's George Polk Award in 1964 for first-person reporting under hazardous circumstances. He died in 1973.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A part of our heritage, March 24, 2001

By 

George G. Kiefer (Sevierville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Guadalcanal Diary (Modern Library War) (Paperback)

Richard Tregaskis, a 24-year-old reporter, went ashore with the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. He lived with the men, sleeping on the ground and eating the same chow. He remained on that nightmarish piece of coral for 50 days, usually under combat conditions. His retelling of the engagement along the Tenaru is as good or better than other first hand reports. His description of the several days of combat on Edson's Ridge was excellent, as he had moved his tent to that elevated location the morning of the first day. With an eye toward the readers' morale, losses of flights at Henderson Field were not reported as accurately as they could have been. As many as seven aircraft had crashed on take off while he was still on the island. Tregaskis left the island before the major battles on the Matanikau or the desperate fight for Henderson Field, but he had his story. He had seen the boys of democracy turn back the seemingly invincible Japanese Army; he had seen some of our flyers defeat the unstoppable Zeros; he had seen our navy hold their own against the designers of the attack on Pearl Harbor and he hurried home to tell the American public. This book was started aboard a B-24 before he returned home and was an instant best seller. This was a first hand reporting of our first offensive engagement of WW II. A nation hungry for news of the front greeted it eagerly. Not even the casual reader of WW II can bypass this major work, if for no other reason than the place it holds in the history of the war in it's own right.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Omitted all Photographs and Maps!, June 5, 2010

By 

John P. Patterson "navy communications" (New York City, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Guadalcanal Diary (Hardcover)

Guadalcanal Diary now sold by Modern Library as Hardcover is an all print softcover with a hardbound cover. Shame on Randomhouse for their cheap Subsidiary version from Modern Library's reprint of this Classic. Had I known this book came without the photo's and maps I would not have purchased it. We waited 7 months for backorder and is needed for college report so we can't return it this late in the game. Find an edition with photographs and maps included!!
John P Patterson NYC, NY

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointed in the recent publications of diary, December 22, 2010

By 

Ira J - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Guadalcanal Diary (Modern Library War) (Paperback)

when i was a young man my father gave me a copy of Guadalcanal Diary and i literally wore it out, and in fifty years it has gone

i purchased a new copy in the hardbound edition

no photos
no index
no bibliography

only the minimum of print to enable it to be published
really disappointed that this great manuscript was treated so badly

a very very close friend of my Dad, Ken Bailey was included in the book as he won the MOH

one more thing i am not critical of the authors words only in how the publisher cheaped out the book