Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tribute [Hardcover]

Eric Hammel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

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.”

WWII History, November 2007 
“From Zenith Press and Eric Hammel comes another handsome, profusely illustrated tribute to the United States Marine Corps, this time focusing on the first major land battle involving American troops in the Pacific. 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.”
 

Time Out For Entertainment, November 2007

“A richly illustrated tribute to the first U.S. land offensive in the Pacific in World War II. Told with an amazing attention to detail that makes you feel the muck on your feet and smell the rot of the jungle, author Eric Hammel succeeds in adding a new wrinkle to the story of the battle through rare photos and first-hand accounts.”

 

Book Description

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press; 1st edition (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760331480
• ISBN-13: 978-0760331484
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #663,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Hammel's writing career began in the 1960s, when he was a teenager. He has had forty military history books, one novel, and more than sixty-five non-fiction articles published. Eric has worked as West Coast contributing editor for Leatherneck Magazine and as a publishing acquisitions and content editor, but he has spent most of the years since 1983 as a full-time author, editor, and publisher.

Free sample chapters from all of Eric Hammel's in-print books can be viewed at his author site, http://www.EricHammelBooks.com
All of his books are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guadalcanal: The U,S, Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tributr, September 1, 2007

By 

Stanley C. Jersey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tribute (Hardcover)

Book Review

Eric Hammel, St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2007, 160 pp. Maps, Glossary, Bib., Index. $34.95.

Hammel has written some excellent books covering the war in the British Solomon Islands and in particular on the big island of Guadalcanal Yet this work is different as it a pictorial history or photo study of war on that sun baked island, but it is also provides a brief narrative history. The work also covers the outer-islands of Tulagi, Tanambogo, Gavutu and Florida, but not to the extent of his photo examples of Guadalcanal.

His previous pictorial book, Bloody Tarawa, also a narrative history with 250 photographs, is a great addition of the pictorial history of war on another deadly island, another excellent book.

Yet, the Guadalcanal book is better for one reason. His Chinese printer used a better grade of paper than on Eric's Tarawa work with the result in that the photographs are much sharper. Hammel's photo collection is probably the best private assemblage of photographs from the campaign; most of his photographs came from the files of the National Archives, the Marine Corps Historical Branch or the Marine Corps University. Many I had never seen before as even though I have studied the Solomon campaigns for 45 years, and I have many Guadalcanal photographs in my own collection that do not appear in Hammel's hardback.

2d Lt. Thayer Soule an experienced photographer was the chief photographer of the 1st Marine Division and was assigned to D-2 Section (Intelligence); he landed on Guadalcanal on D-Day. Lt. Soule is credited with have taken many of the early photographs. (See Thayer Soule, Shooting The Pacific War) He had two of his still photographers, Privates Robert Howard and Edward A. Sexton assigned to the assault units for still camera work. Ed Sexton to the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, for the invasion of Tulagi, and Bob Howard for the landing at Gavutu with the Paramarines. Sexton got some fine shots of the Tulagi Campaign, but Howard was too busy on Gavutu to take photographs; he was too busy trying to stay alive. The first eight hours on Gavutu, the Chutes had 50% causalities.

On the third page he shows four marines carrying a man on the stretcher, but no caption. I'll provide the details. They are all from Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. The photo was taken in a coconut grove near Tassafonga Point on 28 January 1943. On the stretcher was wounded Lt. Baine P. Kerr; in the left front was Cpl. Berndt, left rear, Plt/Sgt. Joseph A. Cado, right rear, Pvt. Barkowski, and right front Cpl. Herman Burks.

On page 29, he had the caption wrong, it reads ..."mounted light machine gun overlooks a likely landing beach in southwestern Tulagi." No way ! That gun was on Gavutu Island, and the photo was taken in the spring of 1942 by Lac. Cliff Searle with the RAAF. On page 32, he lists 12 Japanese POWs as "Imperial Navy infantrymen were taken prisoner during the two day battle of Tulagi" There were only four combatants who were taken prisoner from that battle, the others were laborers from the construction units.

The photograph on the last page "Here lies a devil dog" was not taken at Guadalcanal, but on Bougainville Island.

These are simple mistakes, but are not a distraction. The book itself is a gem and it is highly recommended.

Stanley C. Jersey, author, Hell's Islands: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the pictures, September 1, 2007

By 

Charles L. Ainsworth (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tribute (Hardcover)

This volume contains just about every picture taken of the campaign. A must have for serious historians of the battle.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This unique combination makes for a choice pick not just for military libraries but for general-interest holdings, October 19, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II: A Pictorial Tribute (Hardcover)

The six-month Guadalcanal campaign was the longest operation the U.S. Marines faced in the pacific, and many books have been written by participants and reporters alike. GUADALCANAL: THE U.S. MARINES IN WORLD WAR II is a pictorial tribute: this means a collection of unusual vintage photos, many of which have never before seen print - paired with critically acclaimed military historian Eric Hammel's expert analysis. This unique combination makes for a choice pick not just for military libraries but for general-interest holdings which would make at least one such visual tribute accessible to the public eye rather than specialty examination alone.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch