Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Bluejacket Books) [Paperback]

Walter Lord (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bluejacket Books | Publication Date: September 5, 2006

Called a stirring tale of forgotten heroes splendidly told by a master narrator, this saga of the valiant coastwatchers of the Pacific War exemplifies that rare combination of careful research and exciting narrative style that became a hallmark of Walter Lord's best-selling books. Though their importance has long been acknowledged, the coastwatchers had received relatively little attention until the publication of this book in 1977. The remarkable band of individualists, operating deep behind Japanese lines in the dark days of 1942-43, lived by their wits alone yet gave the Allies their best intelligence and rescued many a man from downed planes and sinking ships - including John f. Kennedy and his PT-109 crew. To piece their story together, Lord traveled 40,000 miles to interview participants, check archives, and examine private letters and diaries. He even made a three-day hike through the Guadalcanal jungle to inspect the coastwatcher hideout on Gold Ridge so he could successfully put readers in their shoes. The book's varied cast of intriguing characters has attracted readers ever since.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Walter Lord, an OSS officer in World War II and native of Baltimore, is the author of such best sellers as A Night to Remember, Day of Infamy, and Incredible Victory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591144663
• ISBN-13: 978-1591144663
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Lord's A Night to Remember is a minute-by-minute account of the Titanic's final hours. Lord wrote 12 books, honing an eye-witness approach to history whether it was Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor (Day of Infamy) or the defense of the Alamo (A Time to Stand) or the Battle of Midway (Incredible Victory). In The Way It Was, he tells his own story, about his life and books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting story of forgotten battles, May 18, 2004

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Hardcover)

Notwithstanding the impression you might get from some of the other reviewers here, "Lonely Vigil" is not a book about John F. Kennedy. Far from the coastwatchers being a footnote in JFK's biography, I prefer to think of JFK -- at least during these years -- as a minor bit of trivia in the far more interesting story of the coastwatchers themselves. Fishing JFK out of the drink was far from their most important contribution, either to the war effort or to history.

I first read this book when I was in my teens, and I was captured even then by the drama of the coastwatchers and their Melanesian allies, hiding in the jungles while reporting on Japanese convoy and aircraft movements through the evocatively named "Slot" through the Solomon Islands. If you're familiar with Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific," you already know a little about the coastwatchers, since the mission embarked on by Lt. Joe Cable and planter Emile de Becque was modeled on the true-life exploits described in this book.

It's too bad that the exciting story of the coastwatchers is still all but unknown in the U.S. But if it's true, as Admiral Halsey said (and who are we to doubt Admiral Halsey?), that "the coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific," then this well-researched, well-written, and engrossing book by Walter Lord deserves to be read by all students of the war in the Pacific.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coastwatchers save the Pacific during WWII, February 21, 2002

By 

Clint L. Nash (Otis Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Hardcover)

I am partial to this book becuase Walter Lord interviewed my Father during the writing of this book. My Father Benjamin F. Nash was the only full time American Coastwatcher during WWII and was with Reg Evans when they spotted the fire ball that turned out to be the wreck of PT 109 when the Jananese destroyer ran over it. I met Mr. Lord during the days he talked to my Father during the Summer of 1976. I think it was '76. I have read the book several times. It is a fascinating history filled with facts, so you have to take your time in reading it to get the full impact. My Father told me that the facts that he knew of where 100% accurate in the book. Great book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Documentation, April 10, 2005

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Hardcover)

This book documents the history of the Coastwatchers, a little-known intelligence corps operating in the South Pacific during World War II. As war loomed on the horizon early in the 1940s, it became apparent to Australian Naval Intelligence that it would be useful to post observers on key strategic islands off the coast of Australia and New Guinea who could report movements of enemy ships and other military activities. The Coastwatchers, as this team came to be called, were commanded by an Australian officer named Eric Feldt. The men who filled these positions were of varied backgrounds, from military officers to missionaries and British colonial officials, and even an American who managed to get transferred from his regular unit. On each of the key islands in the Solomons, the Coastwatchers established lookout points high in the mountain jungles, from where they could radio in to headquarters their counts of ships and incoming planes. By Lord's account, these reports were vital in the air battles in the Solomons, since they gave warnings to the Allies of incipient attacks, enabling them to prepare and stage effective counter-maneuvers. The Coastwatchers also assisted in the evacuation of Western refugees, both colonists and missionaries. One of their other important tasks was to locate Allied personnel whose planes or ships had been downed and help them make their way back to friendly territory. Indeed, it was a Coastwatcher who found the men of PT 109 and assisted Kennedy and his men in their odyssey back to their units. The book is illustrated with several sections of black-and-white vintage photographs. At the end of the book are a list of contributors and interviewees and an index.

Lord collected this material some 20 years after the war by traveling through the islands and conducting extensive interviews with the Coastwatchers, Solomon Island residents, veterans, and missionaries who had worked with or been rescued by the Coastwatchers. Instead of presenting the material in one long continuous saga, Lord's approach is to describe the events island by island and station by station. For the sake of completeness, he tries to weave in the names of every person who played a role in each incident. As a result, there is not a lot of cohesion to tie the story together. As a reader, I frequently found myself taking note of a person's name and story since Lord made it seem important for the big picture, only to find that the person was never mentioned again. The book is very much the story of individual people, whose contributions to the war effort might have gone untold if it weren't for the painstaking research that Lord undertook. While I am in no position to judge the accuracy of Lord's account, I note that in my copy of the book, which came from the collection of a public library, there are several marginal notes correcting names and ranks, and units of people mentioned in the text.