A chronicle of the search for the ships sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal integrates a first-person narrative of the expedition with photographs of ships from both sides lost in the battle. TV tie-in. 150,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo. Tour.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Dozens of battered warships lie beneath the constricted waters off Guadalcanal, justifying the macabre moniker of Iron Bottom Sound. Unseen for 50 years, this submarine battlefield received its first visitor in 1992, aquanaut Robert Ballard. The twisted, encrusted shapes he saw are here spread out with the same lavish pictorial formula used in his enormously popular albums on the Titanic and the Bismarck. Prewar photos of battleships in dress regalia contrast graphically with eerie paintings and photos of shell and torpedo strikes that destroyed them and their crews. Now--as in the moment of foundering during the half dozen sharp, short naval battles around the island--guns aim askew, fatal holes gape wide, and turret plates peel back. The Titanic and the Bismarck--both on maiden voyages--sailed to the deep with ill-fated majesty. But Ballard treats these unheralded ships--American, Australian, and Japanese--with the same technical accuracy and awesome reverence. The author's name alone should trigger demand. Where will Ballard dive next? Jutland? Trafalgar? Gilbert Taylor
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book on the warships lost in Iron Bottom Sound,
By "weirdo_87" (Rancho Cucamonga, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific (Hardcover)
Between August 1942 and February 1943, a land-sea and air battle was waged for an island in the south pacific called Guadalcanal. The six-month long battle for the island would be one of the definitive battles of the war. It was also one of the costliest. Thousands of Allied and Japanese soldiers died. And a channel north of the island had so many ships go down there that it was renamed Iron Bottom Sound. It is possible that more men died in the waters off Guadalcanal then on the island itself. But for many years, most of the ships were out of reach to divers and eventually were all but forgotten. Then, in 1992, Oceanographer Robert Ballard, who had found the Titanic and the Bismarck, decided to explore the area using the latest in technology. It is quite an experience to see a past battlefield on land like Normandy, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg or Guadalcanal itself. But the battlefields were obviously cleaned up afterward and don't look the way they did when the battle concluded. But time knows no boundaries in Iron Bottom Sound. The paintings by Ken Marshall and the photographs show many of the ships still upright on the ocean floor; Their guns and torpedo tubes still trained outward as if firing at a long gone enemy. But some of the ships are not so beautifully preserved. The Battleship Krishima, for example, lies upside down in two pieces on the ocean floor. And the Destroyer Barton is broken in half and lying on its side from two torpedoes. Nevertheless, most of the ships appear ready to rise up and continue fighting. Lavishly illustrated and with a detailed text, The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal will make a welcome addition to the collection of any War, Naval or Shipwreck enthusiast (If you can find a copy that is).
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully Done,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific (Hardcover)
From stunning photographs of the wrecks, to nicely detailed accounts, to beautiful paintings depicting the wrecks as they are today, to art from people who fought over a half century ago, this book is a wonderful account of the naval war in "Iron Bottom Sound" (Gudalcanal). Exciting. Poignant. You can feel for the poeple who were caught in the battles. I've read this book cover to cover twice, and highly recommend this text for the historian and general reader alike.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Overview, Short on Archeology,
By Pardus Amicus "Alexander" (Lake Superior, USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific (Hardcover)
I will say that like most of Ballard's books this is nicely laid out; good sized and with excellent photographs & drawings.
Most of the book is taken up by short histories of the various battles that make up the 'Guadalcanal Campaign.' This didn't leave much room for the exploration of the wrecks themselves which gives you a rather rushed feeling despite the good background history. Perhaps this would have been even better as an expanded two volume set.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
