Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle (Paperback)

by Richard B. Frank (Author) "The Japanese aircraft that destroyed the Pacific Fleet's battleships at Pearl Harbor transformed American naval tactics..." (more)
Key Phrases: radio intelligence experts, van destroyers, strike group leader, South Pacific, Imperial Navy, Henderson Field (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
New translations of Japanese accounts, recently declassified documents and strategies and tactics of both sides inform this record of America's first major offensive of the Pacific war. According to PW , "This highly readable rendering of the critical campaign in the Pacific is first-rate military history." Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In his outstanding first book, a Vietnam veteran and lawyer establishes Guadalcanal's decisive place in the history of World War II. The Guadalcanal campaign was "triphibious," combining air, land, and sea elements. Though the Japanese were surprised by the United States counterattack, forces in the theater were balanced so closely that the outcome was by no means certain. Frank evaluates the adversaries' strengths and weaknesses, stressing in particular the shortcomings of the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Army. He argues convincingly that Guadalcanal was the turning point in the Pacific--not least because it proved that the U.S. armed forces could meet their enemy in adversity and prevail. Recommended for all World War II collections.
- D.E. Showalter, Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140165614
• ISBN-13: 978-0140165616
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping account of the campaign for Guadalcanal, April 7, 2004

By	Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

On August 7, 1942, eight months to the day after Japan's "dastardly attack" on Pearl Harbor and barely eight weeks after the Battle of Midway ended a 6-month-long string of defeats for the Allies in the Pacific, elements of the First Marine Division, supported by the largest U.S. fleet yet assembled, came ashore on the beaches of Guadalcanal and two nearby islands in a barely opposed initial landing. Their mission: to capture an airfield (which the Marines named Henderson Field, in honor of Maj. Lofton Henderson, who had died at Midway) that, if left in Japanese hands, could have helped cut the lifeline between Australia and the United States.

The initial success of the landings, however, was followed by some of the fiercest land, air, and naval battles of the Pacific War. Japanese and American naval forces struggled incessantly for control of the seas around the Solomon Islands, and the U.S. Navy was unpleasantly surprised to come off as second best in some of the more famous fleet encounters, particularly in the Battle of Savo Island, where four Allied cruisers were sunk in one of the worst defeats in America's long naval history.

On land, too, Guadalcanal became a living hell for the Japanese defenders and the Marines holding a perimeter around Henderson Field. Both sides endured not only the man-made horrors of battle, but also the ravages of life in the tropical jungle, including jungle rot, malaria, and -- for the Japanese -- hunger as American attempts to stem the trickle of reinforcements and supplies slowly but surely began to succeed.

Richard B. Frank's book, Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle, not only covers the events that took place between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943, but also deals with the Guadalcanal campaign's genesis as part of the overall Pacific War's conduct by both the Japanese and the Allies. It's Frank's firm conclusion -- and the facts of the book seem to support his opinion -- that Guadalcanal, rather than Midway, was the true turning point of World War II in the Pacific. The book is extremely well done and impeccably researched, making full use of Japanese and American sources to present a fully balanced account of this extremely complex and vital campaign.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Turning Point of the Pacific War, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

After the Americans defeated the Japanese at the battle of Midway, an offensive was planned for the Solomon Islands. The primary target was the island of Guadalcanal. In this book, Mr. Frank describes the landings and the capture of Henderson Field in vivid detail. I was also impressed with his descriptions of the fateful battle of Savo Island, where the Allies lost 4 heavy cruisers to an inferior Japanese force. Admiral Fletcher's decision to remove the carriers is discussed, along with the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, where the 5 Sullivan brothers died on the U.S.S. Juneau.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this book to me was how Mr. Frank not only provides the American viewpoint of the battle, but also the Japanese viewpoint. It was interesting to read about how aircraft and casualty claims were greatly exaggerated by both sides. I also felt that the final chapter was interesting in the way that everything was summarized for the reader. I have been reading books about the Pacific war since I was in the 4th grade, and this is the most comprehensive account of the entire Guadalcanal campaign that I have come across. This book is a must read for any World War II reader.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive and a Landmark, October 18, 2004

By	R. J Szasz "Rod Szasz" (Tokyo, Japan Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before going on a 6 month tour of the South Pacific Islands I was determined to get a good chronological understanding of every battle that happened there during WWII. Guadalcanal had always been a little difficult for me to get a good geographical grip upon: the island is large, but actual battle areas were rather small; the battle continued over 6 months before the Japanese broke and was characterised by a spasmodic nature; actions were rarely large unit and the fighting was largely not against well dug-in Japanese positions, but rather characterised by long marches and concentrations against the US perimeter, and by the US against Japanese troop concentrations, and --- no understanding of the land battle is possible without understanding the sea battles.

Frank is wonderful on all counts and can really write well. At a time when both sides were reaching out to each other to do battle right at the end of their supply lines, with little depth, it was the Japanese training and perseverance that really ruled the day on the sea. On land, although Japanese soldiers were perhaps the finest fighting infantry in war (General Slim's words, not mine). They tended to be blinded by their presumed superiority and racial arrogance. They were roughly handled by the marines at first and this punishment was followed up by the later army actions to clear the North-west part of the island.

What really dominated the land battle was success at sea -- and the Americans were very lucky indeed in the opening months that the Japanese never pressed their advantage once they had initial successes at sea. If they had of the result of the battle would have been an allied defeat. Few people remember that, in these waters, were fought the only real sustained large scale engagements of surfaces ships, battleships and cruisers -- minus carriers -- during WWII. Ironbottom sound got its name from all the (mainly US) ships sunk. But out of this the general US Navy complacency gave way to a grudging appreciation that the Japanese --- with or without radar -- were a force not to be taken lightly. Over the next few months Americans took their licks, then gave as good as they got, and eventually were able to hold their own in ship-on-ship engagements (particularly destroyer actions at night), which was quite and achievement for the Americans given their relative inexperience.

Unfortunately all this took much longer than should have been the case and the grunts on shore could have been paying the final bill but for the fact that the Japanese limited their attacks to shelling the airfield (as Frank describes), usually ineffectively, but enough to scare the hell out anyone on the receiving end of the Japanese 18 inch rifles.

Japanese land tactics are also well described. The landings and slaughter of the Ichiki and Kawaguchi units are there in detail. And well they should be since, unless you know what Kawaguchi-san was actually trying to do by concentrating his troops after a punishing march through the jungle... it can be very difficult to keep track of the action.

The relief convoys are also well described and the final successful withdrawal of the Japanese is a nail biter.

It is too bad that this battle ground today remains mired in a bitter civil conflict or it would be more accessible to those who wish to see the numerous remains of this battle (and there are a lot to see on land, and by scuba or snorkel at sea).

Hands down the best book on the "canal" as US forces called it, or "Ga-jima" as the Japanese called it. A good testament to the courage of both sides in what were for the US early days of WWII.