Showing Guadalcanal, World War II's Fiercest Naval Campaign by Adrian Stewart

The naval battles for Guadalcanal in 1942 have no parallel in the history of warfare. Over a period of six long months there was an almost continuous slaughter of ships and men. The material losses to the United States in both men and ships were immense, yet they battled on relentlessly to eventual triumph. With the closing of the Japanese campaign to retake Guadalcanal Japan's doom was sealed, and the skills the Americans had learned there were to lead them to their later victories in the Pacific War. How these skills were acquired and at what cost are expertly analysed in this reconstruction of events. Adrian Stewart graphically describes the series of battles as control of the seas around Guadalcanal changed from Japanese to American daily. After initial misconceptions that the Japanese could not fight at night, the Americans bludgeoned their way through to grim but decisive victory.