Guadalcanal 1942–43

America's first victory on the road to Tokyo

Guadalcanal 1942–43 cover

Description

The Guadalcanal campaign began with an amphibious assault in August 1942 - the US's first attempt to take the fight to the Japanese. It quickly escalated into a desperate attritional battle on land, air and sea, and by the time the Japanese had evacuated the last of their forces from the island in 1943, it was clear that the tide of the war had turned. The previously inexorable Japanese advance had been halted, and the myth of Japanese invincibility shattered. The fighting brought into sharp relief several crucial weaknesses of Japanese strategic planning and war economy, while the US was able to hone its Marine forces into the finest of points - ready for the devastating island-hopping campaign that would bring the war to Japan's doorstep. In this new study of the campaign, Pacific War expert Mark Stille draws on both US and Japanese sources to give a balanced and comprehensive account of a crucial, brutal conflict.

Analyzing the three Japanese attempts to retake the island in the face of ferocious, and ultimately successful, American resistance, this book shows how the battle was won and lost, and how it would affect the outcome of the Pacific War as a whole.

Table of Contents

Origins of the campaign
Chronology

Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign

Aftermath
The battlefields today
Further reading
Index

Product details

Published Aug 18 2015
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 96
ISBN 9781472806932
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 65 b/w; 12 col
Dimensions 248 x 184 mm
Series Campaign
Short code CAM 284
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Mark Stille

Mark Stille is the author of numerous Osprey title…

Illustrator

Peter Dennis

Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazine…

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