Looking for books, or reference materials on the Solomons

[MatthewB]

I have found a few things on Scribd, but they do not really focus upon the Naval Battles, one of them (First Team, or something like that), only deals with the Naval Aspects peripherally, and the others only deal with the Naval War right up to the invasion of Guadalcanal (and thus only detail Savo Island).

I was wondering if I could get some recommendations, please?

MB

[robertmelvin]

Try Neptune's Inferno, by Hornfischer. Goes up through November of '42 and specifically concentrates on the naval actions around Guadalcanal. Great read, to.

Bob

[Tim Jacobs]

Guadalcanal - Decision at Sea by Eric Hammel

http://www.amazon.com/Guadalcanal-Decis ... B002D48Q7K

[MatthewB]

Thanks for the Suggestions.

The Second one, Guadalcanal - Decisions at Sea, I noticed was on Scribd. But it was in Spanish. I don't really do Spanish.

But both suggestions look to be excellent, and I especially like that the second is on Kindle.

I have not yet checked to see if the first is.

MB

[robertmelvin]

Also, Islands of Destiny is a good over view of the Solomons campaign, but not particularly heavy on the naval aspects. I can't remember the author right now. Neptune's Inferno is pure navy.

Bob

[MatthewB]

Neptune's Inferno is available on Kindle. It is apparently a pretty hefty hardback as well (some copies selling for many hundreds).

I will grab it, and the other Kindle Title as soon as I get money in PayPal.

MB

[MatthewB]

Neptune's Inferno is turning out to be a pretty good read.

There is a bit of editorializing in a few places (regarding Fletcher and King, or Nimitz's and King's contrasting personalities), but it is fairly accurate.

It does not give as much detail in terms of the names and positions or dispositions of all ships of either side at the battles, but it does deal with every ship involved directly in the actions that took place.

MB

[Dan K]

Guadalcanal by Richard Frank covers the campaign in its entirety - land, air and sea. It's pretty much the authoritative book on the subject, particularly on the naval side.

Russell Crenshaw's "Tassafaronga" and "South Pacific Destroyer" have excellent, first hand accounts of the period of late 1942 thru mid 1943.

And of course, the other side of this same period, in fact Crenshaw's opponent, is Tameichi Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain".

[MatthewB]

Guadalcanal by Richard Frank covers the campaign in its entirety - land, air and sea. It's pretty much the authoritative book on the subject, particularly on the naval side.

Russell Crenshaw's "Tassafaronga" and "South Pacific Destroyer" have excellent, first hand accounts of the period of late 1942 thru mid 1943.

And of course, the other side of this same period, in fact Crenshaw's opponent, is Tameichi Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain".

I just finished Hara's book (as in, the second before checking this message).

And I have the others waiting to be read.

Tamaichi Hara's book was heartbreaking, even though they were "the enemy" and their blunders were our fortune, reading him recounting how he watched the IJN make the EXACT SAME MISTAKES, over and over again... In addition to making new and original blunders simply out of arrogance.

In reading his work, I suddenly understood a HUGE number of references in another hobby of mine: Manga And Anime, where MANY of the things from his book are staple tropes of Manga and Anime (such as Kamagawa being so notable - his home).

But aside from that, it makes me wonder what would have happened had the Japanese, after Savo Island, sortied with everything they had at holding the island. They do not seem to have understood following up gains, nor how precariously close the USA was to losing most of the Pacific Fleet.

Had they understood that they could have had their "Decisive Battle," just not between opposing Battleship formations, they could probably have held onto their gains long enough to negotiate a cessation of hostilities.

MB