As a former Marine officer with a love of history. I have read more accounts of Marines in combat that I can possibly remember. There were numerous books written on the fighting on Guadalcanal, but only a few are truly great. Samuel Griffith's "The Battle for Guadalcanal" is one of them, if not the best of them.

As a retired Marine general who once fought on the 'Canal' as a young officer, you might expect this book to be one long hymn of praise for the Marines. However, this is not the case, as Griffith examines all the successes and disasters, all the great strategy and stupid errors, and all the 'luck of the Gods' that combined to make the six months of Guadalcanal a key campaign of World War II. Praise is given to those who deserved it (including the Japanese and even the U.S. Army!), and those who didn't are also singled out for their mistakes or lack of planning, which often caused great loss of life.

This book will make you reconsider some of the myths of the campaign that war propaganda requires. It is even more enjoyable in that it is an easy read, devoid of the often useless detailed military movements lesser authors fill their books with.

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