A sweeping narrative history–the first in over twenty years–of America’s first major offensive of World War II, the brutal, no-quarter-given campaign to take Japanese-occupied Guadalcanal From early August until mid-November of 1942, US Marines, sailors, and pilots struggled for dominance against an implacable enemy: Japanese soldiers, inculcated with the bushido tradition of death before … tradition of death before dishonor, avatars of bayonet combat–close-up, personal, and gruesome. The glittering prize was Henderson Airfield. Japanese planners knew that if they neutralized the airfield, the battle was won. So did the Marines who stubbornly defended it.
The outcome of the long slugfest remained in doubt under the pressure of repeated Japanese air, land, and sea operations. And losses were heavy. At sea, in a half-dozen fiery combats, the US Navy fought the Imperial Japanese Navy to a draw, but at a cost of more than 4,500 sailors. More American sailors died in these battles off Guadalcanal than in all previous US wars, and each side lost 24 warships. On land, more than 1,500 soldiers and Marines died, and the air war claimed more than 500 US planes. Japan’s losses on the island were equally devastating–starving Japanese soldiers called it “the island of death.”
But when the attritional struggle ended, American Marines, sailors, and airmen had halted the Japanese juggernaut that for five years had whirled through Asia and the Pacific. Guadalcanal was America’s first major ground victory against Japan and, most importantly, the Pacific War’s turning point.
Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with Marine Corps and Army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual Marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
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This is a retelling of the 6-month battle of Guadalcanal, one of the most important turning points of the Pacific war. The book depends mainly on secondary sources, most of which I had already read in my 50-years of studying the topic. But author Joseph Wheelan uses them to tell bring a strong you-are-there narrative to his story of desperate combat in all three elements–air, land, and sea. The book is also an interesting contrast to John Prados’ Islands of Destiny, which covers Guadalcanal in its first half and then moves on to the northern Solomon Island battles of 1943 to give a more cerebral overview of the complete campaign. Both are worthy additions to Pacific conflict literature.
Midnight in the Pacific tells in vivid detail from early August until mid November 1942, US Marines, sailors, and pilots struggle against Japanese soldiers. The prize: Henderson Airfield which both sides felt if they could win it, the battle would be over. No matter how hard the Japanese tried the American military gave it back just as hard or harder.
Both countries suffered heavy losses. For example, at sea after six fiery battles, the US Navy and the Japanese Navy kept fighting to a draw. Twenty four warships on each side lost and countless lives with them. Ground force battles matched the deadly battles at sea. And at times the US and Japan struggled to adequately feed their armies. As a result each nation’s soldiers suffered undernourishment from lack of food and water, and suffered many illnesses that furthered weakened their bodies.
Yet both sides refused to stop the fierce fighting until finally American marines, sailors, and airmen began to gain the upper hand more and more against the Japanese. Until finally, Japan’s five-year grip on Asia and the Pacific came to an end. Midnight in the Pacific shows how Guadalcanal became the turning point of the Pacific war.
Author Joseph Wheelan’s narrative brings the events of 75 years ago back to life. The more I read in books like this and watch war film documentaries, the more knowledge and insight I gain into WWII. I have long been keen to know all I can about this period in our history and I hope it never fades. With books like Midnight in the Pacific I am sure it won’t.
Add Joseph Wheelan’s Midnight in the Pacific: Guadalcanal – The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War to the canon of outstanding World War II narrative non-fiction.
Wheelan offers readers an in-depth exploration of all phases of the battle, from the initial confusion by the Japanese army of U.S. interest in the island (the Japanese navy had failed to tell their land-based counterparts that they had nearly completed a massive airfield on Guadalcanal) to the final escape of roughly 10,000 emaciated, diseased soldiers from the island. There is good reason for the doggerel “And when he gets to Heaven | To St. Peter he will tell: | One more Marine reporting, sir — | I’ve served my time in hell.
In between he recounts the individual battles that comprised the campaign, the hellish conditions faced by men on both sides (it wasn’t uncommon for a soldier to know the agonies of dysentery and malaria, often simultaneously – to say nothing of the tropical conditions that caused clothing to literally disintegrate), and the cultural divide that so drove strategy on both sides of the war. Probably my favorite example is the Japanese Vice Admiral’s report on a particularly brutal battle (for the Japanese) in which he wrote: “The situation isn’t developing to our advantage.” Indeed. Likewise, Wheelan enumerates the differences between American and Japanese soldiers in which he notes that the Japanese pilots rarely used their parachutes, in stark contrast the Americans who did everything possible to live to fight another day…and to live, period.
As I said, this is one of the great World War II works out there, along with the likes of Lost in Shangri-La, On the Eve of a Hundred Midnights, Flyboys, and Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Perhaps even more than the others, Wheelan captures the hellish environment in which such hellish battles were fought. Coupled with the fact that the Marines’ average age was 20, it’s easy to see why this was the greatest generation.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2018/04/midnight-in-pacific-guadalcanal-world.html)
Factual story from a veteran that was there. Cannot get any better than that.
Hard to put down once you start reading. Recommend this to anyone interested in History
Fascinating story about a part of WWII of which I knew nothing. Wow! Those guys were super-humans. True heroes! Better than fiction.
It was interesting to read about this very impotant WWII battle. Well written.
Fast-paced overview of the battle many are now saying was the turning point in the Pacific War.
Good history lesson. Had heard how the Navy Brass left the Marines unprotected and this covered it well. Shows what our fighting men had to go through during this major battle.
Very good overview of the Guadacanal Campaign.
Although the subject is war I appreciated this book because I wanted to know more about my late husband’s service on Guadalcanal.
He spent nearly two years there and most accounts of that history end with the withdrawal of the major forces of the Japanese. This book helped fill in more of the story.
A book of Informative information of WWll. The Hell the Navy, Marines and Army went through to takestop and take back Guadalcanal
Extremely well written and very detailed coverage of the Quadacanal campaign from both the Anerican and Japanese perspectives. I enjoyed reading about the contributions of the Cactus Air Force and the Japanese prowess in surface warfare, especially in the use of their long Lance torpedos.
Quite detailed view of the battle. Excellent job of listing the players and their respective strategies.