“A literary tour de force that is destined to become one of the . . . definitive works about the battle for Guadalcanal . . . [James D.] Hornfischer deftly captures the essence of the most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war.”—San Antonio Express-News The Battle of Guadalcanal has long been heralded as a Marine victory. Now, with his powerful portrait of the Navy’s sacrifice, James D. … sacrifice, James D. Hornfischer tells for the first time the full story of the men who fought in destroyers, cruisers, and battleships in the narrow, deadly waters of “Ironbottom Sound.” Here, in stunning cinematic detail, are the seven major naval actions that began in August 1942, a time when the war seemed unwinnable and America fought on a shoestring, with the outcome always in doubt. Working from new interviews with survivors, unpublished eyewitness accounts, and newly available documents, Hornfischer paints a vivid picture of the officers and enlisted men who opposed the Japanese in America’s hour of need. The first major work on this subject in almost two decades, Neptune’s Inferno does what all great battle narratives do: It tells the gripping human stories behind the momentous events and critical decisions that altered the course of history and shaped so many lives.
Praise for Neptune’s Inferno
“Vivid and engaging . . . extremely readable, comprehensive and thoroughly researched.”—Ronald Spector, The Wall Street Journal
“Superlative storytelling . . . the masterwork on the long-neglected topic of World War II’s surface ship combat.”—Richard B. Frank, World War II
“The author’s two previous World War II books . . . thrust him into the major leagues of American military history writers. Neptune’s Inferno is solid proof he deserves to be there.”—The Dallas Morning News
“Outstanding . . . The author’s narrative gifts and excellent choice of detail give an almost Homeric quality to the men who met on the sea in steel titans.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Brilliant . . . a compelling narrative of naval combat . . . simply superb.”—The Washington Times
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This is a good non-fictional history of the naval battles around Guadacanal in WWII. It is well written and follows the chronology of events in a concise manner that made this an interesting read. It explained the important historical characters and how they played their parts in the battles as well as overall in the war.
This historian has produced four superb books to far on the U.S Navy in the Pacific in WW1. My own favourite is this one – it concentrates on the naval action of the Guadalcanal campaign in late 1942. The scope is vast but the writer brings every aspect alive, setting every action into the larger strategic context and never losing sight of the …
Tremendous insight coupled with excruciating detail lays out the course of the naval strategy and tactical failure and success of Guadalcanal. Another excellent work by a sterling naval historian.
Guadalcanal from the Navy perspective is remarkably different from the PR driven version made “standard” by the marines. Without explicitly saying so, this illuminates the transition from the peacetime Navy to the warrior Navy. Halsey becomes human and FDR gets a little more understandable. How these brave and crafty war fighters transition …
This is the definitive work describing the Naval side of the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II. Rich in detail, not just about the historical events, but about the men involved and why they mattered. The end might have been inevitable after the Battle of Midway, but the Japanese Navy was far from defeated in the second half of 1942. They …
Finally, after decades of reading books about the Marines on Guadalcanal, I now understand how tenuous the navy’s position was in the Pacific during the early years of WWII. Had the U.S. Navy had not left the Marines on Guadalcanal to the mercy of the Imperial Japanese Military during the early parts of the campaign, there would have been no …
It’s a wonderful story about the US Navy’s much needed contribution to the conquest of Guadalcanal. Without all their efforts the Marines would have not been able to hold on. Their many battles with the Japanese navy and their abilities to stop the reinforcement of the land forces of the Japanese. We lost many battles but learned swiftly from our …
Great history accont. Well researched and written!
Great history writing.
This factual acount of our navy and marines at Guadacanal is just an amazing story. I suspect a very small percentage of U.S. citizens alive today have any idea of what our armed forces had to endure in WWII in the south pacific. All Americans should read this.
excellent history of USN Guadalcanal sea actions.
The American navy in 1942 apparently was a walking talking disaster always about to happen. The idiotic mistakes made by hidebound admirals who seemed stuck in concepts from the age of sails makes it seem a miracle that we actually beat the Japanese navy at all. This book brings all that into focus and vividly illustrated the unbelievable …
One of the best if not the best books on Guadalcanal and the US Navy debacle at Iron Bottom Sound!
Detailed battle stories.
What a book!
I am retired Military. I have always had an interest in the history of WW II, and to be honest I thought I knew a great deal about the subject. However, this book really brought to light how little I actually did know about the contribution that the US Navy made to victory in the Pacific during the war.
The suthor does a masterful job …
Until I read this book I had little real knowledge of the ferocious battles at sea in the Pacific during WWII. I knew there were some but I thought they were mainly between carriers and some small numbers of surface craft, or primarily submarine warfare.
The terrifically destructive and vicious battles between our navy and the Imperial …
The history of Guadalcanal and its defense in WWII has focused on the heroic actions of the US Marine Corp. This book focuses on Naval action and Naval warfare. The huge Naval guns lofted almost unbelievable munitions up to one-ton shells but subjected our ships to enormous strain and destruction to deliver this destructive force. The Navy …
thought I knew a bit about this time in history…I was wrong.
It’s an amazing tactical summary of the naval action in and near Guadalcanal. I learned a lot. It’s not the stuff of Hollywood. It would have been nice to occasionally intersperse the immediacy with some operational or strategic interludes, to keep it all in context.
It’s hard to beat Hornfischer on history.
Shows some of the pivot points that moved America from a minor player in the world to one of the top players,