NEW hardcover

Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles Carrier Operations in the Solomons, AugustOctober 1942 Hammel, Eric

GUADALCANALDecision at SeaThe Naval Battle of GuadalcanalNovember 1315,1942Eric HammelGuadalcanal: Decision at Sea is a fullblown examination in vivid detail of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 1315, 1942, a crucial step toward Americas victory over the Japanese during World War IIThe threeday air and naval action incorporated Americas most decisive surface battle of the war and the only naval battle of this century in which American battleships directly confronted and mortally wounded an enemy battleship This American victory decided the future course of the naval war in the Pacific, indeed of the entire Pacific War Hammelhas brilliantly blended the detailed historical records with personal accounts of many ofthe officers and enlisted men involved, creating an engrossing narrative of the strategyand struggle as seen by both sides He has also included major new insights into crucialdetails of the battles, including a riveting account of the American forces failure toeffectively use their radar advantageOriginally published in 1988 as the concluding volume in Eric Hammels series of threeindependent books focusing on the Guadalcanal campaign and exploring all the elementsthat made it a turning point of the war in the Pacific, Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea lives upto the high standards and expectations that have marked this authors many historicalbooks and articlesPraise for Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea and Eric HammelHammels description of surface tactics, naval gunnery, and what happens when theorder to abandon ship is given is vivid and memorable Publishers Weekly[Hammels] detailed and fastpaced chronicle includes a number of incidents andanecdotes not found in the more prosaic official histories Sea PowerMeticulously wellresearched and scholarly, but still readable Author Hammel presentsan interesting account of the threephase battle with frequently gripping shipbyship,planebyplane, blowbyblow narratives laden with many humaninterest vignettes fromboth sides The Hook[Hammel] mixes action with his history, the result being a highly readable story difficultto put down Riverside PressEnterpriseHammels painstaking reconstruction affords not only a wealth of strategic and tacticaldetail but also a full measure of critical judgements a kaleidoscopic but invariablyintelligible accounts of key actions Kirkus ReviewsHammel does not write dry history His battle sequences are masterfully portrayed Library Journal