Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal - Softcover

Hornfischer, James D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553385127 ISBN 13: 9780553385120

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2012

Synopsis

The strategies, tactics, decisions, personalities and controversies that turned America's audacious gamble in the South Pacific into its first successful offensive of World War II Written with the storytelling drive that made Jim Hornfischer's first two books award winners and word-of-mouth favourites, here is an indispensable work of narrative history by one of the most commanding chroniclers of the U.S. Navy in World War II. The fight between the U.S. and Japanese fleets for control of the seas around Guadalcanal was the most ferocious and important naval campaign of the Pacific war. In this, the first major account of this landmark struggle in two decades, Hornfischer narrates an epic tale, breathtaking in its spectacle, of naval combat unprecedented in its intensity. Off Guadalcanal, in seas that would become known as Iron Bottom Sound for the number of warships sunk in action there, three U.S. sailors would die for every marine who perished ashore. Based on three years of research, including interviews with veterans who have never spoken publicly before, essential new archival sources, and the latest scholarship, Hornfischer gives vivid life to the story of a nearly forgotten sacrifice, written on a canvas that is at once epic and deeply, poignantly human.

About this title

Review:

"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

"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, HistoryNet

"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

"The star of this year's reading list is James D. Hornfischer, a military historian whose flair for narrative is rivaled only by his ability to organize the sweep of battle and assess strategy and tactics in layman's terms."--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"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

About the Author:

James D Hornfischer is a writer, literary agent and former book editor. He is the author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, both widely acclaimed accounts of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0553385127
• ISBN 13: 9780553385120
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576