The American landing on Guadalcanal on Aug. 7 ... a succession of naval engagements that cost 48 total warships between U.S. and Japanese forces. Among numerous naval heroes who emerged from ...

The construction of that airfield set the stage for an epic air, sea and land battle that pitted American and Japanese forces against one another in the decisive campaign of the Pacific war.

In August 1942, US South Pacific (SOPAC) command headquarters was still reeling from defeat. At the Battle of Savo, four cruisers were sunk and the rest of the fleet retreated in confusion. Ashore on ...

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has, along with this book, written Beneath the Southern Cross, also published by Osprey, a history of air operations against Rabaul that included the Guadalcanal campaign, two ...