This addition to the Images of War series highlights probably the second most important campaigns of the Pacific War. This was the Solomons campaign. It started at the south of the island chain on an island called Guadalcanal where the Japanese were expanding its military presence by building an air field. This was being built using mostly Korean conscript workers.

Such was the surprise that the Marines landed pretty much unopposed as the workers fled into the jungle. Of course, this unopposed time only lasted a short time as those Japanese troops that were there started making things difficult for US troops. It also took little time for the brass to realize that they had to remove the US from the island before they became entrenched and got the airfield in operational condition.

Thus began some of the more intense battles between untested US forces and the more experienced Japanese. Not only was this on the island, but also in the skies above and the seas surrounding. It is fortunate for the US that the Japanese used a piecemeal approach for the ground war, though there were several instances when things were very much in question.

In line with other books in this series, there is a small historical part of every section, with the majority of the book consisting of period photographs. Those of us who have been around for a while will recognize some of the images presented, though I have to say that most of them were not familiar at all. This is one of the longer books in the series and it is a superb reference. If you are as large a fan of this campaign as am I, then you will very much enjoy this one. Highly recommended.

March 2026

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