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Biography & Autobiography. History. Military. Nonfiction. HTML:#1 New York Times Bestseller: A "superb" eyewitness account of one of the bloodiest and most pivotal battles of World War II (Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down). On August 7, 1942, eleven thousand US Marines landed on Tulagi and Guadalcanal Islands in the South Pacific. It was the first major Allied offensive against Japanese forces; the first time in history that a combined air, land, and sea assault had ever been attempted; and, after six months of vicious fighting, a crushing defeat for the Empire of Japan and a major turning point in the Pacific War. Volunteer combat correspondent Richard Tregaskis was one of only two journalists on hand to witness the invasion of Guadalcanal. He risked life and limb to give American readers a soldier's experience of the war in the Pacific, from the suffocating heat and humidity to the unique terror of fighting in tall, razor-sharp grass and in crocodile-infested jungle streams against a concealed enemy. In understated yet graceful prose, Tregaskis details the first two months of the campaign and describes the courage and camaraderie of young marines who prepared for battle knowing that one in four of them wouldn't make it home. An instant bestseller when it was first published in 1943 and the basis for a popular film of the same name, Guadalcanal Diary set the standard for World War II reportage. Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the literary events of its time," it is a masterpiece of war journalism whose influence can be found in classic works such as John Hersey's Hiroshima, Michael Herr's Dispatches, and Dexter Filkins's The Forever War. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Richard Tregaskis including rare images from the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming..… (more)
User reviews
At any rate, despite the reservations provided above, Guadalcanal Diary is indeed a fascinating account of the first weeks of one of the most horrific and protracted battles of World War Two.
The historical significance of Guadalcanal consisted of the fact that it was the first land battle between American and Axis troops during the Second World War (the U.S. landing in North Africa came a few months later).
But Tregaskis was not interested in the broad strategy. This is history told at ground level, stories of men (always identified by their home town – e.g., Lieut. Col. William S. Fellers of Atlanta, Ga.) engaged in personal combat. Encounters with Japanese snipers, enemy craft bombarding the shore, Zero fighters coming in to bomb and strafe, are still frightening to read now, eight decades later.
Tregaskis does find some men who panic, some who flee, some who hide — but the vast majority display incredible heroism under fire. However, his description of the enemy is unflattering in the extreme and will make for uncomfortable reading today.
The book was published in 1943 and gave Americans at home a bird’s-eye view of the battle in the Pacific as he lived alongside the soldiers and experienced all that they did. Morale was high even though they were dealing with night raids, snipers and bombing attacks. Even dealing with disease, lack of food and sleep, he was able to let America know that their “boys’ were performing well.
Guadalcanal Diary is frontline reporting at it’s best. Written in diary form, there is very little about “me” or “I”. It’s all about the soldiers. The story is engrossing and historically accurate, written in simple prose that highlights the slang of the day and grounds the book in reality. This is an honest and compelling account of what the Marines were facing as they fought and liberated this small corner of the Pacific.