Illustrated throughout, an expert's account of a key battle between the US and Japan.

On what was a virtually unheard of Pacific island, the United States shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility. In the first American amphibious assault of the Second World War, the US Marines and Army halted the apparently irresistible Japanese advance in its tracks. Over 30,000 American and Japanese casualties were suffered in five months of bitter fighting.

From the ranks of the units that contested this campaign a seasoned fighting force of US veterans was created that would, island by island, sweep the Japanese back across the Pacific.

Joseph N. Mueller is a Lieutenant Colonel in the USMC Reserve and the foremost expert on the Guadalcanal campaign. He has had several articles and books published on the subject, and maintains a massive collection of photos, written material and equipment relevant to the battle. Over the years, he has made several trips to Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands to study the battlefield at first hand.