Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles - Carrier Operations in the Solomons, August-October 1942

Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles - Carrier Operations in the Solomons, August-October 1942 by Hammel, Eric. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780517566084.

The second in a series of full-length books by the author to focus on the Guadalcanal campaign, specifically the pivotal aircraft carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz. Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea is a full-blown examination in vivid detail of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13-15, 1942, a crucial step toward America’s victory over the Japanese during World War II. The three-day air and naval action incorporated America’s most decisive surface battle of the war and the only naval battle of this century in which American battleships directly confronted and mortally wounded an enemy battleship. This American victory decided the future course of the naval war in the Pacific, indeed of the entire Pacific War. Hammel has brilliantly blended the detailed historical records with personal accounts of many of the officers and enlisted men involved, creating an engrossing narrative of the strategy and struggle as seen by both sides. He has also included major new insights into crucial details of the battles, including a riveting account of the American forces’ failure to effectively use their radar advantage. This is the concluding volume in Eric Hammel’s series of three independent books focusing on the Guadalcanal campaign and exploring all the elements that made it a turning point of the war in the Pacific.