Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island

Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island by Wukovits, John. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780451208736.

Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a tiny number of Marines, Navy and Army personnel, and citizen construction workers on Wake Island found themselves defending the coral atoll from a Japanese landing force; they managed to sink a destroyer and damage several other ships. Over three weeks, the island came under repeated attack and eventually was taken by the Japanese. US casualties were about 100 killed in action, while Japanese losses were approximately 700. Wukovits tells the tale of the surprising Wake holdout based on interviews with survivors and on US and Japanese records. He is the author of several military biographies and articles in publications such as The Journal of Military History . Includes a handful of maps and 42 B&W photos. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)