The battle for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, an important turning point of the war in the Pacific, is now recognized as one of the most vital campaigns in all our history.

Richard Tregaskis, a war correspondent for International News Service during World War II, was with the marines when they landed on the Japanese-held island of Guadalcanal in the summer of 1942. For seven crucial weeks he ate, slept, and sweated with our front-line units. He also kept a diary, in which he described the island's occupation by our forces and their magnificent defense of that seven-mile strip against innumerable attacks by superior air, land and sea forces. This remarkable diary was originally published in 1943, and has since become a classic of World War II reporting.

For this shorter, Landmark edition Mr. Tregaskis has written several new chapters to tell how the battle for Guadalcanal fitted into the history of the war in the Pacific. Thus the reader will gain an understanding of why the battle for Guadalcanal ranks in importance with Valley Forge and Gettysburg.

From the book