One of the most important American works of World War II, this celebrated classic gives a soldier’s-eye-view of the pivotal Guadalcanal battles—featuring an introduction by Mark Bowden and an afterword by Moana Tregaskis.
“The book’s secret is the simple secret of all good reporting—fidelity and detail.”—Time
“[
Guadalcanal Diary
] is invaluable as an accurate, ground-level account of a turning point in history, as a superb example of war reporting at its best, and a lasting contribution to American literature.”—Mark Bowden, from the introduction
Unlike some of those on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Richard Tregaskis volunteered to be there. An on-location news correspondent (at the time, one of only two on Guadalcanal), he lived alongside the soldiers: sleeping on the ground, only to be awoken by air raids; eating the sometimes meager rations; and braving some of the most dangerous battlefields of World War II. He more than once narrowly escaped the enemy’s fire, and so we have this incisive and exciting inside account of the groundbreaking initial landing of U.S. troops on Guadalcanal.