A history of the land battles in the Pacific with stirring personal accounts of the horrifying struggle between the Japanese and Allied forces.

"First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin ... 1996"--T.p. verso. Includes maps of: Pacific, Summer 1942; South Pacific, 1942-1943; American Campaign in the Solomon Islands and Bismarck Archipelago, August 7, 1942-February 29, 1944; Capture of New Georgia and Vella Lavella, June 30-August 22, 1943; Guadalcanal Campaign, August 7, 1942-February 8, 1943; American Perimeter on Guadalcanal, Fall 1942; American Invasion of Bougainville, November 1, 1943; Japanese Attack on American Perimeter - Bougainville, March 9-17, 1944; New Guinea, July 1942-January 1944; Kokoda Trail, July 21-November 18, 1942; Battle of Milne Bay, August 25-September 5, 1942; Allied Siege of Buna-Gona Fortified Zone, November 18, 1942-January 23, 1943; Pacific Theater - [Allied and Japanese Victories]. Filed in the multiple copy area, first floor. Includes Battle of Buna.

Introduction : the strategic magnet : a brief narrative of the war in the South Pacific -- Maps -- The war against the land -- The armies -- Weapons for a harsh war -- The squad war -- Day by day : morale in the South Pacific -- The war leaves the South Pacific -- Epilogue : war, peacetime, and memories of an old battle.