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Devil’s Fire, Southern Cross: The Conclusion of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, October 1943–February 1944
A fast-paced and absorbing read of the final months of the crucial Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign during the Pacific War by esteemed World War II historian Jeffrey Cox.
This page-turning history examines the closing months of the vital campaign which ultimately determined the successful conclusion of the Pacific War for the Allies. But it had not been a smooth process. The campaign continued in fits and starts with both the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy making crucial errors.
But as the pendulum of war swung, there was one distinct advantage to the Allies. This was the successful efforts by the United States Army Signals Intelligence Section and the Navy Communication Special Unit to monitor, intercept, decode and translate Japanese messages. It was thanks in part to this intelligence breakthrough that victory was secured at the Battles of Empress Augusta Bay and Cape St. George as well as the bitterly contested Bougainville invasion. But it was also due to improvements in strategic and tactical doctrine on the part of the US Navy, so much so that the Battle of Cape St. George was dubbed the almost textbook-perfect battle.
At the start of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign the US Navy was the underdog. By its conclusion, US naval commanders had come of age. Combining first-rate scholarly research with a novelist's flair for the dramatic, Jeff Cox concludes his brilliant quartet on this key campaign.
This page-turning history examines the closing months of the vital campaign which ultimately determined the successful conclusion of the Pacific War for the Allies. But it had not been a smooth process. The campaign continued in fits and starts with both the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy making crucial errors.
But as the pendulum of war swung, there was one distinct advantage to the Allies. This was the successful efforts by the United States Army Signals Intelligence Section and the Navy Communication Special Unit to monitor, intercept, decode and translate Japanese messages. It was thanks in part to this intelligence breakthrough that victory was secured at the Battles of Empress Augusta Bay and Cape St. George as well as the bitterly contested Bougainville invasion. But it was also due to improvements in strategic and tactical doctrine on the part of the US Navy, so much so that the Battle of Cape St. George was dubbed the almost textbook-perfect battle.
At the start of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign the US Navy was the underdog. By its conclusion, US naval commanders had come of age. Combining first-rate scholarly research with a novelist's flair for the dramatic, Jeff Cox concludes his brilliant quartet on this key campaign.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published June 3, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2026
The authors other books were good. This one was written more like an academic book with LOTS of details. He would tell all the types of planes in an attack and sometimes even the pilot names when that had little relationship to the overall story. These excessive details took away from the flow of the story. Not sure why it was written so differently than his other books.
February 25, 2026
Good, in-depth narrative of the end of the Solomon Islands campaign, but Lordy is the author's voice irritating.
March 22, 2026
a
A good overview of the conclusion of the Guadalcanal Solomons campaign. This is the third volume I have read by Jeffrey Cox
A good overview of the conclusion of the Guadalcanal Solomons campaign. This is the third volume I have read by Jeffrey Cox
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews