Battle for the Solomons

by Ira Wolfert

Battle for the Solomons is Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ira Wolfert's dazzling account of the fierce land, sea, and air fighting in the Solomon Islands during 1942. Wolfert was in the thick of it, facing death alongside the troops, and he reproduces events as they happen in real time, making for a tense, suspenseful read. Wolfert risked his life on several occasions for the sake of authenticity, and survived to write this, one of the most remarkable combat memoirs of World War 2.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Ebooks, World War II

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[jparvinjr]

I found this reading boring.

This book didn't keep you in the moment. I would not recommend this book.This book not worth reading or to be passed on.

[Rita L Houser]

Raw Experiences of a War correspondent

I loved the language of the period, the heartfelt words that described the fighting going on. Personal stories abound of this greatest generation.

[Fred M]

Old. Outdated. Odd Writing. Exaggerated Claims of One-sided Victories.

There’s not much to recommend here.

The writing has a very odd style. E.g., referring to a destroyer’s sub-hunting as like a cat hunting for a mouse or saying that an air battle between an American PBY and a Japanese search aircraft was like a chicken attacking a hawk. Perhaps the author didn’t think non-combatants could possibly understand actual warfare, and so the author kept describing war fighting in terms civilians might relate to. After a while, the reader gets used to the writing style; but that style was unlike any other WW II history book I’ve read.

This book is essentially about some of the land, sea and air fighting around Guadalcanal after American forces captured Henderson Field, but well before America’s hold on that small portion of Guadalcanal was secure. This history is told from the point of view of an embedded-in-place reporter. So the content is based on what the reporter saw or experienced (and was permitted to report) plus what others told him. And based on the many one-sided land, sea and air victories that the author wrote about, much of what he was being told was highly exaggerated, if not simply untrue. Are you writing propaganda if you don’t know the extent of the air and naval losses being incurred by our armed forces as we struggled to maintain our foothold on Guadalcanal?

Bottom Line: Not much to recommend. Main point of interest is to see the kind of overly optimistic reporting that was being produced early in the Pacific War, when the US was trying to hang on to their Guadalcanal foothold.

Note: The title says “Illustrated”. I’m not sure why as this Kindle book only had about 10 photos.

[Karen B. Alexander]

Very interesting

I love history. And reading the account and observations of this news person took me right to the battles. I found his observations of the troops very interesting. We send very young men to war and they come through time and again. Their interaction with the locals.

[Kevin O'Brien]

An interesting perspective

The author is an accomplished writer with a flair for language. His "has it happened" narrative is a new insight into the second world war for me, similar to Earned Kyle's narratives.

[Bud Miles]

Intimate insight into the island war in the Pacific.

This book is not a thriller that pulls you in, but it is a thoughtful insight that opens your eyes to what difficulties our troops endured.

[Douglas]

Sobering

[TomD77]

This contemporaneous account of the Guadalcanal series of battles in 1942 was surprisingly good, one of the best of its type that I've read.

[Marc Fox]

Through the Eyes of a Reporter

I enjoyed reading about Guadalcanal from a reporter's viewpoint instead of a historian. Much more emotion have life to the battles.

[Todd Haines]

From a war reporter

I guess I didn't read the description well as this is one long essay from a war reporter. Very different perspective here. Good book though.

[Robert Thornburg]

outstanding

I’ve read many books on Guadalcanal, but this one has a human touch that makes it novel
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[Jim Leman]

Liked the journalists reporting and style very much.

[Stephen Kness]

Different view of WWII

Enjoyable read.
He was able to be personal yet objective and brought out the view of the war a different way

[Robert Marsett]

Interesting to read contemporary accounts of events without the benefit of knowing the eventual outcome.

[Terry]

Reading "The Battle for the Solomons" offers a window into a turbulent wartime history, immersing me in the distinct vernacular and colloquialisms of the 1940s. While some reviewers dismiss the prose as boring or outdated, I find it far more humanistic, colorful, and intelligently relatable than the sterile, "punctuationally perfect" books common in today's literary market. Perhaps my appreciation stems from the fact that most of my high school and college teachers served in WW2, some served in the Pacific theater. I also had uncles who served in the Pacific theater one was a belly gunner in a bomber who survived something like 54 missions out of Rabaul. Their own way of speaking reflected the very style captured in this book it is the tone and cadence that the “Greatest Generation” used to describe their experiences. I consider myself very fortunate to have learned from these incredible individuals.

[Robert Clancy]

An unusual, first person account of this crucial battle in the Pacific during WWII. The journalist/author has a quirky style of writing with phrases that are genuinely 1942. He tends to be a cheer-leader as opposed to an objective journalist but since he was on the ground perhaps he couldn't be otherwise. An interesting read.

[Philip J]

Beautiful writing

Ira Wolfert won a Pulitzer Prize with this book. It is a collection of stories he filed from Guadalcanal. Reading it will lift your spirit. Written in the opening weeks of World War II in the Pacific Wolfert introduces us to dozens of the brave young men fighting for the American cause. He usually tells us their job before they joined the service: bank teller, farm hand, street car conductor, etc. He shows us how ordinary people can do heroic deeds. His last chapter includes a paean of praise to those who did grunt work supporting troops on the front lines. He says those who faithfully perform the mundane, often boring tasks in support of the war effort are the ones with real “guts.”
If WWII interests you, you will find this to be an excellent choice.

[Daniel Patitz]

Just an overview

The book was a historian's point of view from 20 years after the incident.It did not have very many personal stories.I would have liked to have more of the stories of the people involved.

[Richard R Thomas]

The bygone vernacular of the authors time in history, once was difficult,but became a fluid and soothing voice .

Fun to go back in time with a dialogue of that time. Almost stopped reading until I fell into the authors voice and love of subject. Worth the time spent and we'll done!

[Charles m smith jr]

Interest view of the war from a non combatant.

Little slow at the beginning. However, the farther into the book you find that you are reading a story told from the new of a combatant who is right In the thick of the fighting. He carries no weapon only a pad and pin. He does yt

[James]

Educational


Well written. Has a few good stories. Has some good info which sounds plauseable.
Would recommend if nothing else available.

[Arnold T. Blostein]

Well written

This book is a well written collection of a respondent's work in the Pacific. He looks at what is occurring and gives his take on it.