Guadalcanal Diary

by Richard Tregaskis

Book Overview

This celebrated classic gives a soldier's-eye-view of the Guadalcanal battles--crucial to World War II, the war that continues to fascinate us all, and to military history in general. 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679640231
• ISBN13: 9780679640233
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Modern Library
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A classic WWII story

This was one of the earliest & realistic books about America's first offensive operation against the Japanese Empire during WWII. While the book lacks in details in some places due to Wartime censureship. It still is a great book about our fight in one of the most hellish places in the world against one very tough foe & where we could not lose.

Classic reporting from the front lines

"Guadalcanal Diary" is a classic of war reportage. In the first American offensive of World War II, Tregaskis went ashore with the Marines at Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 and stayed with them for the next six weeks while they fought for survival against the Japanese. Appropriately, he focuses the book on the fighting men rather than himself, giving the name and hometown of Marines he met or were worthy of special mention."Diary" is a bit understated, perhaps due to wartime censors. Tregaskis mentions disease, the shortages of food and equipment, and the sense of the marines that they were abandoned by the Navy and forgotten by the "Brass." I suspect, however, that the fear and desperation of the Marines at Guadalacanal were considerably stronger than he expressed. I recommend you read "Diary" with a modern account of the battle for Guadalcanal and maps at your side. You can then compare Tregaskis' account of events with those of later scholars. I found "Diary" to be believable in most details and atmosphere -- which is not always the case with on the spot reportage.

Good book

It's a good book. The eyewitness account of a war correspondent during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Guadalcanal Diary's a book that should be read by anyone with an interest World War II. I read it in either junior high school or high school, I can't remember which, and I loved it.Soldiers and Marines were forbidden from using cameras and keeping diaries because if they were killed or captured,they'd provide good intelligence for the enemy. War correspondents, like Richard Tergaskis, weren't under any such prohibitions. World War II was the first war with embedded reporters. And you thought it was Operation IraqiFreedom. Didn't you? Well, 'tain't so! I highly recommend it.