New Georgia: Pattern For Victory

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Campaign #15

by Dick Crofton Horton

In very good condition. Pages are clean and unmarked and binding is tight. Cover shows minor shelf wear. We ship immediately!

Genres: World War II, History

160 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 1971

Reviews

[Andrew Wardle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Solid, informative military history from a series of 1960s monographs about campaigns of WWII. This short, lavishly-illustrated book tells the story of the first island hops following the Allied victory at Guadalcanal. This campaign is always relegated to a few lines in larger histories, dwarfed by the epic of Guadalcanal, but actually there was fierce fighting in the Central Solomons too - in frequently appalling conditions where difficult terrain created as many difficulties as the Japanese forces. The author is good on the lessons learned in New Georgia - tactically the vital importance of inter-service and inter-Allied cooperation, the fanatical courage but tactical inflexibility of the Japanese, conduct of combined-arms attacks, and strategically the ability to bypass some Japanese island garrisons and allow them to "wither on the vine". As a Coastwatcher himself, he also pays due tribute to that organisation and the Solomon islanders themselves, who supplied the Allies with accurate and timely intelligence, rescued stranded sailors and airmen, and harassed the Japanese throughout the campaign. Though his personal involvement means he does tell the story of the ordinary soldier very well, this is nicely-balanced with a more broad-brush historical perspective. Though of course a whole chapter has to be devoted to the story of a certain Lt. John F. Kennedy's brush with danger on PT-109.......
Faults ? Like others in this series, it could have benefited from some editing. The author's style consists of long, breathless sentences with little punctuation, which can be difficult to read. And some of his more prolix passages should have been shortened:
".......and general assistance of all kinds"
A list of captured stores ending with "various miscellaneous items"
"The terrain.......bedevilled movement impartially - whether Japanese or Allied"
But overall, if you want the Central Solomons campaign in more detail than "amphibious operations went on to capture the larger islands of the Central Solomons chain for use as air and naval bases", this is the book for you.

[robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A very detailed look at some rather small scale battles for New Gorgia. But very informative about what was happening on the periphery of the Japanese campaign. Nice info about J. F. Kennedy and how he was saved after his PT Boat was sunk. Great deal of info about the various armaments used by both sides with detailed drawings and photos. But a bit too much detail about the individual squads, companies and battalions involved. More maps of the many engagements detailing the battles would have helped. Great photographs. And only $1 back in 1971!

[George Kasnic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book I purchased through Thrift Books. A previous reader had copied a map page which was useful as an easy reference and a bookmark. The book covers an early, little known in the US, and ground breaking campaign in WWII. Written by a coast watcher it does a serviceable jib of an operational overview of the campaign. The Japanese are treated with historical honesty which is unusual for this series which is normally Anglophile and dismissive of other cultures. That the author is Australian probably accounts for this difference.

Rife with maps and drawings I could follow geographically. The only improvement would be more tactical maps covering the tactical actions in detail.

[James Varney · Rating 3 out of 5]

These Ballantine books are almost all worthwhile for their looks at World War II, and it is astonishing the publishing world once put out a series like this - retailing for $1!! - and assumed there'd be an audience for it. When you see the drek they flood the market with these days, it's hard to believe experts once wrote these solid military histories for a mass audience.

Horton's book's best part is the tale of the "Coastwatchers," the kind of native-guerrilla intelligence network the allies used (to great advantage) in the South Pacific theater. These are amazing stories of courage and success.

The book as a whole, however, is quite dry and bogged down with long sentences that list every unit and commander.