Blazing Star, Setting Sun

A masterful account of a vital five months in the bloody battle for the Pacific, giving fresh insights into the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign, a key turning point in both the Pacific Theater and World War II as a whole.

From popular Pacific Theater expert Jeffrey R. Cox comes this insightful new history of the critical Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign at the height of World War II. His previous book, Morning Star, Rising Sun, had found the US Navy at its absolute nadir and the fate of the Enterprise, the last operational US aircraft carrier at this point in the war, unknown. This new volume continues the history of this critical campaign, combining detailed research with a novelist's flair for the dramatic to reveal exactly how, despite missteps and misfortunes, the tide of war finally began to turn. There were hard-fought and costly American victories in the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal in November 1942, as well as the battle of Bismarck Sea in March 1943. By this point Japanese land forces had also been forced to withdraw from Guadalcanal itself marking the successful completion of the first Allied offensive campaign against Japan. From this point on, although the war was still a long way from being won, the American star was unquestionably on the ascendant, slowly, but surely, casting a long shadow over the Imperial Sun.

Jeffrey Cox's analysis and attention to detail of even the smallest events are second to none. But what truly sets this book apart is how he combines this microscopic attention to detail, often unearthing new facts along the way, with an engaging style that transports the reader to the heart of the story, bringing the events on the deep blue of the Pacific vividly to life.