Challenge for the Pacific

Guadalcanal: The Turning Point of the War

By: Robert Leckie

Narrated by: Kevin Foley

From the Japanese soldiers' carefully calculated - and ultimately foiled - attempt to build a series of impregnable island forts on the ground to the tireless efforts of the Americans who struggled against a tenacious adversary and the temperature and terrain of the island itself, Robert Leckie captures the loneliness, the agony, and the heat of 24-hour-a-day fighting on Guadalcanal.

Combatants from both sides are brought to life: General Archer Vandegrift, who first assembled an amphibious strike force; Isoruku Yamamoto, the naval general whose innovative strategy was tested; the island-born Allied scout Jacob Vouza, who survived hideous torture to uncover the enemy's plans; and Saburo Sakai, the ace flier who shot down American planes with astonishing ease.

Propelling the Allies to eventual victory, Guadalcanal was truly the turning point of the war. Challenge for the Pacific is an unparalleled, authoritative account of this great fight that forever changed our world.

©1964, renewed 1993 Robert Leckie (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Leckie puts you in the foxhole." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Great story

This book gives the reader a view of what
The marines and the army bid to hold guadual canal and other islands , they were the greater generation .

book great, narrator terrible

Who found this idiot? He does imitations of Japanese narrative like an old racist 1940s movie, the book is great, well researched and of course from Leckie. where do they find this combination of terrible AI and bad bad actual readers. must be on the cheap. You'll have to overcome this idiot.

The author is the real deal

This is well worth a second reading, which I will in the near future. Thanks for the second book!

one of Robert Leckies best

once I started listening I couldn't stop.
will definitely be listening to it again and again

Puts you in the action

This telling of the Guadalcanal story captures the desperation and valor of this critical campaign. The story flows like a novel, and unlike many history books, it really draws you into the story.

What made this story significant to me is the family connection. My father served with the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal and I recall him speaking of being abandoned on that island. He was seriously injured during Japanese shelling and evacuated to New Zealand. This book puts all this into context for me.

I previously listened to “Neptune’s Inferno“ which covers the naval battles of the Guadalcanal campaign. That book is an excellent follow up reading as there is little overlap, but they are closely linked nonetheless.