From the author of the bestselling Abandon Ship! comes a classic work of World War II history.
Richard F. Newcomb is one of the true masters of military storytelling. The Battle of Savo Island is the story of the opening engagement of the Solomon Islands campaign, a unique chapter in naval history. It was the first surface encounter for a coordinated American force in nearly half a century and a very bad start. Courage and will were never lacking, but the Imperial Japanese Navy was about to hand the U.S. Navy the bitterest defeat in its history.
Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2002
In the fall of 1961, I read the original version of this work. Upon completion, I was troubled and puzzled. I reviewed the entire work finding no answers to my many questions. This has little to do with the brilliant writing of Mr. Newcomb. In a highly interesting style, Mr. Newcomb wrote what history had to offer. It was the history itself that caused the quandaries. This is a fascinating battle with many questions yet today, and it represents the worst naval battle defeat of our Navy, which few know about. The many unanswered questions were taken up 35 years later, in 1996, when I commenced research for ¿The Bode Testament,¿ which appears on this site. Is there any higher compliment to a book that it becomes the basis for another? That the subject matter and the excellent writing of Mr. Newcomb were so pervasive that it was recalled 3 ½ decades later. I think not.
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Overview
From the author of the bestselling Abandon Ship! comes a classic work of World War II history.
Richard F. Newcomb is one of the true masters of military storytelling. The Battle of Savo Island is the story of the opening engagement of the Solomon Islands campaign, a unique chapter in naval history. It was the first surface encounter for a coordinated American force in nearly half a century and a very bad start. Courage and will were never lacking, but the Imperial Japanese Navy ...