During the six months covered by Volume 5: The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942-February 1943, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements in waters surrounding Guadalcanal, more bitter and bloody than any naval battle in American history since 1814. From the Solomon Islands campaigns to the courageous action of Edson's Raiders at the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, from the great three-day Naval Battle of Guadalcanal to the Battle of Tassafaronga, Morison describes the events of these excruciating months in thrilling, heartbreaking detail from the shipdecks, cockpits, and exposed ridge-tops where the fate of thousands of soldiers and sailors was decided.

A detailed account of the Americans' first ground offensive against the Japanese in World War II, which occurred in August 1942 on the island of Guadalcanal.