NEW GEORGIA, BOUGAINVILLE, AND CAPE GLOUCESTER
The U.S. Marines in World War II
A Pictorial Tribute
by Eric Hammel
Hardcover Edition: $34.95

Although U.S. Marines had broken the back of the Japanese on Guadalcanal in furious combat between August 1942 and February 1943, much hard fighting remained to be endured on jungle-choked islands to the north. Between late 1942 and early 1944, the Marines on the ground and in the air took part in a series of battles and campaigns in central and northern Solomon Islands, all part of the effort to reach the Japanese regional base at Rabaul, at the northeastern tip of New Britain. Throughout these campaigns, first in New Georgia, then Bougainville, and finally Cape Gloucester in western New Britain, the Marines fought their way through some of the most difficult terrain and inhospitable weather encountered in World War II.

As a result of the victories along the Solomons chain and on New Britain, the mighty Japanese fortress at Rabaul was permanently isolated, thus securing the flank of the continuing U.S. Army and Australiam campaign for eastern New Guinea. The high tide of Japanese conquest in the South and Southwest Pacific areas had now receded, and the Marines were free to undertake the long-planned island-hopping campaign in the Central Pacific, all the way to Japan.

Military historian Eric Hammel has scoured the archives for photos of Marines in Pacific War combat and has unearthed thousands of rare, many never-before-published images. In this first comprehensive photographic history of the Marine battles in the Solomons and Cape Gloucester, Hammel has added to the success of his previous World War II Marine Corps pictorial histories, Pacific Warriors, Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle, and the first volume in this series, Guadalcanal. Hundreds of photographs coupled with Hammel’s insightful narrative provide a fitting tribute to the Marines who fought their way across the South Pacific.
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Leatherneck Magazine, August 2008:
"Eric Hammel's work is more than exceptional. He ties in his collected photos with a sage narrative that illuminates each shot. In an easy-to-understand package of words and photos."

Midwest Book Review, July 2008:
"Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor -- everyone knows of those battles, but there was much more to World War II in the Pacific. New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester is a pictorial history of these forgotten battles and the men who fought and died, only to be lost in the sands of time. Filled cover to cover with countless black and white photos and accompanying explanations, New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester is a top pick for community library photography and history collections."

USNI Proceedings:
“The operation at New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester have, according to some, ‘been poorly documented.’ Hammel remedies this with a striking pictorial tribute to these South Pacific warriors. His first-class research adds much to this fascinating collection of photos.”

Military Trader:
"This book comprises the most complete collection of combat photos of U.S. Marine Corps operations in New Georgia, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester and Rabaul that we are likely to see, with photo reproductions of impeccable quality. These campaigns have not received the coverage of more 'glamorous' Marine Corps battles, such as Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa. Thus, this generaously illustrated work is a most welcome tribute, and treat."