THE BATTLE FOR GUADALCANAL
Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith, II, USMC (Ret)
VG/VG. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott
Company, 1963. First Edition.
Maps, notes, index, 282 pages.
Dated inscription on half-title page
[possibly from author, but I have not been able to
verify this. See picture. I would appreciate hearing
from anyone who could verify whether this inscription
is or is not in Gen. Griffith's hand]. If I can
verify the inscription as the General's, I will raise the price to $65. Otherwise, book will
remain priced at $45.
~~~ "Masterful pacing, vivid
character sketches, and gripping action blend with rigorous historical detail in
Samuel B. Griffith's The Battle for Guadalcanal.
~~~ Launched on August 7,
1942, to protect Allied control of the strategic South Pacific islands, the
Guadalcanal operation was the most costly American offensive in the history of
the U.S. Navy up to that time. Griffith, who fought with Edson's Raiders on
Guadalcanal, describes in gritty detail the vicious close-range fighting, the
valiant defense of the Henderson Field airstrip, and the dramatic naval
engagements that led, in February 1943, to an American victory.
~~~ Drawing on American and
Japanese sources, Griffith delineates the strategic decisions that shaped the
conflict as well as the determination and endurance of combatants on both sides.
A breathtaking narrative of military action anchored by a historian's
objectivity, The Battle for Guadalcanal is a story of raw courage,
desperate measures, and ultimate triumph."
"Samuel B. Griffith graduated from the U.S.
Naval Academy in 1929, he accepted a
commission as a second lieutenant in the United
States Marine Corps. Prior to
World War II, he took part in the Second Nicaraguan Campaign, and served in
China, Cuba, and England. During his first tour of duty in China, he was a
language officer at the American Embassy in Peiping. During World War II,
following a period observing British commando training in England and Scotland,
he returned to the 1st Marine Division and served as executive officer and later
commander of the 1st Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal, and executive officer of
the 1st Raider Regiment in operations on New Georgia. He earned the Navy Cross
on Guadalcanal in September 1942 for “extreme heroism and courageous devotion to
duty” during the fighting near the Matanikau River. During this action, Griffith suffered wounds for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. For his
exploits in July in New Georgia, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service
Cross. ~~~ After participating in the
post-World War II occupation of North China, where he commanded the 3d Marines
and later the U.S. Marine Forces in Tsingtao, he was a student and then a
faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport from 1947 to 1950. From
1951 to 1952, he was Chief of Staff, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, and from 1953
to 1956, General Griffith was on the staff of the U.S. Commander in Chief,
Europe. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1956, after completing more than 25
years of active service. ~~ Following his retirement,
General Griffith entered Oxford University (New College) and was awarded his
D.Phil. in Chinese Military History in 1961. With an interest in China and the
Chinese language dating back to pre-World War II
days, he translated Sun Tzu’s
The Art of War in 1963 and Mao Tse-tung’s
On Guerrilla War in 1978. He also
wrote the definitive The Battle for Guadalcanal,
The Chinese People’s Liberation
Army, and his last major work was In Defense
of the Public Liberty, a
book concerned with the Revolutionary War. He was a
Research Fellow, China
Study, at the Council on Foreign Relations and a
member of the Institute for
Defense Studies in London. General Griffith
published widely in such journals as
New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post,
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings,
Town and
Country, Marine Corps Gazette, and
Foreign Affairs. He has also lectured widely
at such establishments as the Armed Forces Staff College, United States Military
Academy, Foreign Policy Association, Marine Corps
Schools, among other places.
General Griffith was a life member of the 1st Marine Raider Association and the
1st Marine Division Association."
Nice copy of scarce first edition in jacket of an important classic by a Marine Raider commander.
$45.00
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