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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Morning of the Rising Sun Jul 22, 2008
This reader has had an interest in the campaign since reading Guadalcanal Diary as a lad and I have read any number of books since, but this is the first that ties everything together, dots the "i"s and crosses the "t"s. The naval action has always been something of a mystery to me, but Dr. Friedman had done a marvelous job by and large with charts depicting the various actions.
Additionally, both the Allied and Japanese perspectives are presented without the bias one often sees. Dr. Friedman does a remarkable job presenting the personalities of the Japanese commanders.
The chronology is seamless and one switches from ground action to naval to air with little effort on the reader's part. He is also adept at going from high level Allied conferences to the cockpit of an aircraft to the bridge of a ship giving a great sense of what it must have been like to be there. Having served in the Field Artillery in the Cold War Army, I found Friedman's account of its use, supply, and effects right on. I got the feeling of being right there watching.
I particularly liked the charts of the naval actions and their position alongside the text describing the action. Dr. Friedman manages to keep these complex operations in perspective in a manner that facilitates understanding.
The book is massive as other readers have pointed out, about seven-hundred pages. Once I picked it up, I had a hard time putting it down. A first printing, I picked out four or five typos, so the rate was less than one per hundred pages, excellent I would say.
This was a campaign that is often overlooked in favor of more glamorous actions. Friedman brings it to life and ties the various parts together particularly well.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
From Kirkus Discoveries, New York, NY Apr 01, 2008
A fastidious account of World War II's critical Battle of Guadalcanal.
Author and historian Friedman (Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 2001) pens an impressive, comprehensive treatise on what he views as the second World War's most pivotal battle. The island of Guadalcanal occupied a strategic position in the Pacific theatre, and military planners from both Japan and the United States believed it was key to controlling the region. When the confrontation began in August 1942, the outcome of the war in the Pacific was very much in question, if not entirely leaning in Japan's favor. The Japanese were clever and aggressive foes, the first to put significant numbers of men and a base on the island.
But, as Friedman shows, they vastly underestimated the Americans' resolve and presence in the region. From their dominant position in the Pacific arena, the Japanese were eventually reduced to a defensive crouch, a mind-set that plagued them for the remainder of the war. A natural storyteller, Friedman's account of the conflict is told in a compelling, narrative fashion that deftly pulls the reader through the book's hefty page count.
He does an excellent job analyzing both the micro--and macro--aspects of the battle, smoothly switching between the intimate conversations of
military leaders and the historical and political implications of an American victory in the war. Friedman is also careful to present a balanced, nonnationalistic approach to the conflict; the Japanese military is frequently portrayed as a cunning foil to the Americans' more headstrong forces.
Maps, charts and even diagrams of planes keep the pages moving and will wet the tongue of any amateur military strategist. It's a thoroughly, enthusiastically researched book that can only come from the desk of a true connoisseur of military history.
An impressive, meticulous and enjoyable must for any history buff's bookshelf.
Kirkus Discoveries.
March 31, 2008
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Great Reference to the Battles for Guadalcanal Mar 31, 2008
At 702 pages, Morning of the Rising Sun is not the type of book you'd pick up casually but it is the kind of book that once you pick it up you'll find very hard to put back down. Ken Friedman has found a way of taking dry facts and figures and the myriad details of conducting warfare and making them come alive for the reader. His depth of research is astounding right down to the names of individual pilots of American and Japanese aircraft, often providing details of what they were thinking during combat actions. Friedman's bibliography and copious end notes show careful and painstaking research that will satisfy the most dedicated historian while the descriptions of the actions and the decisions behind them - on both sides - will please any reader of military non-fiction.
The strategic importance of Guadalcanal to both the Japanese and to the Americans has seldom been so clearly detailed as in Morning of the Rising Sun. The Japanese, after strategic losses at Midway and Coral Sea, were desperate to find a way to cut off Allied supply lines from the U.S. West Coast to Australia. A military airfield on the island of Guadalcanal in the extreme Southern Solomon islands would serve that purpose well. For the Americans, taking and holding that airfield for our own use meant a forward base for launching attacks against Japanese-held territory in the rest of the Solomons chain. It was a must win for both sides and for the Americans it was both far from any U.S. military assistance and the fighting came at a time when the Europe First assessment was depriving Nimitz and MacArthur of needed ships, planes, manpower and materials.
Morning of the Rising Sun is the kind of book that students of WWII history will want to have on their libraries' shelves for reference both because of the importance of the battles for the Southern Solomons and for Ken Friedman's treatment of them.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Morning of Rising Sun: The heroic Battles for Guadalcanal Mar 26, 2008
I enjoyed the book "Morning of Rising Sun: The heroic story of the battles for Guadalcanal". The battles were the crucial turning point in Pacifc War and the end of the Japanese iniciative. The author Kenneth Friedman has done a superb job of describing the naval battles that took place between the Americans and Japanese off the Guadalcanal. This book was were well written with detailed information and nice maps and charts which help to understand the naval battles.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Worth your money and time. Mar 03, 2008
First, let me say...the writing of this book was a monumental undertaking and particularly well done considering its size and content. The book is 10"x7", 1 1/2" thick, and weighs over 3 pounds - not light-weight bedtime reading for us gals, and that's the paperback edition. However, don't let its size intimidate you. This is a very personal, well-organized, thorough accounting of this lengthy battle.
Quoting from the back cover:
"Morning of the Rising Sun: The Heroic Story of the Struggle for Guadalcanal by author and his historian Kenneth I. Friedman, Ph.D., provides a thorough and thought-provoking examination of this pivotal struggle fought between the US and the Japanese Empire during the early days of the Second World War. Like other earlier battles such as Verdun in World War I and Stalingrad in World War II, both sides sent every gun, airplane, and man they could spare to Guadalcanal to decide who would win. When the Americans evicted the last Japanese solider from Guadalcanal in February 1943, the Japanese strategy shifted from the offensive to the defensive, and they began to lose territory. The Americans were now on the offensive and would not stop until they sailed into Tokyo Bay to accept Japan's surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Dr. Friedman is also the author of Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf."
If you're a history buff or have a special interest in WWII, I'm certain you will find this book worth your money and time. I particularly enjoyed the personal memoirs from that time period, the attack on Pearl Harbor and this lengthy struggle.
Kaye Trout
Reviewer
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