Draws on interviews with veterans and primary sources to present a narrative account of the pivotal World War II campaign, chronicling the three-month effort to gain control of Guadalcanal as a battle that taught the U.S. Navy and Marines new approaches to warfare.

Eight-two ships -- Sea of troubles. Trip wire ; A great gray fleet ; The first D-Day ; Nothing worthy of Your Majesty's attention ; Fly the carriers ; A captain in the fog ; The martyring of Task Group 62.6 ; Burning in the rain -- Fighting fleet rising. A new kind of fight ; The Tokyo Express ; A function at the junction ; What they were build for ;The warriors ; The devil may care ;The visit ; Night of a new moon ; Pulling the trigger ; "Pour it to 'em" -- Storm tide. All hell's eve ; The weight of a war ; Enter fighting ; "Strike-- repeat, strike" ; Santa Cruz ; Secret history ; Turner's choice ; Suicide ; Black Friday ; Into the light ; The killing salvo ; Death in the Machine Age ; Point blank ; Among the shadows ; Atlanta burning ; Cruiser in the sky ; Regardless of losses -- The thundering. The giants ride ; The gun club ; The kind of men who win a war ; On the spot ; The futility of learning ; Future rising ; Report and echo ; The opinion of convening authority ; Ironbottom Sound -- Ships and aircraft types of the Guadalcanal Campaign -- Naval battles of the Guadalcanal Campaign -- Total naval losses at Guadalcanal.