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Joseph H. Alexander
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Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa Hardcover – January 1, 1995

by Joseph H. Alexander (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 283 ratings
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Uses primary sources, Japanese documents, and interviews with survivors to present the history of the U.S. Marines' 1943 landing on the Japanese-held Tarawa atoll in the Pacific
Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Naval Institute Press
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1995
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1557500312
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1557500311
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alexander, a retired Marine officer and established scholar, uses a broad spectrum of fresh Japanese and American sources to present a gripping narrative of one of the bloodiest battles of WWII in the Pacific theater. At Tarawa in the Kiribati (formerly Gilbert) islands, "uncommon valor was a common virtue" on both sides. But this account is more than battle history. Alexander interprets Tarawa as a military test bed, a validation of the concept of amphibious assault against defended positions. The Marines and the Navy made mistakes but learned from them. Without the experience gained at Tarawa, America's path across the central Pacific would have been longer and bloodier, according to the author. Tarawa was a psychological landmark as well. The savage, close-quarters fighting and high casualties helped solidify the grim determination in the U.S. to prevail over the Japanese. Illustrations. Military Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Colonel Alexander brings to his outstanding account of the Battle of Tarawa in 1943 a Marine Corps career largely spent with the amphibious tractors whose ancestors had their first combat test at Tarawa. He makes plain that the assault on heavily defended Betio was strategically essential but included a number of tactical mistakes, such as too light a bombardment. The marines also had bad luck with the tides and faced a well-trained, well-fortified, equally determined opponent--their counterparts in the Japanese Naval Landing Force, Alexander's account of whom draws upon Japanese sources used adequately for the first time ever. At the cost of a thousand dead, the marines prevailed. It is a tribute to Alexander that the reader sweats out every hour of the battle as if the book were a novel. Alexander's surpasses every other existing account of the battle by a considerable margin. Roland Green

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval Institute Press; First Edition (January 1, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1557500312
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1557500311
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 283 ratings

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Joseph H. Alexander

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
283 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars Very detailed as to what transpired
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
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Very well written. Good research. I am related to one of the contributors who had an uncle who was killed and is buried on Tarawa.
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MarcAlan
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and balanced
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2021
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I was interested in finding a comprehensive book about the Battle of Tarawa because my father-in-law was a participant (Able Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines). He also fought at Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. But Tarawa stands out because it was the Marines' first amphibious invasion of World War II that came under concentrated attack at the shoreline. Many mistakes were made. Many Marines and Navy personnel were killed or wounded. Many lessons were learned that helped with future amphibious assaults.

The author does a good job of detailing events from both the American and the Japanese sides. This includes preliminary planning, the three+ days of the battle for Betio (Tarawa is the name of the entire atoll, but Betio Island is where the battle occurred) and the mop-up operations in the rest of the atoll and the Gilbert Islands.

Added note: After Tarawa, my father-in-law and his colleagues spent several month in Hawaii, training for what would turn out to be the invasion of Saipan. I have copies of a weekly newspaper published by the Marines while they were in Hawaii. It was titled 'Tarawa BOOM De-Ay'.
4 people found this helpful
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Wayne A. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Broad - Excellent Study of the Battle
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2021
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This book on the Battle of Tarawa is excellent for military students. Not only does the author cover the the battle in detail, he spends significant time discussing strategy, organization, training, logistics and other critical factors that influenced the eventual battle.

These background and concordant discussions place the battle in as clear a light as can be had by a non-participant. It is thorough, detailed and provides an excellent analysis. Interesting decisions regarding timing (and the discussion of do you wait until everything is perfect or until you can go if time in not on your side) and command structure illuminate the battle that unfolds. The author does an excellent job discussing the Japanese preparations and actions/reactions during the battle (limited by the near total lack of first-hand accounts due to the Japanese fighting forces being wiped out almost to a man - by their own choice.)

The battle itself is well described at both the soldier and command levels. The savagery and terror come through. Warfare is brutal, particularly in the Pacific and especially at Tarawa. It is a small island and the combatants were yards if not feet away from each other most of the three days of the contest.

The only nits in my review are first, the maps. The few that are there are simple and don't give nearly enough detail to locate lines and positions mentioned in the book. The writing is somewhat academic. It is straightforward, but lacks the narrative style that one finds in an Ian Toll or Richard Atkinson war story. It reads somewhat like a study that's been turned into a book. Not a major impediment to enjoying the work or gaining a lot of insight into the battle thought.

The book is excellent on analysis and completeness in terms of giving the reader a lot surrounding planning and execution of the battle as well lessons learned. If you are interested in military history beyond just the battle itself, this is an excellent choice.
3 people found this helpful
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Tim Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Savage fight
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
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Stubborn enemy. Poor intel on tides and shoot flat trajectory, high velocity bombardment made the casualty list much worse than it should’ve been. Intense combat.
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George G. Kiefer
5.0 out of 5 stars THE book to read about Tarawa.
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2001
Verified Purchase
Utilizing his prodigious research skills, Retired Colonel Joseph Alexander has written what has to be the best all around account of Tarawa. Incorporating new material gleaned from sources as diverse as Col. Shoup's personal papers, translation of the Japanese war history (Senshi Sosho) and recently declassified ULTRA radio intercepts, he presents a superbly crafted telling of the horror and victory at Tarawa.
On the morning of 11/20/43 men of the 2nd Marine Division stormed ashore to face the Imperial Japanese Marines who defended Betio Island in the Tarawa atoll. These rikusentai were considered the best light infantry the Japanese had. In addition to the almost impregnable defensive positions prepared by the Japanese, the island was surrounded by a reef, which, due to tide and fortune, prevented the Higgins boats from crossing to the beaches. The decision to utilize LVTs (tracked amphibious vehicles, or more correctly, landing vehicle tracked) for the first time as troop carriers forever changed the history of amphibious assaults against strongly held enemy positions. Lumbering over the forbidding reef, LVTs carried their cargo of men and supplies where the Higgins boats could not go. This gamble represented a landmark in ship-to-shore movements and to this day amphibious assault vehicles are an essential element of any surface assault.
Mistakes were made and men died because of them. The initial three-hour naval bombardment and bombing and strafing runs by carrier aircraft were far too little. Gaps between the naval and air force shelling allowed the enemy to move reinforcements to the beaches from the southern and eastern areas of the island. Following the bombardments many defensive positions and large guns remained fully functional and they blasted into the oncoming LVTs and the Higgins boats at the reef's edge. Men of later waves were forced to wade ashore as LVTs became destroyed or were unavailable. Hundreds of men died in that surf, wading ashore. One thousand Marines died on each of three days of battle before the island fell.
It's the attention to detail that separates Alexander's work from other, well written histories of Tarawa. From the planning stages, to his telling of the build up of Japanese troops, to the inclusion of brief personal histories of the key personnel, to the epilogue summarizing the lessons learned and the errors made, this is an exceptional book well worth reading. To the serious student, it is the book on Tarawa that must be read.
68 people found this helpful
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Ben Hull
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, detail account
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024
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Excellent up to date research into this critical battle
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Top reviews from other countries

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Thomas Pitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Fact or fiction. Preferrably the former.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2022
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gary.
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome book on the usmc fighting on tarawa.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2016
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awesome book on the bloody fighting on tarawa.buy it,
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sylvain78
4.0 out of 5 stars clair, complet et bien documenté
Reviewed in France on May 11, 2015
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ouvrage qui date un peu mais qui expose clairement le déroulé des opérations.
L'auteur est un ancien colonel de Marines : il sait de quoi il parle et toutes les sources sont fiables.
Nombreuses anecdotes et témoignages viennent enrichir la narration des évènements.
One person found this helpful
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