One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa

For Dutton Caliber's American War Heroes series, the riveting true account of the Battle of Tarawa, an epic World War II clash in which the U.S. Marines fought the Japanese nearly to the last man.

In November 1943, the men of the 2d Marine Division were instructed to clear out Japanese resistance on the Pacific island of Betio, a speck at the end of the Tarawa Atoll. When the Marines landed, the Japanese poured out of their underground bunkers--and launched one of the most brutal and bloody battles of World War II.

For three straight days, attackers and defenders fought over every square inch of sand in a battle with no defined frontlines, and where there was no possibility of retreat--because there was nowhere to retreat to. It was a struggle that would leave both sides stunned and exhausted, and prove both the fighting mettle of the Americans and the fanatical devotion of the Japanese.

Drawn from new sources, including participants' letters and diaries and exclusive firsthand interviews with survivors, One Square Mile of Hell is the true story of a battle between two determined foes, neither of whom would ever look at the other in the same way again.

ISBN-13: 9780593187470

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Publication Date: 10-04-2022

Pages: 336

Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Series: American War Heroes

John Wukovits is a military expert and an authority on U.S. history in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He is the author of Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island, as well as several military biographies and many articles for such publications as WWII History, Naval History, World War II, The Journal of Military History, The Naval War College Review, and Air Power History.

What People are Saying About This

Herman Wouk

Wukovits writes as though he had gone ashore with the Marines...a worthy memorial to the Marines who fought there.

Jack Coughlin

best book I have ever read about the battle for Tarawa.(Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, U SMC (Ret.), author of Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper)

Oliver L. North

This fast-paced chronicle of courage is a must read. (Lt. Col. Oliver L. North)

From the Publisher

Wukovits writes as though he had gone ashore with the Marines...a worthy memorial to the Marines who fought there. (Herman Wouk)

This fast-paced chronicle of courage is a must read. (Lt. Col. Oliver L. North)

The best book I have ever read about the battle for Tarawa.(Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, U SMC (Ret.), author of Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper)

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Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 "Where's Pearl Harbor?" 1

2 "Tokyo, We Are Coming" 21

3 "Have You Made Out Your Will?" 43

4 "A Million Men Cannot Take Tarawa" 63

5 "Commence Firing-the War Is On" 95

6 "We Have Nothing Left to Land" 111

7 "I Was Unprepared for This" 141

8 "A Fight in a Ring Between Two Boxers" 175

9 "Nothing Was Left-No Trees, No Buildings" 199

10 "A Requiem Fitting for Heroes So Proud" 223

11 "You Say It's Not on the Map, My Son?" 251

Notes 271

Bibliography 295

Index 313

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