Victory Fever on Guadalcanal: Japan’s First Land Defeat of World War II
By: William H. Bartsch / Narrated By: Bill Nevitt
Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
Good but has large stretches of the dry, the drudge
From the publisher’s summary, I expected Victory Fever on Guadalcanal to be an intensely human account of the fighting on Guadalcanal—it says that Bartsch used an amazing variety of resources in his research.
And that’s what mostly comes through in this audiobook: Research. Every single man is named, though that gets quite confusing as there were a gazillion and six Marines and their Japanese counterparts involved in the battles. Whatever platoon, company, regiment, battalion they were from is listed (and at this point in my Military History Buff-ishness, I should absolutely know the difference between all of these… I do not… sigh…), though that gets quite confusing. Prior to each engagement is the oh so looooong planning phase, though that gets quite confusing, especially since little goes as planned. There are large stretches of dry history, large stretches of the Marines’ slogging through with very little of their actual experiences of what was going on, even though the summary states that diaries and memoirs and personal accounts were used. I guess I expected there to be more of a very personal, very unique take on the fighting.
There’s some good writing here, and that’s what makes it unfortunate. Swarms of gnats getting in the eyes of Marines exhaustedly trying to get from point A to point B are mentioned, but really. I wanted to know how they felt about that, what it was like. I don’t listen to Military History for the dry accounts; I listen to it because it was lived and experienced by living, thinking individuals. And that’s missing here.
Things get muuuuuch better when we get to the actual fighting. The writing gets swifter, the narration is on point. And young men, boys really, are mortally wounded or outright killed. I don’t know how many times the Marine killed was only 18-years old, 17-years old in one case. It gets quite tragic.
Bill Nevitt does a decent job with narration, and though my attention did wander at points, it wasn’t his fault (It was probably because I’d found myself in yet another long, drawn out planning session). His voice has nice tones, he adds emphasis where it’s needed, and when a Marine gripes, he gripes, when an officer shouts, he raises his voice. I can’t tell you how important to the listener this is, especially when the text wanders into such deserts of dryness.
Keep in mind also that Victory Fever on Guadalcanal may cover the preparations for the engagement prior to, and the first couple of months of actual combat, but that’s it. The campaign lasted many months after the stories here end, so if you’re looking for a detailed account of the entire thing, this ain’t it. (By the way… it ends wholly abruptly too!)
Do I regret listening to it? Of course I don’t: The more history I can learn, the better. I just wish I got to know the Marines more, got to know their Japanese opponents more. In war, it’s the human element that is interesting after all.
I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
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