The Pacific War changed abruptly in November 1943 when Admiral Chester W. Nimitz unleashed his Central Pacific drive, spearheaded by U.S. Marines. This new American initiative of bold amphibious assaults into the teeth of prepared defenses astonished Japanese commanders, who called them "storm landings" because they differed sharply from earlier campaigns. This is the story of seven of these now epic long-range assaults executed against murderous enemy fire—Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa—and a potential eighth, Kyushu. Alexander describes each clash as demonstrating a growing U.S. ability to concentrate overwhelming naval forces against a distant strategic objective and to mount successful frontal assaults despite the high cost of storming these heavily fortified islands.
Award-winning historian Joseph Alexander relates this extraordinary story with an easy narrative style bolstered by years of research of original battle accounts, Japanese translations, and interviews with survivors. Richly illustrated and abounding with human-interest stories of colorful "web-footed amphibians," his book vividly portrays the sheer drama of these three-dimensional battles whose magnitude and ferocity may never again be seen in warfare. Storm Landings was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature in 1997, presented by the Naval Order of the United States
Col. Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret.) served in the Corps for 29 years as an assault amphibian officer. He has written six books, including Utmost Savagery and Edson’s Raiders. He was the Naval Institute Author of the Year in 1996 and Naval History Author of the Year in 2010. He was the principal historian and writer on the exhibit design team throughout the construction of the National Museum of the Marine Corps. He resides in Asheville, North Carolina.
Praise for Storm Landings
“Joseph Alexander’s concise volume is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of warfare in the Pacific. It deserves to find a wide readership among both military historians and the public at large.”
— The Northern Mariner
“In Storm Landings [Alexander] combines diligent research (much of it in Japanese sources) with a vivid writing style…Casual readers will enjoy the book and serious students will not be disappointed.”
— The Journal of Military History
