Kindle
$12.33
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$7.10
Paperback
$23.55
Buy used: $7.10
FREE delivery Monday, May 6. Details
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 1. Order within 11 hrs 30 mins. Details
Used: Good | Details
Sold by Martistore
Condition: Used: Good
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Joseph H. Alexander
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

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
See all formats and editions
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
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

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

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Joseph H. Alexander

Joseph H. Alexander

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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
Verified Purchase
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.
Helpful
 Report
MarcAlan
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and balanced
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
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
Helpful
 Report
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
Verified Purchase
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
Helpful
 Report
Tim Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Savage fight
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
Verified Purchase
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.
Helpful
 Report
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
Helpful
 Report
Ben Hull
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, detail account
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024
Verified Purchase
Excellent up to date research into this critical battle
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Thomas Pitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Fact or fiction. Preferrably the former.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
Reading
Report
gary.
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome book on the usmc fighting on tarawa.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
awesome book on the bloody fighting on tarawa.buy it,
Report
sylvain78
4.0 out of 5 stars clair, complet et bien documenté
Reviewed in France on May 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
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
 Report