Knife's Edge

Thanks to Robert Stern's meticulous research in both Japanese and American sources, we now have the most complete account ever of the great aircraft carrier battles in the latter part of 1942. He describes-in almost minute-by-minute detail-the moves and countermoves on the Pacific chessboard. Surely this will stand as the definitive work on the subject. -Paul Stillwell, author of Battleship Commander: the Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. Robert Stern has written a fantastic work that synthesizes the best of modern scholarship with deep research into new Japanese sources. If a reader is looking for the best information on the epochal carrier battles fought in the Solomons in 1942, wrapped in a well-written and compelling story, this book delivers. -Vincent P. O'Hara, author of U.S. Navy Against the Axis: Surface Combat, 1941-1945 ;With Knife's Edge, Robert Stern has given us an important study of the two carrier battles fought during the Guadalcanal campaign. Stern has produced a compelling account of these dramatic actions, carefully crafted to give the reader insight into what the opposing commanders knew, when they knew it, and how that knowledge drove their crucial decisions. Stern's masterful use of Japanese sources and his analysis of the communications and intelligence dimensions of the battles are particularly welcome and provide important context for the actions themselves. -Leonard R. Heinz, author (with Vincent O'Hara) of Clash of Fleets: Naval Battles of the Great War, 1914-1918 and Innovating Victory: Naval Technology in Three Wars Stern provides a densely-researched new look at the two critical Solomons carrier battles. Drawing from Japanese sources, and interweaving the events occurring on and around Guadalcanal, Stern gives us a fresh appraisal of both the battles and their commanders. -Jonathan Parshall, co-author, Shattered Sword, the Untold Story of the Battle of Midway