Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal By James D. Hornfischer (429 pages, photos, drawings, maps) Reviewer:  Terry Miller Overall Rating: Four Stars: Highly recommended. An excellent book.  There are two things that I may say of a James Hornfischer book since he burst onto the naval literature scene in 2004 with The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. First, the book will be as well researched and documented as any I've seen and second, it will be historical data that has been rigorously examined, augmented by many first person accounts and newly obtained material, and crafted into an imminently readable volume that reads like a thriller. Such a book was his first. his second, Ship of Ghosts, has made Hornfischer a member of the USS HOUSTON (CA-30) Association's extended family. Now comes his third naval history book, Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal. There have been several books, many of them very good, on the half-a-year-long battle in 1942 for that island but they focus on the Marines and their battles ashore. For the first time there is a book that examines the entire campaign from the perspective of the navy. There were several engagements during the period, some decided losses for the Americans and Hornfischer described not only the events but the underlying reasons. He takes us through lessons learned as the American Navy, still moribund from the inactivity of the interwar years and the Depression, comes to life in the heat of battle. Taking each battle in turn, Hornfischer educates the reader without seeming to do so. We are being entertained by history; more than that we are enthralled with the stories he so deftly weaves as names from history become alive and real to the extent that I almost expected to feel salt spray on my face. Allied forces would have a real place to start the war to the departure of the last Japanese evacuees when Guadalcanal was safely in American hands, every aspect of the campaign is presented in a fresh and compelling way: a history that is a page-turner. James Hornfischer fans will not be disappointed. If anything, the bar he set so high with The Last Stand has been raised and all future naval historical literature will be improved as a result. Availability: Tin Can Sailors Ship's Store $23.00 Media Rate $28.00 Priority Rate