Lonely Vigil, Walter Lord
Lonely Vigil, Walter Lord
1 Rating(s)
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Lonely Vigil
Coastwatchers of the Solomons

Author: Walter Lord

Narrator: Norman Dietz

Unabridged: 11 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/28/2018


Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Day of Infamy: In the bloodiest island combat of WWII, one group of men kept watch from behind Japanese lines.

The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands’ highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort, sometimes exposed to the elements, these coastwatchers kept lookout for squadrons of Japanese bombers headed for Allied positions, holding their own positions even when enemy troops swarmed all around.

They were Australian-born but Solomon-raised, and adept at survival in the unforgiving jungle environment. Through daring and insight, they stayed one step ahead of the Japanese, often sacrificing themselves to give advance warning of an attack.

In Lonely Vigil, Walter Lord, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Night to Remember and The Miracle of Dunkirk, tells of the survivors of the campaign and what they risked to win the war in the Pacific.

About Walter Lord

Walter Lord (1917-2002) was an acclaimed and bestselling author of literary nonfiction best known for his gripping and meticulously researched accounts of watershed historical events. Mr. Lord graduated from Gilman School, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1935, Princeton University in 1939, and Yale Law School in 1946.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on January 07, 2021

Having read some fiction about the South Pacific, I decided to switch up to some history. Lord is one of the titans of popular history, having written a widely read history of the Titanic sinking in the 50s, as well as an account of the Pearl Harbor attack. Like is says on the title, this is about t......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on March 24, 2017

You want to talk about grit, determination, patriot duties and a lack of being recognized? Then this is your book. The Solomons became the first major theatre where the Japanese started to feel defeat at the hands of a motley group of individuals who had nothing more in common than a defined foe. Ca......more

Goodreads review by Bob on December 02, 2021

An intriguing book about the men who manned dangerous outposts during #WWII. By Walter Lord, author of the epic Day of Infamy.......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on February 13, 2013

Thirty years after the end of World War II, Walter Lord travelled to the South Pacific to gather stories from the survivors among the 400 coastwatchers employed by the Australian Intelligence Board. At the time, little had been written about them -- particularly since their exploits (like codebreaki......more

Goodreads review by Shawn on June 28, 2020

The kind of book that makes me wish Goodreads had half stars. Lonely Vigil is a classic 3.5 - nothing incredible, but a solid, serviceable window into a subject I had no knowledge of. In further proof that World War II provides an inexhaustible supply of fascinating stories, here we learn about the......more