North to Rabaul

Rabaul was probably the most fortified bastion created on land captured by the Japanese in the Pacific during WWII, and this well-written novel shows why. It was protected with tunnels similar to Iwo Jima, but was situated near Australia. The big question was how to destroy it, and McArthur (as described in the excellent biography "American Ceaser") figured out how: isolation. This saved many lives, but many were lost in heroic acts to reach that point. This novel, by Christopher Wood (who has spent considerable time in the area) describes some of those attempts and ties them together with the visit to the island by General Yamamoto ("the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack")and his early demise. I think that anyone with an interest in the remarkable history of this period couched in a very readable adventure novel will enjoy this book