On November 20, 1943, 5,000 American soldiers stormed the beaches of Tarawa, a Japanese island fortress. Now, Col. Joseph Alexander, a combat Marine himself, presents the full story in all its horror and glory. A Military Book Club main selection, this work has received the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Outstanding Writer of the Year, the Roosevelt Naval History Prize, and the 1995 General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award as best nonfiction book pertinent to Marine Corps history. HC: Naval Institute Press.