Compared to the Battle of Midway, the scholarship devoted to the naval battles waged in the Solomons through the last five months of 1942 is minimal, and there's not a whole lot more in the range of popular histories. Yet these were the battles that doomed Japan's chance at avoiding total defeat in the Great Pacific War. The loss of planes and pilots alone could never be made whole. Solomons Naval Campaign is a companion volume to our Second World War at Sea: South Pacific game and Ironbottom Sound scenario book. It's not a game book, but it does explain the events seen in those games from the player's perspective: what forces, some obvious and others less so, shaped the decisions made by the participants on both sides. This book is filled with history and stories; it's a standalone book and you don't need to know anything about the game to enjoy it.