Contrary to myth, the Imperial Japanese Navy was not a shattered force after its defeat at Midway. In this book, Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the IJN's Combined Fleet during the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaigns, when it was reorganized and was forced to fight a grinding battle of attrition against the US Navy.

The early surface battles in the Guadalcanal campaign played into the strength of the Combined Fleet, which had long trained for night combat. The IJN's rebuilt carrier force also performed well and managed to score its most clearcut victory against the USN's carriers of the entire war, at the battle of Santa Cruz, but the overall Guadalcanal campaign ended in disaster. The result was that the IJN was unwilling to engage in a major struggle for the Central and Northern Solomons, instead using only its destroyer force and land-based air power to fight a delaying action. However, this was costly and weakened the Combined Fleet for the rest of the war.

Using the most recent sources and illustrated with superb artwork, 3D diagrams and maps, the book is the first attempt to focus on how the Combined Fleet fought these campaigns, and, most importantly, how their results affected the rest of the war.