This is a military history of Operation KE, in which Japanese forces successfully evacuated some 10,600 Japanese soldiers from impending US attack in early 1943 in the process of ceding Guadalcanal to American and allied forces. The authors describe the operations of battle in detail, as reconstructed from military records on both sides, and conclude with a complimentary analysis of Japanese planning and execution of the operation at the strategic and tactical levels. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)