War at the End of the World (Penguin), by James P. Duffy

This story of American General Douglas MacArthur’s World War 2 campaign in Papua New Guinea is described by Duffy as a forgotten fight.

The author has written a dozen books, many on military history, and chronicles the most ruthless combat of the Pacific War, a fight complicated by an unforgiving terrain.

Duffy, an American, draws on primary sources to fill in what, for his fellow US citizens at least, is described as a crucial gap in the history of World War 2.

The Japanese forces numbered some 600,000 men in PNG in 1942. Allied commander-in-chief MacArthur committed 340,000 Americans, as well as tens of thousands of Australian, Dutch, and New Guinea troops, to retake New Guinea at all costs. What followed was a four-year campaign that involved some of the most horrific warfare in history.

“Reaching deep into the jungles of New Guinea, James P. Duffy resurrects the spirit of MacArthur and the men who fought with rifle and bayonet for the Pacific War’s pivotal island,” wrote author Jonathan W. Jordan of Duffy’s latest work.