THE PACIFIC is a gripping piece of historical writing following the extraordinary true stories of four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy carrier pilot fighting in the Pacific region during World War II. Between America's retreat from China in late November 1941 and the moment General MacArthur's airplane touched down on the Japanese mainland in August 1945, five men - Austin Shofner, Vernon Micheel, Sidney Phillips, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone - fought the key battles in the war against Japan. From the debacle in Bataan, to the miracle at Midway and the relentless vortex of Guadalcanal, the war led one to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and the others to the coral strongholds of Peleliu, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the killing fields of Okinawa, until at last the survivors enjoyed a triumphant, yet uneasy, return home. In THE PACIFIC Hugh Ambrose focuses on the struggles and triumphs of these men who put their lives on the line for the allied forces. The book is the official companion to the HBO miniseries THE PACIFIC, executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman - the producers of the Emmy (R)-winning 2001 miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS.