The war memoir of a self described "brig-rat" this book tells of the experiences of the war rather than the tactics or operations. Equal attention is given to time spent on liberty in Australia as is given to the time spent on Guadalcanal leading up to it. Tales of bravery and camaraderie stand beside tales of petty tyranny at the hands of officers abusing their authority and privileges.

It's interesting to compare the writing in this book to what ended up in the HBO series The Pacific. Several events and characters having been merged in the latter.