The
RR Donnelley Award 2008
Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic
March and the Terrifying Battle
for New Guinea - the Forgotten
War of the South Pacific
James Campbell
Crown Publishers (2007)
About the Book
James Campbell’s Ghost Mountain Boys tells the
harrowing story of the 32nd Division’s WWII battle
to prevent New Guinea from falling into Japanese
hands. The battle for New Guinea is considered by
many to be the first great land victory in the South
Pacific Theater. The book tells the tale of National
Guardsmen whisked from the temperate Midwest
and dropped into the dense jungles of New Guinea
with little training and with equipment unequal to
the task ahead.
In addition to the Japanese, soldiers of the U.S. and
Australian armies faced an even more fearsome
enemy, the terrain they needed to traverse to complete
their mission. This grueling terrain exacted the
harshest toll of all, accounting for almost 80% of the
casualties of the campaign. If the enemies’ bullets
were not enough, the soldiers were pitted against
jungle, mountains, insects, rain, mud, dysentery and
malaria.
Through Campbell’s words, the reader sees the
dramatic and often deadly consequence of poor
planning, indecisiveness and ego. Unlike many
historical accounts, Campbell makes a real effort to
humanize the enemy and illustrate how ill-advised
decisions on both sides led to unneeded bloodshed,
suffering and death.
James Campbell
Wisconsin native James Campbell has written numerous
travel, environmental and military history articles for
Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Backpacker,
Audubon, Field and Stream, as well as many other
publications.
Campbell earned his BA from Yale University and
received his MA from the University of Colorado.
His first book, The Final Frontiersman, was named
Amazon’s Outdoor Book of the Year in 2006, as well
as one of their 50 Top Titles of that year.
In both of his first two novels, Campbell chose an up
close and personal approach to researching his topic.
For his first book, he spent long periods of time in
the Arctic Circle with his cousin, and subject of the
book, Heimo Korth and his family. For 2007’s Ghost
Mountain Boys, he took the same approach, traveling
to New Guinea to follow the same cruel trail that
cost the lives of so many of the soldiers he expertly
portrays in Ghost Mountain Boys. One can only
imagine what adventures he has in mind for his third
and fourth books, which are now in the works.
In addition to his first-hand knowledge of the settings,
Campbell’s narrative creates a novel-like atmosphere
that brings his subjects to life in a way that few nonfiction
writers can. The Chicago Sun Times says that
Campbell’s “New Guinea is one of the most fearsome
characters you will ever come across in fiction or real
life.” Publisher’s Weekly says, “this intense narrative
is a fitting tribute and an excellent, relevant illustration
of the phenomenon known as fog of war.”
James Campbell currently lives in Lodi, Wisconsin.
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