7 Powerful Richard Tregaskis Books That Explore the Realities of War

To support their efforts in Vietnam, the United States military required reliable infrastructure. In Vietnam, a less-developed region at the time, the U.S. undertook a massive amount of construction to build roads, bridges, ports, airfields, hospitals, and more. Building the Bases covers one of the largest wartime construction undertakings in history. Accompanied by photographs, maps, charts, and extensive research, Tregaskis’s writing draws readers into a human-interest story of hard work and bravery.

Arguably Tregaskis’s most popular book, Guadalcanal Diary is the story of the first marines to land on Guadalcanal before it became home of one of the most infamous battles of World War II. Tregaskis slept, ate, and braved the frontlines for seven weeks alongside the soldiers stationed on Guadalcanal. His intimate perspective of the lives of marines in the Pacific brought the war to the public through a looking glass, and provided many with much-needed insight during and after the war years. Within a year of its publication in 1943, Guadalcanal Diary was adapted into a film retelling the stories of eyewitnesses as Tregaskis portrayed them, bringing the tales of their courage and sacrifice to the world.

Shortly after departing the shores of Guadalcanal, Richard Tregaskis traveled to Italy to report on the war from the European theater; specifically the bloody Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy that secured the Mediterranean front in 1943. These invasions pinned down German troops and prevented them from being sent to fight on other fronts. In Invasion Diary, Tregaskis journals a detailed account of his experiences with the Italian and Sicilian campaigns, all the way up until his own near-fatal shrapnel wound sidelined him from the frontlines. Tregaskis’s diary is an incredibly developed, uniquely American narrative of the Allied invasions, and a fitting companion to Tregaskis’s Guadalcanal Diary.

With his trademark style and meticulous attention to detail, Richard Tregaskis narrates the heroic actions of John F. Kennedy during World War II. In August of 1943, a Japanese destroyer sliced the US Navy motor torpedo boat, PT-109, in half. Crewmembers were left grappling to survive the shark-infested waters and fires caused by the burning gasoline. Over the course of three days, future president Lt. Kennedy risked his life to guide his surviving crewmembers to safety and coordinate a dangerous rescue mission deep behind enemy lines. Kennedy’s actions earned him a Purple Heart and a path to the White House. But, in order to understand just how remarkable his actions were, one must delve into the harrowing details of the terrain, the machines, and the men whose bravery propelled them to safety.

In a step outside Tregaskis's usual craft, The Warrior King is a heavily researched biography about one of the most influential figures in Hawaiian history, King Kamehameha I. Kamehameha was a fierce warrior, a diplomat, and an intelligent administrator who established peace among opposing tribes. The Warrior King explores the story of how Kamehameha became the first Polynesian ruler to conquer, unite, and rule over all of the Hawaiian islands. Tregaskis pieces together facts and legends to recount the epic tale of King Kamehameha’s life in an intriguing and powerful work that displays Tregaskis’s notorious style, strict attention to detail, and unwavering dedication to the truth.

As the first eyewitness account of the war in Vietnam, Tregaskis’s Vietnam Diary is an alluring and enlightening record of the thousands of American soldiers fighting in unfamiliar territory. Tregaskis describes the development of guerilla warfare tactics, the deployment of Special Forces to train Montagnard troops in the jungles, and, perhaps most importantly, the stories of the men dedicated to fighting their country’s war. Tregaskis paints portraits of courageous men who risk their lives for their units, as well as the men who lost their lives in combat and the things they left behind. Tregaskis meticulously transcribes battle reports and firsthand account of the combat in Vietnam, a war infamous for its violence, incredible loss, and indisputable effect on history.

This detailed account of the development and impact of the X-15 will take readers aboard the fastest plane ever built. Uniquely constructed of titanium and a chrome-nickel alloy, Inconel X, the X-15 was a crucial instrument in early space exploration that influenced the hardware in the first spacecrafts. True to his style, Richard Tregaskis transforms the tale of a machine into a human interest story delving into the lives of pilots, engineers, and other key figures involved in the project. Tregaskis journals the years of planning, the devastating obstacles, and the incredible triumphs experienced by the team of dedicated professionals that brought the legendary X-15 into existence.