The US Marine Raider was an "elite within an elite." Modeled on British Commandoes, they were the earliest forerunners of the various special operations units of the modern US military. These units would conduct operations with only the equipment they could carry on their backs; their heaviest weapons were light mortars and light machine-guns. Highly trained in close-in fighting, the Raiders were expected to be equally skilled in watercraft, jungle survival, and jungle warfare. This book details the Raiders' experiences through some of the toughest raining ever to be experienced by a Marine and onto combat during the Makin Raid, and through the horrific jungle battles of the Solomon Islands.

Ed Gilbert has written numerous titles in Osprey's Warrior, Battle Orders and Campaign series, with a focus on the history of the US Marine Corps and state militias in the American War of Independence and the War of 1812. The author of a four-volume history of Marine Tank battalions, and co-author of Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa and True for the Cause of Liberty (written with his wife Cathy), Ed sadly passed away in February 2019.