Finished: Tales of the South Pacific (Michener) Pulitzer Prize winner based on Michener's own experiences during World War II spent on the islands of the South Pacific. We meet a variety of characters, some who have standalone chapters, and some who have threads throughout several chapters. No matter their stories, though, the detailed telling of their stories is mesmerizing as your realize quite vividly what these men went through both waiting for endless hours on remote islands to be called up to fight, and then once they actually saw battle, the fear and devastation, and death amidst eventual victory. wow! I will always hold an immense respect for the men and women who serve this country in the military. One thing I did before reading this book was get out a map to see where I would be reading about. I realized there are so many places in history that I have no idea where they exist. It prompted me to begin an online geography lesson! I became obsessed with being able to locate and name all the countries, islands and territories in the world. It was quite and education and about time lol.