The Unnecessary War written by Peter Charlton. Charlton's books especially this book and the Thirty-Niners are highly sought after. Plenty of printed photos. The last year of the Pacific war cost more than a thousand Australian lives. The loss of these lives has become a contentious issue - thus the title of the book.
The history records the offensives in Bougainville Borneo and North New Guinea and also questions the logic of the offensives. The area known as the South-West Pacific included the Dutch East Indies, Tarakan Balikpapan Borneo New Guinea, Papua, New Britain, New Ireland and the northern Solomon Islands.

The book also documents the political background to these campaigns ie the MacArthur / Blamey command methods.