Prisoners of the Japanese - by Gavin Daws (Paperback)

About the Book

From the atrocities of the Bataan death march to the hardships of the labor camps, this horrifying account of the treatment POWs endured at the hands of the Japanese during World War II explores the limits of the human spirit and the depths of inhumanity. 31 photos. 5 illustrations. Map. Notes.

Book Synopsis

In the first disastrous months following Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Army took over 140,000 Allied prisoners. More than one in four of these POWs died at the hands of their captors. They were denied medical treatment. They were starved. When the International Red Cross sent food and medicine, the Japanese looted the shipments. They sacrificed prisoners in medical experiments. They watched them die by the tens of thousands from diseases of malnutrition like beriberi, pellagra, and scurvy, and from the epidemic diseases of the tropics: malaria, dysentery, tropical ulcers, and cholera. Those who survived were slated to be worked to death. If the war had lasted another twelve months, there would not have been a POW left alive. Prisoners of the Japanese raises disturbing questions as well about the value placed on the lives of Allied POWs by their own supreme command. Of all military prisoners who died in the Japanese zone of captivity, more than one in four were killed by "friendly fire" ordered by General Douglas MacArthur. It is impossible not to be seized by the horror of the POWs' ordeal. But while the inhuman cruelty of the Japanese prison camps is documented exhaustively - beyond the shadow of a doubt - the book, at its core, tells a heartening story of ordinary men, trapped in impossible circumstances, not only struggling to survive but stubbornly, triumphantly asserting their humanity.

From the Back Cover

Gavan Daws combined ten years of documentary research and hundreds of interviews with surrviving POWs to write this explosive, first-and-only account of the experiences of the Allied POWs of World War II. The Japanese Army took over 140,000 Allied prisoners, and one in four died the hands of their captors. Here Daws reveals the survivors' haunting experiences, from the atrocities perpetrated during the Bataan Death March and the building of the Burma-Siam railroad to descriptions of disease, torture, and execution.

Review Quotes

"Daws has done for the POW saga what "Schindler's List" and "The Diary of Anne Frank "did for the Holocaust."-- "The Asian Wall Street Journal""A rigorously authentical masterwork...Daws gives his chronicle a thoughtfully considered historical and psychological context . . . The ultimate effect is strangely, unexpectedly uplifting."-- Cleveland "Plain Dealer""Vividly brings to light the random killing of prisoners during the infamous Bataan Death March and the use of POW slave labor in the construction of the Burma-Siam railroad."-- "The New York Times Book Review""It is a disgrace, really, that because of political priorities this story has never been systematically recorded or documented, and hence has never been fully told to the public."-- "The Wall Street Journal""Superb. A work of consummate historical scholarship. Devastating, heartbreaking."-- "BBC Radio World Service""A powerful, disturbing, and necessary book."-- "Parameters, "U.S. Army War College quarterly"My story is told in this book. Every word is true."-- Houston Tom Wright, POW"All of us recognize how well you have captured the truth. Thanks for telling the world."-- Guy Kelnhofer, POW