Description
‘Compelling … the stuff of high adventure’ NEW STATESMAN For the American soldiers surrendering on the Philippine peninsula of Bataan in April 1942, their war was just beginning. Forced to march through some seventy-five miles of miasmal swamps, they died of disease, water deprivation and brutality at a rate of five hundred a day: those who survived were sent to languish in prison camps, the largest and most deathly of which was Cabanatuan. By 1945 its population had dwindled to the sickest and weakest: the ghosts of Bataan. To rescue them involved travelling deep behind enemy lines. When Lt Colonel Henry A. Mucci, commanding officer of the 6th Ranger Battalion, announced the plan to his troops, the risks were such that he insisted on volunteers. He said, ‘I only want men who feel lucky.’ ‘Told with skill and intelligence, this is the story of a stirring and heroic rescue operation in World War II. Ghost Soldiers belongs on a shelf with Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down’ David Halberstam ‘The most triumphant mission of its kind undertaken by the US Army …’ THE TIMES ‘An epic tale of torture, injustice and suffering juxtaposed against great bravery and the instinct for survival’ IRELAND ON SUNDAY Soft cover, 431 pages. In fair to good preloved condition. Minor water stains and wear evident in the book. Nothing to prevent an enjoyable read.