Sloan (The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945) adds to his reputation as a chronicler of the mid-century American military experience with this account of the service men and women who fought the battles of Bataan and Corregidor in the half-year after Pearl Harbor. His perspective is unusual. The defense of the Philippines has been condemned, in the words of one poet, as “a wasted hope and a sure defeat.” Sloan tells the entire story—of military defeat but human triumph—relying heavily on participants’ interviews and accounts to describe the fighting, the surrender, and the Bataan death march. He carries the story through the squalid POW camps, the mass deportation to Japan for slave labor, and the guerrilla war fought by the few successful escapees. He concluded that survivors desperately faced mass murder as Japan confronted defeat. Yet this is not a narrative of survival. Sloan presents a story of sustained heroism under unimaginable conditions, of indomitable spirit that brought order to the chaos of prison camps and held together the human cargoes of “hell ships,” deliberately left unidentified and attacked by American submarines. Sloan demonstrates that if captivity is a state of being, defeat is only a state of mind. 16 pages of b&w photos, 4 maps. Agent: Jim Donovan, Jim Donovan Literary. (Apr.)
Called "a master of the combat narrative" (The Dallas Morning News), author Bill
Sloan captures the valor, fortitude, and suffering of the American
defenders of the Philippines as no other author has. Abandoned by their
government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against
impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay
inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever.
Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless
victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most
previous books about the Philippines campaign have done-Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
Interwoven
throughout this panoramic narrative are the harrowing personal
experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines. Sloan
also provides intimate, in-depth profiles of General Douglas MacArthur,
who evacuated to Australia as the situation on Bataan worsened, and of
General Jonathan Wainwright, who succeeded him as top U.S. commander in
the Philippines and himself became a prisoner of the Japanese.
"1110788850"
Sloan captures the valor, fortitude, and suffering of the American
defenders of the Philippines as no other author has. Abandoned by their
government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against
impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay
inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever.
Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless
victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most
previous books about the Philippines campaign have done-Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
Interwoven
throughout this panoramic narrative are the harrowing personal
experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines. Sloan
also provides intimate, in-depth profiles of General Douglas MacArthur,
who evacuated to Australia as the situation on Bataan worsened, and of
General Jonathan Wainwright, who succeeded him as top U.S. commander in
the Philippines and himself became a prisoner of the Japanese.
Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
Called "a master of the combat narrative" (The Dallas Morning News), author Bill
Sloan captures the valor, fortitude, and suffering of the American
defenders of the Philippines as no other author has. Abandoned by their
government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against
impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay
inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever.
Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless
victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most
previous books about the Philippines campaign have done-Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
Interwoven
throughout this panoramic narrative are the harrowing personal
experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines. Sloan
also provides intimate, in-depth profiles of General Douglas MacArthur,
who evacuated to Australia as the situation on Bataan worsened, and of
General Jonathan Wainwright, who succeeded him as top U.S. commander in
the Philippines and himself became a prisoner of the Japanese.
Sloan captures the valor, fortitude, and suffering of the American
defenders of the Philippines as no other author has. Abandoned by their
government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against
impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay
inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever.
Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless
victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most
previous books about the Philippines campaign have done-Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
Interwoven
throughout this panoramic narrative are the harrowing personal
experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines. Sloan
also provides intimate, in-depth profiles of General Douglas MacArthur,
who evacuated to Australia as the situation on Bataan worsened, and of
General Jonathan Wainwright, who succeeded him as top U.S. commander in
the Philippines and himself became a prisoner of the Japanese.
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940170956814 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Tantor Audio |
Publication date: | 04/24/2012 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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