Author: Hampton Sides
Plot:
In the early months of WWII, Japanese naval forces and infantry blazed across the islands of the Pacific. Swept up in their fire were Allied soldiers, largely American, who had garrisoned their island outposts since the colonial days. Being a captured soldier in a POW camp wasn’t so bad, at least in comparison to the horror which awaited those POWs sent on packed ships to do brutal labor far away. The luck of those who remained on the island of BLANK began to run out though, when the Japanese troops began massacring POWs in their camps with gasoline fire and machine gun bullets…
News of the
horrific massacre reached American high command, who ordered the rescue of
their captured troops on BLANK. Ghost Soldiers follows the story of the
rescue of these prisoners. No ordinary infantry liberation could be had for the
Japanese were believed to be ready to slaughter the prisoners as soon as Allied
forces drew near. The task went to a small force of tough American soldiers
guided by friendly locals. The plan: sneak into enemy territory laden with
fierce desire to save their comrades (and lots
of weapons). Their mission was doubly difficult, for even if the prison guards
and local reserve forces were defeated, somehow the prisoners would need to be
sneaked back to American-held land…
Brian's Opinion:
Ghost Soldiers was one of those books that really forced me to realize two things: war is truly horrible and people can be incredibly brave. I don’t say this only because the facts of the story make this true, but also because Sides is an epic storyteller. Imagine reading a Dan Brown book which is a) true, b) several orders of magnitude more intense, and c) better written.
Who Would Like It:
WWII history buffs – if you haven’t read this book then you are in for a treat. If you like non-stop action fiction, then Ghost Soldiers would be an excellent introduction to the rich non-fiction war literature.
Read it!
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