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Summary: A unique look at WWII
Review: This book has it all! Suspense...Will the mission be accomplished? History...this is the first mission of Rangers in the combat. Great writing. You won't want to put it down.I am a former Air Force Chaplain in the National Guard and anyone who has been part of a close knit unit (or wishes they were) will appreciate the community of both the prisoners of the Japanese and the Rangers who rescue them. This is a great book that is meant for a much larger audience than just "War Book Lovers". If you want to understand the military at its finest, read this book. You will enjoy it.
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Summary: Hollywood:Get ready for this one!
Review: I have just read Hampton Sides Ghost Soldiers and this book has to be one of the best written, most engrossing stories of its kind regarding American prisoners of the Japanese. Their daring rescue by American Rangers and Filipino guerillas has to be one of the greatest rescue missions of World WarII. This five star book should result in a five star movie reminiscent of "Bridge on the River Kwai", the Oscar winning box office hit.
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Summary: An Opportunity To Reflect
Review: I've never read a book that elicited so many feelings. From the outrage and disgust while reading how human life was so ruthlessly disregarded, tortured, and cast aside, to the joy and pride as I read through moist eyes as the rescued sailed beneath the Golden Gate. The heroes are many and their story reads like an action/adventure novel. The pacing is perfect, bringing the reader along to the successful conclusion while educating, enlightening and invoking a sense of pride and patriotism. This book is highly recommended, not only for the richness of the story but for the opportunity to reflect upon the courage, tenacity and sacrifices made so we can enjoy the freedom we have.
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Summary: Improper Research
Review: I can't imagine a book like this without an index or notes. A book is not a magazine, and a buyer is entitled to these services. What value to serious readers of history can this book have? The author admits that it was a "half-baked" e-mail idea at the start. More serious writing and editing could have made it less so as a book. I had reason to want to find references to Colonel Mucci. Impossible without an index. The author opens himself up to the charge of leaning too heavily on previous sources without notes and a bibliography. Perhaps a better editor could have guided this writer better. This story seems rushed out so it could be made into a movie. We'll have to see, but nevertheless there are some things that do not need to be ghosts in a work like this. The subject demanded more.
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Summary: Tough Guys
Review: It's pretty sad that today most American knowledge of World War II consists of the fact that we dropped the A bomb on Japan, murdering ten zillion people, and ending the war. It would probably surprise people like this that victory wasn't that easy. In the beginning of the Pacific War we were losing, and badly. We had lost several serious confrontations with the Japanese, most notably the Philippine Islands, on which we had bases since 1898. It is therefore important that this book has come along, which gives us fresh look at this situation, crystallized through the story of the American soldiers who were captured there, their three-year captivity, and the rescue of those Americans imprisoned at a camp in Cabanatuan by a unit of Army Rangers three years later. Three long years later. The first thing which might surprise contemporary readers about the surrender was that it had to be done at all. Sure, the American position there was untenable. Men were out of food, out of munitions, starving, and diseased. But couldn't they have been airlifted out, or rescued in some other way? The answer is no. Even if the Americans had the ships--and they didn't--the Japanese controlled both sea and air, and nothing the Americans could have sent would have been able to get through anyway. 100,000 Filipino and American soldiers were therefore left to the mercy of the Japanese; mercy which proved to be in short supply. The author is fair though. He shows us how Homma, the Japanese commander, truly hoped, and indeed ordered that the prisoners be treated fairly. But Homma was preoccupied with much larger concerns, most notably the conquest of Corregidor. And although he points out that there were Japanese soldiers who treated the prisoners with fairness and pity, for the most part, this was not the case. Most Japanese, bitter about their own sufferings, and contemptuous of a culture that would allow surrender in the first place, treated the Americans horribly. During the march north, out of Bataan, thousands were murdered. If you fell to the wayside, as many sick and starving Americans were, you were bayonetted. Refuse an order, bayonetted. Many were bayonetted for practically no infraction at all. Bodies littered the trail. This horror became known as the Bataan Death March, and must rank as one of the worst experiences American soldiers have ever been through. The condition in the camps, for those who made it there, wasn't much better. There was barely enough food to survive. Disease was rampant, medicine scarce, and every day men--young men--perished as the result of hideous disease, starvation, neglect, and torture. But three years later, after the invasion of the Philippines, plans were concocted to get a group of them out. There were reports that the Japanese, desperate and in retreat, were murdering their prisoners. A group of Army Rangers, then a new special operations force, was recruited to go thirty miles behind enemy lines, and get the remaining five hundred prisoners at Cabanatuan out. It was a dangerous mission, undertaken with only minimal intellegence of Japanese forces in the area, and little ground cover to conceal their wherabouts. It would be imprudent to give away more, except to say that the bravery and fortitude of these men was extraordinary. The book recounts both the prisoner's experiences and the rescue operation in alternating chapters, and is very compelling. The narrative is detailed, thorough and honest. It serves as a solid overview of the American experience in the Philippines during World War II, and relates what was truly a remarkable rescue mission.
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Summary: A terrific narrative
Review: I rate this way up there with other terrific readable historical accounts like Ambrose's D-Day. Author availed himself of many personal interviews/histories which enhanced the telling. A very good read and a very good history.
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Summary: Ghosts no longer
Review: Even avowed detractors of military history will agree that it is one of the most difficult genres in which to write. Operational histories like Ghost Soldiers - The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission can easily become bogged down in the minutiae of battle; the movement of troops, the deployment of weapons, or the strategy behind the battle. Thankfully, author Hampton Sides was able to avoid the pitfalls and instead has created a compassionate engaging tale of battle which still manages to establish itself in the greater context of a world at war. There are those that might derisively describe Sides writing as "History lite", stripped as it is of pretense and overbearing supporting documentation. True, Ghost Soldiers is written in the style of Herodotus in that it is simply a tale well told as was related by those that were there. Its style however should not detract from this book's importance. In writing about a US Ranger mission to save Allied prisoners behind Japanese lines in World War Two Sides has focused not on policy or procedure, but on the people involved. In this age, when people have forgotten or don't care about the past, the only way to excite their interest or engage their respect is to place things in terms that they can understand. Writing of brilliant maneuevers or noble sacrifice to the average reader is unfortunately a waste of time in today's world. Sides has clearly recognized this, for he has subjugated themes of duty, honour and military prowess to the more engaging theme of personal experience. By writing of war "at the sharp end" Hampton Sides has created a book which will ring true with even the most emotionally narcisstic reader. In focusing on the stories of the individual Sides has brought to light what those of us who study military history have long known: That the conduct of warfare can encompass mankind's most noble sentiments while confronting its basest motives. In Ghost Soldiers Sides shepherds the reader through the preparation and execution of a very noble mission. Taking the reader further, Sides carefully interweaves tales of the experiences and recollections of the people involved and contrasts them with the demands of wartime strategy. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an important book, for it succeeds in bridging the gap between today's self-centered society and a time when people were willing to make huge sacrifices based on the principle of helping their fellow man. This is an excellent introduction to military history for the neophyte and spirit-affirming book for the veteran. Few books have the capacity to join generations in shared interest and understanding..this is one of them
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Summary: Ghost Soldiers
Review: A complete story...well researched. Sort of the "Private Ryan" rescue mission of Asia Pacific in real life without the special effects. Appeal to the adventure, history, military or Asia Pacific fan. Very hard to put down.
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Summary: Must Read
Review: I am literally minutes from reading the last page of this book and suddenly my cares pale to insignificance compared to what the Bataan Death March (or as the book points out the "hike") survivors endured. Author Sides does a superb job juxtaposing the story of the POWs and their rescuers. One has to constantly remember this is non-fiction, the elements of a novel seem almost in every page-the irony of the American Rangers' fatalities, the poignant "last" POW. Read from page 30 to the end non-stop feeling every emotion imaginable from horror to comedy.
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Summary: A Must-Read That is Both Exhilarating and Horrifying
Review: This book will astound and horrify you in equal parts as you live through the misery of the Bataan Death March and enslavement of thousands of American POWs and then see them liberated by Rangers (no surprise there - you have a pretty good idea of how things will turn out from the very beginning - especially if you skip to the photographs). From its ghastly opening chapter to the victorious conclusion, "Ghost Soldiers" is a suspensful and amazing read.
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