Rating: 
Summary: Celebration of complete heroism.
Review: A daring rescue once known to every American schoolchild but now long forgotten was ordered. 121 hand-selected troops from the elite U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission was to march thirty miles in an attempt to rescue 513 American and British POWs who had spent three years in a camp near the city of Cabanatuan. This is the story of a stirring and heroic rescue operation in World War II. Gives us an enthralling and deeply disturbing look at the horrors of war. There's grief, despair, and terror, but the story ends much more satisfying. Thrilling from start to finish, as the book celebrates the heroism of the elite U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion.FinancialNeeds.com
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading...
Review: by every American interested in the truth about the atrocities of WW II by the Japanese empire. I can't imagine our world today had there not been those who paid such a price for friends, buddies, comrades-in-arms and their fellow Americans not yet born. Thank you! We will not forget and we will tell our children's children of your sacrifice.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: This is perhaps the finest story of World War II I have ever read. After the early defeat on the Philippine islands, a large number of US forces were stranded and forced to surrender to the Japanese. The march of these men to their final POW camp has been enshrined as the infamous Baatan death march. Once they reached their destination, many men were later sent to work in mines or factories in Japan but many remained in the horrible conditions of the camp. As the war neared its conclusion, the American forces undertook to rescue the remaining soldiers in the belief that the Japanese may slaughter them rather than let them be rescued. The book ends with this rescue. Heroes abound in every page. All with human failings, yet still one is overwhelmed with the simple decent humanity of these individuals. The writing is excellent and the story moves at a breakneck speed. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Please read for yourself and realize the sacrifies of these men and women.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: A Must Read for those who would like to get a clear and dramatic accounting of the brutality of the war in the Pacific.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written page-turner
Review: Hampton Sides writes well and with fairness about an event we have heard little about even as the interest in WW II in general, and the War in the Pacific in particular, picks up. Based on meticulous research and many interviews, this true story of American POWS in Bataan is moving, dramatic, and yet never sensational. For its balanced view of historical events and its powerful telling of a story of courage and endurance, this book is a worthy read. I couldn't put it down until I got to the very last page.
Rating:
Summary: Pop quiz:
Review: Q: How do you stop feeling sorry for yourself forever? A: Read this book. As an American, it's embarrassing, but I knew nothing of this story prior to reading the book. I never learned about this in a history class. I've never seen a documentary about it on television. I picked it up because I saw Hampton Sides on television, discussing the changes Disney made to the movie "Pearl Harbor" to make it more appealing to audiences in Japan. (If you've read the book, you can probably guess how he felt about that, given his knowledge of the events in WWII.) This is an amazing and important book; it's educational, well-written, moving, and riveting - page after page. It has inspired me to read "My Hitch In Hell", by Dr. Lester Tenney, one of the survivors of the Bataan Death March. If you learn nothing else from "Ghost Soldiers", you will be astounded to find what the human body and the human spirit is capable of enduring. And I thought nothing could match "Flags of Our Fathers"...
Rating:
Summary: Awesome.
Review: Perhaps one of the finest books I've ever had the pleasure to read. There are not too many books written that can make you laugh on one page and then cry on the next. I can only say, please read this book. Ghost Soldiers will make you proud to be an American.
Rating:
Summary: Triumph of the human spirit
Review: I found this book to be one of the most compelling reads of any historical account thusfar read. Charasmatic leadership clearly meant the difference between death and survival.
Rating:
Summary: I Was Near There
Review: As a teenager I was in a Japanese internment camp during the years of 1943-1945. I have witnessed some of the cruelty described by the author of this book. The story is bautifully written and very gripping. These stories should never be forgotten. Thank you Mr.Sides for a great read!
Rating: 
Summary: And the beat goes on.....
Review: First of all, this is an exceptional read, and the story is vivid and descriptive as Hampton Sides draws the reader into the inferno of the Bataan Death March, the subsequent years of captivity in the hellhole Cabanatuan POW camp, and the taut suspense of a surprise raid on Cabanatuan by Army Rangers, supported by Fillipino Guerillas and Alamo Scouts. This book has picked up where "Flags of our Fathers" left off last year, and continues a wildly sucessful run for these authors of patriotic WWII stories. Hampton Sides writes a story that can be universally enjoyed by any reader, whether they be a fan of WWII history or not. Perhaps that was intentional, as being a faithful reader of WWII history I would of liked some statisitical support of enemy forces, such as what vehicles and units were faced, manpower of these units, how this intelligence was gathered, and how they came to be in the Phillipines at this crucial juncture of the Pacific war. While the absence of hard data did not detract from the overall story, it would of certainly enhanced the strategic view of this rescue mission. But that was not the goal of this book. The author instead concentrated on personalities, both from the POW camps, and from the Ranger force command structure and enlisted personnel. He spent considerable time and effort describing the tropical jungle climate and terrain, the depravation the prisoners faced, the uncertainty of a hastily planned mission with untrained Fillipino guerillas (but exceedingly brave and loyal) as support, the isolated camp with no cover anywhere near it, and the excruciatingly slow planned escape with ox-carts pulling those too weak to walk. It all added up to a plan that could end a disastrous failure. And once you start reading this deeply personal and moving story of human bravery and endurance, you simply will not want to put it down. The Death March, and also movement by the "Hellships" to mainland Japan and other work camps is well described. Movement by steel sided boxcars with no ventilation, packed so tightly together that if one died he literally kept standing, is also related. Just imagine parking your car in the sun on a 95 degree day. Turn off the ignition. And then roll the windows up. And sit there. For a more realistic attempt make sure you are suffering from the flu when you do this. Hard to imagine what these people had to endure. I myself am fortunate to live only two blocks from a 83 yr. old survivor of the Bataan Death march, who I finally spoke to on the phone. We now have plans to meet, and I am going to present this fine book to him, and hopefully learn a first hand account of his captivity in Cabantuan (He was later shipped to Bilibid in Manila, and was gone during liberation.) Hampton Sides writes all this from a finely tuned perspective, never waving the Stars and Stripes as he relates these tales of heroism, and not dwelling on the barbarity of the Japanese captors. While this is an excellent story and makes great reading, if you are after more hard facts when you finish this book, read "Prisoners of the Japanese" by Gavan Daws, the definitive account of Allied POW's in the Pacific.
| 
