Rating: 
Summary: A very good WWII story.........
Review: Ghost Soldiers presents a thrilling account of the rescue of POW's from a Japanese prisoner camp in the Phillipines of WWII. The book is fast-paced and relatively brief providing an excellent weekend's read. Hampton Sides does an admirable job introducing the characters and then weaving them into the narrative. Alternating chapters between the daring rescue effort and the desperate, diabolical experience of life at the camp helps build to a highly suspenseful conclusion.Ghost Soldiers certainly captures the reader, electrifying an empathy which has one cheering the rescuers efforts and silently exhorting the prisoners to hold on. These POWS suffered not only the Bataan Death March, but years of imprisonment afterwards. Their rescue was pure and utter heroism as was their indomitable determination to survive. I recommend the book highly for its' pace, suspense, and level of devotion to the courageous men and women of WWII.
Rating: 
Summary: You are There
Review: Have you ever been on a commando raid? If not, Ghost Soldiers will take you there. I really felt as if I were participating. The story is set in two locations, a Japanese prison camp behind enemy lines and with the rangers sent to rescue these forgotten warriors, in imminent danger of extermination by their captors. The feelings and emotions of both captives and rescuers is so clearly detailed that the story of every participant described, becomes a personal experience. There is drama at every stage including the preparation, the journey, the scouting report with the potential dangers, the liberation and the flight to American held territory. The author tells a great war story through the lives and feelings of those subjected to some of the most stressful experiences imaginable. This one will be difficult to forget. For those who became angry with the failures of our government after reading In Harms Way, this book will reinforce that feeling. The story clearly shows why many former prisoners from Bataan are bitter to this day, because to Washington, they were expendable. For those of us who do not read small print, the audio book on CD does a great job. Five Stars!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping
Review: I have always heard that you can tell a lot about a society by how it treats its prisoners, what this book and statement says about the 1940's Japanese society is not that pleasant. The book covers the surrender of a large number of American troops to the Japanese in the early stages of World War Two when the Japanese were on a roll. It covers the battles that lead up to the surrender and how the American's really held out almost as long as they could (not quite the German Stalingrad style holdout but close). It then covers the Battan Death March and the prisoners time in the Japanese concentration camps - oh sorry, I mean prison camps. I have always been a World War Two buff and have concentrated most of my reading on the war in Europe. This book really opened my eyes to the different type of war the Japanese fought. They were not the professional solders that adhered to the Rules of War that we were facing in Europe, but more of an anything goes, surrender is the worst thing ever type of mentality. The author really takes you into the hell that the American soldiers were placed into once they surrendered. He describes the tortures very well, almost too detailed. He has also captured the feelings of the troops. The sense of abandonment by the U.S., the everyday fears and depression that overtook the troops and the joy of liberation all come through in the writing. If you would like to read more about how the Japanese fought and the war crimes they commented then I would suggest the book "The Rape of Nanking". After reading these two books you will have a very different view of the Japanese war effort
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Summary: Another Fascinating Slice of "the Good War"
Review: Given the recent vogue for WWII, it should come as no surprise that there have been a slew of books unearthing (or rather, retelling) episodes from "the good war" for the consumption of modern readers. This book contributes to the field by combining an account of the famous Bataan Death March with the story of the liberation of the its survivors. Both of these events were widely covered and written about at the time, and author Sides synthesizes the mass of existing material with his own interviews of survivors to retell the tale of "the Battling Bastards of Bataan" and their Ranger liberators. The narrative proceeds along two time frames, switching back and forth in a manner that requires close attention. One thread starts with the US retreat from the Philippines in 1942 and the abandonment of the forces at Bataan and Corregedor. The other thread starts with the discovery in late 1944 by Army intelligence that Japanese forces were killing Allied prisoners before retreating-most notably in a massacre at Palawan. The fear that this may occur to the survivors of Bataan spurred the formation of an ad hoc force of Rangers to go behind Japanese lines and liberate the POW camp at Cabanatuan before the US completely retook the Philippines. The two threads alternate, recounting the Death March and three years of horrific prison camp life through the stories of survivors with the planning and implementation of the raid. The story is highly readable and fairly vivid, although not without its flaws. First, while Sides does an excellent job explaining how the Japanese vastly underestimated the number of prisoners they would take, planning for 40,000 and actually getting 100,000, the book is rather confusing on the precise fates of the 100,000. I think about 12,000 were US soldiers, the rest Filipinos, but I'm not sure. I know abut 500-600 Americans died on the march, as did about ten times that many Filipinos, but their disbursements after the march is a little unclear. Another problem is the author's overindulgence for interrupting the narrative to give little capsule biographies of participants, this sometimes stops the book dead in its tracks, and other times leads to redundancies in information. To be fair, the longest such digression-the story of American spy Claire Phillips-is the most intriguing part of the book. It would have been nice to hear a little more about the non-American POWs in the camp and how they fit in to camp life. Finally, it's hard to countenance the lack of index or footnotes. Sides does present a lengths bibliographic essay, but that's lazy history and a poor service to readers interested in following up particular details. On the whole, however, it's a good tale worth retelling, and Sides does a more than serviceable job of it. His explanation of the underlying reasons for why the Japanese were so cruel to prisoners is especially useful, as his capsulated explanation of the tactics surrounding the abandonment of Bataan and Corregedor. In the end, the raid is somewhat anticlimactic, but for those interested in WWII, it's good stuff.
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Summary: "Greater Love Hath No Man. . ."
Review: It has been a long time since I read a book that I hated to put down. Ghost Soldiers changed that. In this thrilling account of 6th Ranger Battalion's rescue of over 500 survivors of the "Bataan Death March," author Hampton Sides describes the events graphically and makes the people involved come alive. Army Rangers have had many proud moments. To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, this may have been, "their finest hour!" Sides describes all of the key events: the surrender of American forces at Corregidor and Bataan followed by the infamous "death march" into captivity. He then describes the prisoner's ordeal: backbreaking labor on a starvation diet and the cruelty of the Japanese guards who literally held the power of life and death in their hands. No one with high blood pressure should read these sections! He ends with the story of the rescue itself and the prisoners "life march" back from the "valley of the shadow of death." Keep some Kleenex handy! He also describes the key personalities involved: The mercurial Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci, 6th Ranger Battalion Commander whose charismatic, theatrical style contrasted sharply with that of the studious, detail oriented, Captain Robert Prince, the assault element commander who meticulously planned every aspect of the raid. They were a formidable team.
Then there were the Filipino guerilla leaders Captains Juan Pajota and Eduardo Joson, without whom the raid would have been impossible. For them the war was personal. A foreign enemy had invaded their home. They fought with the weapons of the guerilla: bolo knives, an odd collection of rifles, and an intimate knowledge of every aspect of the terrain. Quiet, competent, and ruthless, when they issued a command every Filipino in their areas complied immediately. Last was Clair Phillips a.k.a. secret agent "High Pockets," the voluptious cabaret owner who fought the Japanese with the only weapons available to her: feminine charm and good whiskey! Her exploits saved the lives of many in the camp. She was also responsible for the deaths of more Japanese than most infantry divisions! In the big scheme of things what did the raid mean? In a conflict that measured casualties in millions of lives and trillions of dollars what were 500 lives? The Holy Bible says in the Gospel according to John, Chapter 15, Verse 13, "Greater love hath no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends." It is worth remembering that on January 28th, 1945, 121 Americans assisted by approximately 300 Filipino guerillas risked everything for no greater reward than to end the suffering of their fellow soldiers. They lived John 15:13 that day! The world is a better place because of it!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping from Page 1
Review: Mr. Sides has written a compelling account on all aspects of this most daring of rescue missions. All the key particpants on both sides are discussed and the story itself is vividly detailed. I was left satisfied and in need of nothing more in order to fully understand how incredible this undertaking was. As a member of a generation that has never been fully called upon to defend the ideals of freedom through massive loss of life, it is books such as this that allow me to fully appreciate the sacrifices made by those born in the first two decades of the 20th Century. God Bless the Army Rangers.
Rating: 
Summary: SLOW READ
Review: NOT AS FUN TO READ AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE, THE BOOK FAILED TO CAPTURE THE DRAMA OF THE FIGHT. MORE INPUT FROM THOSE WHO WERE THERE PLEASE.
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Summary: In Memory
Review: Sixty years ago today, the U.S. government abandoned 78,000 American and Philippine troops to their fate on the Philippine peninsula of Bataan when General King surrendered to the Japanese. The ships left, the aircraft flew off and the men were left leaderless without even a protocol to surrender. Mass confusion ensued; the Japanese had vastly underestimated the huge number of prisoners and had few places to take them and hardly anything to feed and clothe them. Thus the infamous Bataan Death March. The Japanese culture saw prisoners of war as lesser beings. The Japanese soldier was taught to fight to the last man, and that last man should commit suicide rather than be captured. Consequently, the prisoners were accorded little if any humanity. Also, the elite of the Japanese forces were at the front. The prison camp guards were the lowliest, least skilled and educated of their troops. Their treatment of the prisoners was mercurial, harsh, and sometimes unbelievably savage. Thousands upon thousands perished, most of the deaths caused by tropical diseases that felled them in their starving condition. Almost three years later, when Japan was close to defeat, the Americans established a beachhead on Bataan. The 6th U.S. Army Rangers, a crack force of 121 men were assigned the perilous operation of getting behind Japanese lines and liberating the American prisoners at the largest camp, Cabanatuan before the Japanese could execute the entire prison population. "Ghost Soldiers" is the story of the liberation and the oral histories of some of the surviving soldiers. The book is not a military history; it is the story of the men involved. It is told in a time-lapse method with the prisoner's life interspersed with the Ranger's upcoming raid. The chances of success were slim, and the operation was shot with luck and almost miracles. Mr. Sides does a good and caring job with the information he has gathered. The book has an epilogue of the "Where Are They Now" type that is highly welcome. By the end of the story, you care for these men as individuals and hope the remainder of their lives made up for the hellish three years in Bataan.
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Summary: Pager turner...can't put it down.
Review: Although I was familiar with the history of the Bataan death march, I was not familiar with the people behind the story. Being familiar with the writing style of Hampton Sides from Outside Magazine, I expected an adventurous tale...I was not ready for the in-depth profiles of the people that captured my undivided reading attention. The author does a very good job of keeping two stories going at the same time...the people in the prison camp and the rescue team marching on an all volunteer, suicidal mission to free the prisoners. Flipping back and forth through the two on-going stories causes you to want to race to the final encounter... Beyond the prisoners and the Ranger rescue team, there are other incredible civilian heroes that deserver their own record in history. Bring a dictionary along...Hampton Sides will saturate the pages with enough infrequently used words to help you pass the SAT...again! I highly recommend this book for those looking for more insight into the people than just a straight historical account. Caution: this book should be rated R for violent depictions of war.
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: My grandfather was an officer in WWII and he was one of those many Filipinos in the Death March. My dad would tell us stories about how difficult times were then, especially how difficult it was to get medicine and other essentials to my grandfather, the hopelessness of my grandmother when she heard that Bataan fell, the fear of my uncles and aunts of what the Japanese would do to them, and how they fleed. While I listened, I never really appreciated the horror of the war. My grandfather lived through that ordeal but I was too young to understand the stories. We have a cross with us today, which I'm told my grandfather picked up during that march, and which he somehow managed to bring home with him. It seems to have more meaning now. This book has given me a great insight into what it was like not only for Americans, but for other nationalities, especially for the Japanese. I generally do not like war stories because they are sad and because with hindsight, they appear so senseless. However, I could not put this book down. I spent the better part of the day reading it.
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