For the first four months of 1942, American, Filipino, and
Japanese soldiers fought America's first major land battle of
World War II: the battle for the tiny Philippine peninsula of
Bataan. It ended with the single largest defeat in American
military history. This was only the beginning. Until the
Japanese surrendered in August 1945, the prisoners of war
suffered forty-one months of unparalleled cruelty and savagery.
Michael and Elizabeth Norman bring to the story remarkable feats
of reportage and literary empathy. Their protagonist, Ben
Steele, is a young cowboy and aspiring sketch artist from
Montana who joins the army to see the world and ends up on a
death march. Juxtaposed against Steele’s story are the
heretofore untold accounts of Japanese soldiers who struggled to
maintain their humanity while carrying out their superiors’
inhuman commands. Back to top