Ghost Soldiers

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission (Doubleday, 2001) is a non-fiction book written by Hampton Sides. It is about the World War II Allied prison camp raid at Cabanatuan in the Philippines.

This article is about the book. For the display by 1400 actors dressed in replica World War I-period British Army uniforms across Britain on 1 July 2016, see Battle of the Somme § Commemoration.
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
First edition
AuthorHampton Sides
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genrehistory
PublisherAnchor Books
Publication date
2001
Pages343
ISBN9781299076518
OCLC842990576
Former Cabanatuan POWs march to freedom

Synopsis

In late January 1945, 121 Ranger volunteers set out to attempt a rescue of over 513 Allied prisoners of war in a Japanese camp near the Philippine city of Cabanatuan. The prisoners, survivors of the Bataan Death March, had lived in deplorable conditions for three years, suffering from starvation, tropical diseases, and abuse from Japanese soldiers. Ghost Soldiers recounts the story of the prisoners, the Ranger unit performing the raid, and the Filipino guerrillas who provided assistance. A massacre of American soldiers at Palawan alerted U.S. commanders to the danger of mass POW murder as the Japanese retreated from the Philippines. As a consequence, they planned and executed a mission to rescue the POWs from Cabanatuan prison camp. Ghost Soldiers provides historical background to the events leading to the raid, detailed accounts of camp conditions, the prisoners' heroic will to survive, and the planning and successful execution of the rescue.

Film adaptation

Awards and honors

Reviews
  • New York Times, “Books Of The Times"; A Heroic Military Rescue After the Hell of Bataan” [4]
  • Kirkus Reviews; “An extraordinary tale of bravery under fire and the will to endure…”[5]

See also

References
  1. "Bestsellers". New York Times. May 27, 2001. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  2. "Best Books of 2001: Top 25 Editors' Favorites". Amazon.com. 2001. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  3. "Ghost Soldiers". PEN Center United States. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  4. "Books Of The Times". New York Times, Richard Bernstein. June 11, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  5. "Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. March 15, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  1. "Esquire". Esquire Books. January 29, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  2. "USA Today". USA Today Books. June 25, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
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