Reviews (2)

I have not read this book.
I am a surviving prisoncamp child myself, and would like to be able to get a copy of this book. Started my own autobiography, but need some help with names of camps, and dates. I was there with my mother, brother and 2 sisters, while my father was a prisoner of war and taken to Singapore. We all survived. So please help. Thank you

This book ought to be make into a movie
One of the few books that had come across me which glued me to it. When I read a book it usually took me two or three weeks, if it is a good book, to finish it. Well, this book took me just 3 days to read from cover to cover. A compelling jouney of a family though unspeakable hardship, miserly and ignorance. This book draw you into the day to day life of the writer's life while she and her family was in the camps. At time I felt I can smell the odor and felt the hot summer heat in the camps. One thought keep popping up, this could be a great movie, perhaps direct by Steven Spielberg. One down side of the book is that it could use better editing, I can spot numerous errors thoughout the book that can be at time distracting but in no ways diminish the book's content ... Read more

Book Description

Requiem for Battleship Yamato is Yoshida Mitsuru's story of his own experience as a junior naval officer aboard the fabled Japanese battleship as it set out on a last, desperate sortie in April 1945. Yoshida was on the bridge during Yamato's fatal encounter with American airplanes, and his eloquent, moving account of that battle makes a singular contribution to the literature of the Pacific war.

The book has long been considered a classic in both Japan and the United States. As with most great battle stories, its ultimate concern is less bombs and bullets than human nature, less death than life. This sensitive translation by Richard Minear is totally faithful to Yoshida's original prose, its language vigorous and idiomatic yet poetic in nature. An informative introduction puts the work in historical and political context and discusses Yoshida's postwar search for the meaning of peace. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A Sailor Remembers
"Ours is the signal honor of being the nation's bulwark. One day we must prove ourselves worthy."

Requiem for Battleship Yamato is about sacrifice-immolation on the altar of national survival. It was written not to needlessly lionize the wanton sacrifice of combatants in order to bring to an end what one historian called "a war to establish and revive the stature of man." Instead, it was written, and properly so, as catharsis: Yoshida Mitsuru, as a 20-year old ensign on the bridge of the Yamato during its final voyage, had witnessed War, and thus wished that future generations would no longer be called upon to "prove themselves worthy," and to bear the burden of armed conflict.

Yoshida's prose satisfactorily captures the spirit on board the Yamato prior to its climactic encounter. Yet there is no way to adequately describe what the men of the Yamato went through during the ship's final hours. One author called it "a glorious way to die." Alternatively, the battle could be described as a nautical siege, a maritime battle of Troy. There is no apotheosis in death; death is merely a release from duty. During the battle, one man struggles to keep the deck clean by throwing overboard limbs severed by bomb shrapnel or machine-gun fire. Below decks, men grapple with the bodies of their comrades; once-inviting hot tubs (the Yamato has several of them, we are told) are filled to the brim with the ranks of the dead. In the bridge, officers are mowed down by machine-gun bullets. There is no sanctuary aboard the most massive dreadnought ever constructed.

This is a highly readable book, redolent with poignant memories, written by a man who had the courage to confront his phantoms. Through Yoshida's book, many souls who fought during the Pacific War found a voice.

"Three thousand corpses, still entombed today. What were their thoughts as they died?"

A true requiem
Requeim fo Battleship Yamato is an exceptional book describing not just the last battle of the ship, but the feelings and emotions of the crew who manned her in this battle.

This book was written and published in Japan and then suppressed by US occupation censurship policies. I, for one, can't see what the rationale for suppression was, having read the book several times.

What I find must interesting is the author's description of the men he served with and the men he led. He was reproved by a superior officer for NOT striking a Sailor for an infraction of discipline. His description of the role of the executive officer is also enlightening - he was a "designated" survivor to report back about the mission. The description of a Nisei who was in the same stateroom as the author is quite moving. I for one, had never known or considered that there were Nisei in Japan at the time the war started and how they were treated by their fellow countrymen. If for no other reason than this last, I am glad I read the book.

this is a fine book for all students of naval history. It is also an excellent piece of literature. I recommend it to all.

A true classic
Although perhaps unsurprising given the scale of Japan's losses and the bitterness of defeat, the fact remains that there are relatively few accounts of the war by those who fought with the Imperial Forces, and even fewer available in English.

For this reason alone 'Requiem for Battleship Yamato' would command attention even if it were only an average work. But it is not an average work; it is a classic in the truest sense of this much abused word, which must be placed alongside books such as 'The Last Enemy' by Richard Hillary.

Written in a spare, almost poetic style, 'Requiem' tells the story of the Yamato's last doomed sortie from the viewpoint of one of her junior officers. Alongside glimpses of life on board the great battleship, we gain an insight into the thoughts and personal lives of her crew as they prepare for what most realise will be a mission from which there will be no return.

As the tension mounts and enemy forces close in for the inevitable kill, Yoshida provides a moving commentary on the Yamato's last days and hours, with poignant vignettes of such figures as the force commander Vice Admiral Ito, who had correctly appreciated the futility of the mission yet carried out his task with calm resolution.

With the Yamato entering her final death agony, Yoshida gives us harrowing descriptions of the effects of explosives and steel on human flesh - a timely reminder in this age of glossy propaganda of the true face of battle. Then there is the homecoming, with Yoshida's personal struggle to come to terms with the meaning of his survival while so many of his comrades are dead.

No review of this book would be complete without acknowledging the outstanding work of its translator, Richard Minear, who has also provided an excellent introduction. Thanks to his efforts, this work will not only be read with profit by the military historian, but anyone who seeks to broaden his understanding of the human condition.

are we dead yet? Are We Dead Yet?! ARE WE DEAD YET?!!!!
Sorry, something must have gotten lost in the translation. I had to write this review because I just can't agree with all these other glowing reviews of this book.

Poetry? Maybe in the original Japanese, but what I read here was this constant refrain of foreboding thoughts of death, death, death, dying, and suicide. Yes, it is possible after a while for this repetitive bleating to sound somewhat like a six-year old stuck on a very long road trip with the family.

I found it hardest to square Mitsuru's later conversion to Christianity and pronouncements of "all war is bad" (described in the preface by the translator) with this book. Why did he write this book, and in fact struggle mightily to get it published, unless some part of him still believed that what he did in WWII was right, and that this stuff needed to be set down for his countrymen to read? All this later Christianity and "all war is bad" stuff had to have been only a thin veneer of respectability that he took on only to get by in the realities of a post-WWII world dominated by American culture.

For there is no tone of apology here in this book. No expression of guilt at having allowed himself to become part of an insane cult-like military elite which was the force that started the war with America in the first place, and then, having gotten soundly beaten, turned in desperation to forcing its soldiers and civilians to commit suicidal acts of sheer folly. No anger, and only a minimal amount of recrimination at the leaders of this miliary caste who sent in these orders from a safe distance far away, demanding suicidal sacrifice.

In our post-911 world, it is now possible to see the military elite that was in control of Japan at the time for the insane fanatics that they truly were. Mitsuru definitely - although unintentionally, I believe - shows in this book the pure evil side of this elite culture, especially the rigid caste system and total disregard for all life. Two incidents stand out, his almost casual explanation that when a subordinate failed to salute him in the ship's hallway that he was entitled to punish the man with five blows of the fist; and later on in the battle, when, with the Yamato taking on water and listing, the Captain orders one of the boiler rooms flooded to counterbalance the ship. Oh, right! There's a few hundred men still down there who haven't had a chance to get out yet! From the author, we get not even an ooooooops, or an explanation of why the haste to counterflood - instead we get something like - glorious was the sacrifice of these men of the boiler rooms!!!

Arrrrgg!!! The counterflooding didn't even work to right the ship! - and this was a glorious sacrifice of these several hundred men?

The biggest problem that I have with this book is that the author never comes out and admits that he was wrong to have been in the grips of this truly evil military elite culture whose evilness was matched only by its stupidity. Instead, he clearly wrote this book intending to honor and pay tribute to this pathetic military culture.

Yes, if you are an American, read this book to understand why we should be unabashedly glad that we won the war and stamped these cockroaches out for good. It was necessary to do this to re-build a better Japan, the good, peaceful Japan that we have today. The one that builds all those great cars and stereos and cameras, instead of chopping off the heads of POW's and drowning their own sailors for no good reason.

High Tragedy and Futility in the Pacific....
In the 1950's and 60's, Japanese memoirs of the Pacific War flooded forth from the publishers. Saburo Sakai's "Samurai", Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain," Mochitsura Hashimoto's "Sunk!" are just the tip of the spear. But Yoshida's "Requiem for Battleship Yamato" is simply in a class by itself. The youngest officer on board the mighty battleship, he was present when the giant was ordered on her suicide sortie. Escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser Yahagi and numerous destroyers in April 1945, Yamato's mission was sublimely ridiculous: sail down toward the Ryuku Islands (where a massive American task force was staging the invasion of Okinawa), attack the landing force, beach itself, expend all weapons and ammunition, then the surviving crew members would join the garrison in Okinawa's defense. It was no surprise that the force didn't even make it halfway before being annihilated by U.S. planes. Yoshida's book is poetic and is beautifully translated by Richard Minnear who also provides a superb introduction as well. Yoshida's account of the American air attacks which inevitably shattered the Yamato, the Yahagi and most of the escorting destroyers come off as not combat, but high slaughter. Veterans who survived idiotic orders and suicide charges will find a spiritual brother in Yoshida. Don't be surprised if you have a tear in your eye for the brave crews of these ships as you close this book for the last time.

Written as a tribute to his shipmates, "Requiem" is also a powerful anti-war book. ... Read more

Book Description

In April 1943, fifteen-year-old Maria Rosa Henson was taken by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines and forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman."In this simply told yet powerfully moving autobiography, Rosa recalls her childhood as the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy landowner, her work for Huk guerillas, her wartime ordeal, and her marriage to a rebel leader who left her to raise their children alone.Her triumph against all odds is embodied by her decision to go public with the secret she had held for fifty years. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

IGNORE THE RIGHT-WING CLAP-TRAP BY THE REVIEWER BELOW
This is a good book as it illumiinates the horrors of war and the strength of human courage & dignity. Unfortunately, people such as 'Hiromi' who have reviewed it below, in typical right-wing Japanese fashion end up denying or trying to cast doubt on events that undoubtedly took place, but unfortunately there are still a fair number of Japanese who like to deny this, which is why there is still so much mistrust of Japanese in Asia even today. Read this book, it will give you an insight of the good & bad of human conduct in war.

Sad Story, But...
In rape cases, to point out some problematic facts in the story told by the plaintiff would often be branded as the second rape.

Still, as a Japanese, I must stand up here and make the argument for the sake of the honors of our own grandfathers who may have been falsely accused for this disgusting crime of "sex slavery" because, in fact, there are lots of suspicious inconsistency in this auto-biographical account of Maria Rosa Henson.

The followings are only few examples of the small-but-cannot-plainly-be-ignored problems in Ms Henson's account;

<1> The comfort station where Ms Henson was taken in and forced to be a comfort woman was also the Japanese Army headquarters and garrison. To be precise, the downstairs was the headquarters (and bathroom?) and the upstairs was the comfort station. But, that kind of arrangement is extremely odd for the Japanese Army who was renowned by their reputation of decency, at least for the facade, I would moderately add.

<2> Ms Henson says that the Japanese soldiers would shout "Miyo tokai [no] sora [akete]!" as they do their daily exercise and when the routine was over, they shouted "banzai!" three times. This is, again, very odd. The former is a song with nice melody that I do not think suits for exercise. And, although "banzai" can be casually used like, say, "hurrah!", it should be a special occasion when people shout it "three times". Similarly, the Japanese use the word "baka"(stupid) with some kind of affection even when used with a punishment of slap. So, again, Ms Henson's claims that evil Japanese torturing people shouting "baka!" seems quite odd.

<3> Ms Henson would ask herself: "Why did I not try to escape? Because they might kill me." But, according to Ms Henson herself, the only one guard outside of their rooms was kind to all the women there and seems to have showed no hostile intention to punish the women severely in the event of escape. On the contrary, he even helped her (maybe others, too) daily cleaning by scrubbing the floor with a wet cloth and some disinfectant. One would wonder if she really found no chance to escape while this only guard got on all fours scrubbing her floor.

<4> Ms Henson claims that some "twenty to thirty" soldiers "raped" her every day, however, I cannot help wondering if they really had such spare time to rape women when the situation of the war in the Pacific theatre had been drastically declining for the Japanese at the time in question and hundreds of Japanese ships were being sunk by the U.S. Navy in the sea near by.

Now, the followings would arouse more serious doubt;

<1> Ms Henson claims that she had become able to understand some Japanese by the time when she overheard Captain Tanaka and the colonel talking about a plan to conduct a zoning operation in Pampang, her barrio, because many of the residents there were guerrillas. She was able to understand that the colonel had said that the Japanese soldiers had captured guerrillas from there, and they were in the garrison downstairs. But, she was with the Japanese for only nine months, and, if it was only Captain Tanaka who liked her and taught some Japanese to her, it makes only 1 month or 2. I really doubt that anyone can ever become understand Japanese Language in such short time considering the fact that military terms are usually more complicated and difficult even for the ordinary Japanese.

<2> When Ms Henson was proposed by Domingo, she confessed to him that "[she] had been raped by Japanese soldiers, but [she] never told him that [she] also become a comfort woman." Why? Is it not because a "comfort woman" means a prostitute, never the same as being raped? If she regarded her whole experience in the comfort station as "rape" she could have told him so. And, is that not because why the subtitle of this book used the word "prostitution" although Ms Henson never says that she was in the business?

Apart from the fact that Ms Henson was working in one of the largest communist guerrilla organisation in Philippine at that time, who would spread Anti-Japanese propaganda in the civilian population to mobilise people as their combatants for the communist revolution, those inconsistencies made me assume her account is unreliable.

In reality, as the Japanese authority of this issue Yoshiaki Yoshimi publicly admitted, there is no single documented evidence to support the allegation Japanese Imperial Army kidnapped and forced them to prostitution, or more grotesquely described by the feminists as "sexual slavery".
Yoshimi's large volume of all governmental documents he could ever found on this matter shows that the women made at least 300 yen and at most 1,500 yen per month whereas the soldiers's monthly wage was 9 yen. The charge was range from 1.5 yen from 3 yen per 30 minutes for the privates. (Officers and generals were charged much higher.) Although the women had to pay back their advances to the trader by 50 percent of their earnings, still it was good-waged business to the women from poor countryside. The Japanese Imperial Army did not run the comfort station but paid great attention to the women's welfare so that their soldiers could profit in their morale and spirits by satisfaction of the earthly desire without any worry about venereal disease.

Because of lack of evidence that substantiate the allegation other than those unreliable testimonies of the ex-comfort women's and many evidences that support the Japanese Army's innocent, the government refused to recognise this matter as the issue of compensation. However, Maria Rosa Henson received one million yen (about 250,000 peso) for the "temporary money" from non-governmental organisation in Japan in 1996. It was two years before this book was published. I am just wondering why that fact was omitted. Maybe because this whole issue is a propaganda and Ms Henson is a victim of the ideological warfare.

Survivor's story
This is the most terrible book I ever read. This is a book about a 15 years old girl, Maria Rosa Henson. Maria was taken by the Japanese soldiers and forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman" during the Japanese occupation in Philippines. She was captured and had been sexual tortured and abused for years. After keeping her secret for over half a century, she broke her silent and told the public about her painfully experience. I was stunned by her words and as well the illustrations in the book. However, I admired her courage--her courage to tell the truth and to face her family. Her truth words definitely offer hope and perspective to other survivors who need too heal from the wound.

A Poignant Narrative of Truth Worth Reading
This poignant memoir of a Filippino woman forced into prostitution by the Japanese military during World War II is moving and touching in its simplicity of style. Maria Rosa Henson teaches us truth in these pages, truth which we need to understand. We must all do what we can to see that our country votes properly in the United Nations on this issue. So far the USA is the only nation within the General Assembly of the UN which has refused to uphold that reparations be paid to the thousands and millions of sexual slaves who have been tortured and abused worldwide by the war machine and the various militarists who destroy our humanity everywhere across the globe. The one who has written this book is her personal testitmony to help other survivors.Read this memoir and its introduction. It's worth your education.

War crimes
This is a very compelling story about the atrocities to which members of the Japanese army subjected a young Filipina girl. It is difficult, at times, to read and certainly not a book I would recommend for young readers. However, it definitely raised my awareness of the issue and the horrors experienced by these "comfort women". It also showed the resilience of women to love and survive again after such deplorable experiences. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

"If literature is dead, someone forgot to invite Haruki Murakami to the funeral." --Jay Rubin

As a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinks at his Tokyo jazz club, Peter Cat, where he wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up. He loves music of all kinds and when he writes, his words have a music all their own, much of it learned from jazz.

Besides being the distinguished translator of Murakami's work, Professor Jay Rubin is a self-confessed fan. He has written a book for other fans who want to know more about this reclusive writer. He reveals the autobiographical elements in Murakami's fiction; explains how he developed a distinctive new style in Japanese; and how, on his return to Japan from America, he came to regard the Kobe earthquake (in which his parents' house was destroyed) and the Tokyo subway gas attack as twin manifestations of a violence lying just beneath the surface of Japanese life.

Since 1993 Rubin has been studying Murakami's writing, interviewing him, and collaborating with him in preparing his works for an English-speaking audience. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

simply great. puts everything in perspective
first of all, i would recommend that you read all of murakami's books before you tackle this one, otherwise you'll just be left in the dark. overall, this book gives you the major themes and influences behind murakami's works, and how they relate to each other. the bifurcation of worlds, Rubin tells us, is present in all of his stories, either explicitly or implicitly. and throughout this book, we see murakami evolving. he struggles with what it means to be a japanese writer, especially one who has nothing much in common with his predecessors. we also see murakami, a loner by nature, coming to grips with fame and all its implications. but this is not a biography. what little biographical detail there is is presented as mere background information for how each novel was written. altogether, this book will not disappoint. rubin's writing style is clear and precise, and his analysis is right on. altogether, rubin has written a great critique of murakami. hats off gentlemen, hats off.

Part biography, part literary criticism, all a must for fans
As a previous reviewer mentioned, this book consists mostly of Rubin's literary criticism of all Murakami's works. This includes some things that are not readily available in English, especially things not available in book form. Rubin does, however, include excerpts of the material he discusses and he mentions magazines where Murakami's short stories have been published. Notes on translation are excellent, as is the bibliography.
While this book is not a straight-up biography, I think complaints about a lack of biographical material are unfounded. There is a lot of information about the chronology of Murakami's life and that of his wife, as well as insights into his thoughts on Japan and Japanese society. It is well known that Murakami is very private, and I was actually surprised at how much of a glimpse into his life and feelings Rubin was able to give us.
A note of some caution: although Rubin does not reveal everything in his criticism of Murakami's novels and short stories, I recommend that before reading this book you read as much of Murakami's works as you can get your hands on. This is partly because of spoiler issues, but mostly because it is the way to get the most out of Rubin's comments. And if you're anything like me, you will want to go back and re-read everything after seeing Rubin's take on the material -- unlike another reviewer, I feel that it is valuable to hear as many opinions as possible about Murakami as well as about any other writer.

The literary phenomenon that is Haruki Murakami
First of all, don't buy this book purely for biographical purposes, hoping to get some hidden insight on Murakami's life. It is clear that Murakami values his privacy intensely and Rubin goes to great lengths to respect that. Also, what information is given about Murakami will pretty much conform with what you probably could've assumed about him. This book, more than anything else, is a chronological literary criticism of Murakami's works up through "after the quake." Rubin does a good job of analyzing many of the running motifs and themes that occur in Murakami's books (wells, corridors, birds, and elephants, to name a few). It is clear that Rubin has a hard time being a Murakami fan and a Murakami scholar at the same time, but he seems to do a good job remaining impartial (although it is clear which books are his favorites and which are not!)

My first experience with Murakami was when I read "A Wild Sheep Chase" a year and a half ago, and before I knew it I had read every major novel and short story he'd written, finishing Pinball 1973 just last week. I read the books in an order that pretty much had nothing to do with the order they were written (beware that the order that the English translations came out in is often quite different than the original order). As a result, reading the details Rubin gives behind each of the books and about the growth that Murakami experienced along the way were among the highlights of the book for me and helped to solidify the ties that hold his books together. Murakami fascinates me because he is still growing rapidly as a writer and a person and the growing pains as well as the links to his past work are found in each work if you know what to look for.

Rubin spends the most time in this book discussing "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," which for me was an incredibly thrilling and frustrating book at the same time. Murakami had so many excellent storylines and so many running motifs, but many seemed to frazzle and die out by the end. Some call this piece Murakami's masterpiece, but I have a feeling that when all is said and done, this will be seen as a transitional piece: the first work where Murakami fully takes on the responsibility he feels towards the Japanese people. Murakami tackled so many issues with such brilliance (the Nomonhan Incident in particular) that I look forward to seeing where this new focus takes Murakami in the future. Some of his more recent work ("Sputnik Sweetheart" comes to mind) seem more of a step backwards than real progress, but there is no way Wind-Up Bird is a mere aberration.

Perhaps more so than any other writer, we as readers have the interesting opportunity to watch Murakami grow and experiment before our very eyes. If you haven't already, definitely try to get your hands on some of the earlier novels and short stories Rubin mentions ("Hear the Wind Sing" in particular) to get an even better grasp of where Murakami has started from.

If you are a serious fan of Murakami and want a better understanding of the thinking behind his works and a bit of an analysis of the works themselves (remember that as an individualist, Murakami believes his books have no one, strict interpretation!), "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" is a must-have companion to Murakami's works. Reliving Murakami's works through Rubin's analyses is a joy.

Great info for the Murakami fan
If you're like me, you're a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, but don't know much about him other than that he's one of Japan's most famous contemporary authors. This book definitely bridges the gap. It's mostly a literary criticism of his novels and short stories, but also includes as much biographical information as the author could find. I personally learned a lot about the underlying themes of Murakami's novels, and was also gratified that someone else thought "Dance, Dance, Dance" wasn't as good as his others. The book makes it clear how Murakami has changed over time and how the characters and events in his novels are inspired by his own life.

Good Primer To Murakami's Work - But Not a Good Biography
Having been Murakami's translator for many of his best novels and stories, Jay Rubin has written a solid introduction to Murakami's work in general. There are many great insights in this book, especially dealing with the aspect of translating Murakami's Japanese itself. The most helpful of these was the differentiation of the two versions of Japanese first-person narration - boku and watashi - and problems for this kind of narration to translate properly into English. Since most Japanese literature (according to Rubin) features these first-person narration techniques and not a third-person one (a 'default' narration of western literature), Murakami's narration could seem very interior. This insight helped me understand why Murakami seemed to heavily favor such a narrative technique (which I tended to view as a monotonous trait)- it's a cultural difference, rather than a writerly one.

The biographical information of Murakami is sketchy at best, though. Much of it is regurgitated pastiche of already existent info. As I was looking forward to find out about the man who wrote about such fantastic things, I was disappointed to find out the psychological probing of any kind was absent.

But get this book if you don't know much about Murakami or his work - it's an excellent introduction. ... Read more

Book Description

Daughters of a British father and a Chinese mother, Edith and Winnifred Eaton pursued wildly different paths. While Edith wrote stories of downtrodden Chinese immigrants under the pen name Sui Sin Far, Winnifred presented herself as Japanese American and published Japanese romance novels in English under the name Onoto Watanna. In this invigorating reappraisal of the vision and accomplishments of the Eaton sisters, Dominika Ferens departs boldly from the dichotomy that has informed most commentary on them: Edith's "authentic" representations of Chinese North Americans versus Winnifred's "phony" portrayals of Japanese characters and settings.

Arguing that Edith as much as Winnifred constructed her persona along with her pen name, Ferens considers the fiction of both Eaton sisters as ethnography. Edith and Winnifred Eaton suggests that both authors wrote through the filter of contemporary ethnographic discourse on the Far East and also wrote for readers hungry for "authentic" insight into the morals, manners, and mentality of an exotic other.

Ferens traces two distinct discursive traditionsÐ-missionary and travel writingÐ-that shaped the meanings of "China" and "Japan" in the nineteenth century. She shows how these traditions intersected with the unconventional literary careers of the Eaton sisters, informing the sober, moralistic tone of Edith's stories as well as Winnifred's exotic narrative style, plots, settings, and characterizations.

Bringing to the Eatons' writings a contemporary understanding of the racial and textual politics of ethnographic writing, this important account shows how these two very different writers claimed ethnographic authority, how they used that authority to explore ideas of difference, race, class and gender, and how their depictions of nonwhites worked to disrupt the process of whites' self-definition. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Everything you want to know about Oda Nobunaga.
If you're a student of Asian history or Japanese studies, you might consider reading this book. It's easy to read and I think it's a very complete description of the life of Oda Nobunaga and his deeds. ... Read more

Book Description

In this powerful, exquisitely crafted book, Kyoko Mori delves into her dual heritage with a rare honesty that is both graceful and stirring. From her unhappy childhood in Japan, weighted by a troubled family and a constricting culture, to the American Midwest, where she found herself free to speak as a strong-minded independent woman, though still an outsider, Mori explores the different codes of silence, deference, and expression that govern Japanese and American women's lives: the ties that bind us to family and the lies that keep us apart; the rituals of mourning that give us the courage to accept death; the images of the body that make sex seem foreign to Japanese women and second nature to Americans. In the sensitive hands of this compelling writer, one woman's life becomes the mirror of two profoundly different societies.
... Read more

Reviews (24)

Beautiful writing, honest feeling, insightful observation
I loved reading Kyoko Mori's Polite Lies, and will read all her books. I greatly admire her lovely writing style and enjoyed spending time with this thoughtful, perceptive, gentle cultural observer. I have a lifelong fascination with Japanese culture, and felt the truth of Mori's experiences (I was an American child in Tokyo in 1952-54.) I'm also interested in gender issues, art, writing, and comparative cultures in general, so I found her to be a delightful companion and guide. I can imagine that she would indeed be a good interpreter of American culture for the Japanese, just as she enlightens Americans about the Japanese. Thank you Ms. Mori--good work!! Keep writing!

Lies, but hardly polite
If I were a non-Japanese reader who knew nothing of Japan's modern culture, I would have been awed by the revelations this book revealed. As I am not such an uninformed reader, I can not be impressed by this novel. As a note, I am also 16, not 12. I forgot my password and used the children't form.

Kyoko Mori, a Japanese turned American woman, explores the cultures of Japan and the United States. I am not an expert on American culture as I have never even visited its mainland. What I can say is that her information on Japan is outdated, biased, and yet seems authoritive. Her information is far from perfect as I know from my own life experiences. Public schools in Japan are not how she portrays them.

She claims to be comparing the two cultures from across the globe so I expected a fair, good-and-bad account of each from a person with such a background. It was more of an oppurtunity for her to put down Japan, a country that she no longer knows anything about, and a country that I love despite my complaints.

What a lie...
This book looked interesting, it really did. But when I started reading it... what a disappointment!
Readers will see that Ms. Mori had a well... traumatic childhood experience, but does she need to bring down Japan explaining that? I'm a Japanese citizen who is currently living in the United States. I can therefore say that about 99% of the culture information in that book is outdated by about 284829439032 million years. Literally.
If Ms. Mori can't put her past behind her, fine. Just don't bring down another country's culture to be what it was in the stone age. You're over 50 years behind, and if you can't see the good of Japanese culture, don't talk about it.
To all non-Japanese people reading this book, please don't believe what it is saying. It's all a bunch of outdated facts. Yes, it's beautifully written, but the meaning behind there is bad. Maybe it was in another one of her books, but she has a lot of bashing on the Japanese public school system too. Something like, "I would never have received leniency for writing in my own answers to multiple choice questions in a Japanese public school." ANTA BAKA KAI? You're not supposed to write your own answers to multiple choice questions! What do you EXPECT!?
In all, this book was bad.

Political Lies
I have a very similar cultural background to the author's. I also came from Japan twenty some years ago as a high school student. I feel a certain amount of empathy toward her because of my bicultural/bilingual background, but I really don't like the way she describes Japanese culture. It's too stereotypical and generalized. If you want to know anything about Japan, I would recommend "Turning Japanese" by David Mura. Although he is the third generation Japanese American, his views on Japan are fairer and contrary to Mori,he is very honest to himself.
(I don't find Mori being honest when she claims she doesn't know how to write in Japanese after going through Japanese educational system for twelve years...which school did she attend in Japan? She lost her credibility just by saying this!)

Well-written but flawed
This book is similar to Alex Kerr's "Dogs and Demons" because you might consider it a revelation upon reading it. It may strike you as absolutely authoritative and the final word on the subject of women in Japan. It's very well-written but flawed. Like Mr. Kerr, it seems Ms. Mori set out to write a deeply pessimistic and profoundly negative book about Japan. Well, she accomplished that goal. The author must have a photographic memory because in the book she is able to reproduce conversations and events from long ago in extraordinary detail. Ms. Mori is also very persuasive, but don't let her do your thinking for you. Find out for yourself what is true and what is false. Japan, like most countries, is too complex to be uniformly condemned or praised. This book is worth reading, but take it with a grain of salt. ... Read more

Book Description

*8-page b/w photo section
* 4 drawings
* 16 maps
* 6 x 9

Until now, no book has been available about the WWII POW experience fromthe perspective of a midlevel commander. Colonel Alexander's uniquememoir combines the military and political insight of an officer aware ofhis superiors' strategy with the bare emotion of a man suffering theterror of imprisonment. His account has been quoted and referenced bycountless World War II historians; now, through the careful editing ofDominic Caraccilo, his memoir is available in its entirety for allstudents of World War II--professional and amateur.

Dominic J. Caraccilo is the author of The Ready Brigade of the 82ndAirborne in Desert Storm and a contributing author for the VFW-sponsoredtwo-volume WWII commemorative set Faces of Victory. He has publishednumerous articles in World War II, Military Review, Army Magazine andWorld War II Historical Journal.

Contact Dominic Caraccilo at DJC8275@aol.com for comments. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of the best accounts of Japanese Imprisonment
This was one of the best books on the subject of the Bataan death March and Philippine Invasion that I've read. Col. Alexander's personal account brings the events upfront and real to the reader. You truly feel part of the Col.'s ordeal. I reccomend it highly.

tHE ORIGINAL WAS ONE YOU COULD.NOT PUT DOWN
I cannot of course write a review of this book yet as I do not have a copy. I do have the original manuscript and I will give you my opinions after I read the book. I am his daughter in law and the mother of his four grandchildren.

Janet Alexander 4910 Meadowlark ln. DICKINSON tX, 77539 ... Read more

Book Description

Loet Velmans was 17 when the Germans invaded his native Holland in 1940.Almost immediately, he and his family decided to escape to London, which they did on board the Dutch Coast Guard cutter, Seaman's Hope.Deciding theyt would be safer in the Far East, the family sailed to the Dutch East Indies-now Indonesia-where Loet joined the Dutch army.In March 1942, the Japanese invaded the archipelago, conquered it in a week, and made prisoners of the local Dutch soldiers.For the next three and a half years Loet and his fellow POW's were sent to slave labor camps to build a railroad through the dense jungle on the Burmese-Thailand border, to invade and conquer India.Some 200,000 POW's and slave laborers died in building this Railroad of Death.Loet, though suffering from malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, and unspeakable maltreatment, never gave up hope...and survived.Fifty-seven years later he returned to revisit the place where he should have died and where he had buried his closest friend.From that emotional visit came this stunning memoir. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A different view of the Pacific war.
The author gives a stirring and very readable story as told from the eyes of a Dutch soldier captured by the Japanese during the invasion of Java in 1942. Velman gives a very interesting story of his backgound as a Jew in prewar Holland and his families escape from the Nazis only to fall into the hands of the Japanes later.

Most of his time as a POW was spent helping to build the Thai-Burma railroad. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Aliied prisoners and native slave labors died due to disease, famine, loss of spirit, and, of course, the direct mistreatment of them by the Japanese. All this for a railraod that was barely used and is now overgrown and torn up.

It is a compelling book and the author is still trying to come to terms with the Japanse to this day.

I also highly recommend Ernest Gordon's "Beneath the Valley of the Kwai". This book was written much earlier but tells the story from the British point of view. It is now available under the title "To End All Wars".

Thank you Leot Velmans
The author survived the ordeal of Changhi prison in Singapore and enslavement by the Japanese to build the railroad in Siam -- my own father did not. Velmans' account is intensely painful to read but made me feel close to the father I never got to know, 60 years later. ... Read more

Book Description

Finally back in print: The definitive biography of the legendary Japanese writer-legendary as much for his tumultuous life and macabre suicide as for his Nobel-nominated writings

At forty-five, Yukio Mishima was the outstanding Japanese writer of his generation, celebrated both at home and abroad for The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. In 1970 he startled the world by stepping out onto a balcony in Tokyo before an assembly of troops and plunging a sword into his abdomen; a disciple then beheaded him, completing the ritual of hara-kiri. John Nathan's riveting biography traces the life of this tortured, nearly superhuman personality. Mishima survived a grotesque childhood, and subsequently his sadomasochistic impulses became manifest-as did an increasing obsession with death as the supreme beauty. Nathan, who knew Mishima profession-ally and personally, interviewed family, colleagues, and friends to unmask the various-often seemingly contradictory-personae of the genius who felt called by "a glittering destiny no ordinary man would be permitted." ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Personal, informative, penetrating
In his introduction, Nathan admits that Mishima would probably be furious that these facts regarding his life had been brought to light. Though it is debtable whether he was arrogant or only proud, sensitive to other people or contemptous of them, Mishima certainly seemed to have very little interest in being understood, and had a carefully crafted public image. I think, though, that if there has to be a biography, we could hardly hope for a better one.

Nathan knew Mishima personally, and his occasional self-referencing serves to make the account more relatable, instead of stealing attention from Mishima. He approaches the subject as humbly as possible, both in regard to Japanese culture, as a westerner, and in regard to Mishima, in trying to reserve judgment. Mishima's actions may be difficult to understand, and it would be all too tempting to describe them as bizzare or wrong, but Nathan slips up on very few occasions (near the end, he does say something in reference to Mishima's suicide along the lines of, 'otherwise, it must seem a terrible waste' -bleah). His sincere desire to understand is evident. Of course, intention alone doesn't make a good biography; 'Mishima' is also liberally packed with information, highlighting incidents which must have had an influence on Mishima's work, reproduced passages from his earliest, unpublished stories, and the views of family members and friends. His occasional attempts to analyze Mishima's work are also interesting, and he never seems to overstep his bounds (as, say, Walter Kauffman does with Nietzsche); his verdict is always tentative and presented as only one man's opinion. 'Mishima' succeeds as both a straightforward biography for anyone who wants the facts, and a sensitive commentary from someone who had the right to comment.

Great Biography of a Fascinating, Beautiful Man
The moment that convinced me to buy this biography was in the introduction when John Nathan mentions that he not only translated one of Mishima's novels and knew his works better than most non-Japanese, but that he also spent time with Mishima in such pursuits as arm wrestling and running huge bills at posh restaurants. Here is a biography written with subjective experience and great attempt at historical objectivity. A year after Mishima's suicide, John Nathan received passive permission from his widow to write a biography. Allowed access to his parents and friends, Nathan tells a story of a very curious and passionate man from a very personal perspective.

But, with the case of a man who not only founded his own private army and obsessively bulked up his skinny body, but also wrote thirty-five novels, a dozen plays, and over four hundred essays and short stories, it is hard to write about such a visible life that was based on such deep thoughts and ideas. Nathan uses copious excerpts from Mishima's writings, sometimes translated by himself, that the biography leaves the reader satisfied that Mishima the author, the man who sought to resolve his contradictions of life with words, is given justice in his frequent quoting.

It is a great summary of Mishima's life. Though admittedly the best way to get into the mind of Mishima is to read his own works, and this biography knows it. The story of his suicide and reasons for it is told exceedingly well and adds great insight into the mentality of Mishima and how it changed over the decades. Though Nathan tries to postulate theories about Mishima and Japanese society like many authors seem obsessed to do when writing about Japan, it does not weigh down the story of Mishima's life, and the shining enigma it was.

The perfect place to start.
Once you've read a couple of books by Yukio Mishima, it is inevitable that you will be filled with an insatiable desire to learn about the man and try to understand what on earth possessed him to write the way he did. Well, no one knows for sure, but John Nathan has a pretty good idea, and so Mishima: A Biography is the perfect place to start. Be advised that answers don't come easily. Nathan is a Westerner, after all, trying to research a uniquely Japanese and particularly complicated figure, and so some important things will clearly elude him, either lost in some forsaken archive or concealed from him by Mishima's family. However, among Westerners, Nathan is probably the most qualified of all of them to undertake this sort of task - he was a friend of Mishima's for a time, and actually translated some of his works. He doesn't undermine his credibility with gushing praise or half-baked theorizing - for the most part, he does stick to the facts, and the facts do seem to illustrate the conclusions he draws. And what a slew of facts there is! I tore through this book, hungrily devouring episode after episode of the life of an exceptional, charismatic man who, at least for a time, lived life exactly the way he wanted to.

However, I wanted to gain insight into the relevance Mishima's works had to his life, and while I gained some, it wasn't as much as I had hoped to gain. Nathan's reluctance to waste his and your time with unsubstantiated notions is admirable, but unfortunately he often neglects Mishima's literature in his biography. This is a shame, since when he does talk about the books, he provides invaluable insight - for example, in an excellent section, he identifies Mishima's novel Kyoko's House as one of his key works, making me howl with rage at the fact that this novel is just about the only one of his key works to stay untranslated (even Mishima's flawed bid for the Nobel Prize, Silk and Insight, has been released in English!). His discussion of Mishima's very early (also untranslated) work is equally useful, and from him I learned of the existence of such works by Mishima as Death of a Man and the critically acclaimed filmed version of "Patriotism". However, just when it really counts, he stops talking about literature altogether - though he correctly identifies the Sea of Fertility tetralogy as Mishima's masterpiece, he doesn't talk about it at all! There's not even the briefest of plot summaries, just a quick mention that the last volume of the tetralogy was "rushed." I found myself pining for Henri Troyat's frighteningly extensive biographies of great writers, with their equal emphasis on both life and works.

But there's not much of a market for Mishima biographies in the West, and Nathan's book remains a very good effort. If you're as intrigued by Mishima as I am, I urge you to purchase this book. Just don't expect all your questions to be answered.

Excellent
A wonderful, detailed, intimate look at Mishima. This biography made me want to reread his books so I could get another angle on them.

Mishima is back again!
Prof. John Nathan, the first American to graduate from the prestigious Tokyo University, offers his insight and brilliant observations based on his extensive research and personal accounts of his interaction with the enigmatic Japanese author. This book is a much more coherent account of the psyche of the tortured soul than any other biography published about him simply because he is able to position himself into finding information about Mishima's secretive past by interviewing Mishima's associates using his close ties with the inner circles of Japanese culture. A must read for people who are interested in understanding the darker and the one of the most spectacularly secretive side of Japanese literature. ... Read more

Book Description

Tanizaki was, in his own words, "spoiled rotten" as a child; and his early gift for getting his own way extended to his career as perhaps Japan's greatest modern novelist. From the first, he ignored the autobiographical Naturalism that was the current literary orthodoxy and declared his devotion to "Art for Art's Sake." In his maturity, he still insisted on the value of true fiction, the pleasure of a good story told for its own sake rather than to make a point, either personal or ideological. Unaffected by shifting fashions, he went on writing, dealing with a few great central themes in a startling variety of styles, from the classical to the modern, and of tones, from the profoundly dark to the comic.

The genres he worked in were also extremely varied: the short story, the novella, the long novel, the drama, and the essay. Within the last category, Tanizaki produced several notable collections of reminiscences--it was as if, after establishing the right of an author to be unrepentingly fictional, he then felt free to train his talents on his own life. Especially in his later years, as he entered his seventies, he looked back on the world of late nineteenth-century Japan--focusing on that modest, close-knit section of Tokyo, with its small shops and family businesses, in which he grew up--and Childhood Years is the result. The main themes of his fiction are echoed in this memoir, with its central figure of his mother, and its foreshadowings of other, more ambiguous feminine presences--murderesses and victims, geisha and "archery-booth girls," and (most ambiguous of all) the male actors who play female roles on the Kabuki stage.

If the well-known Kabuki is here, so too are forms that will be less familiar to Western readers: the sacred kagura dances and the burlesque chaban. Japanese literature is represented, from age-old, half-legendary chronicles through medieval warrior tales, and on to the political novels of the turn of the century. Above all, though, the men and women of Meiji Japan are here, the little known, the famous, and the notorious. All are depicted with the acute observation and vividness of expression so characteristic of Tanizaki. The result is a nostalgic record of great beauty and power, shot through with flashes of the author's rather macabre humor and delight in the grotesque. ... Read more

Book Description

During World War II, Roger Hilsman fought in Burma with the legendary Merrill’s Marauders until he was machine-gunned. Then, at age twenty-five, he led a battalion of indigenous troops behind Japanese lines. At the war’s end, he headed a POW rescue mission to Manchuria-where the prisoners included his own father. An exciting, unusual coming-of-age story, American Guerrilla concludes with reflections on how Hilsman’s wartime experiences influenced his involvement in early Vietnam War policymaking when he served in the Kennedy administration. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Classic Personal Narrative
The author went on to have a long and noted career as an academic and government official. He was chief of the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) and the Assistant Secretary of State during the Johnson administration.
Roger Hilsman graduated from The US Military Academy in 1944 and was assigned to the OSS, Sent to Burma, the author commanded a guerrilla battalion, ambushing Japanese patrols, blowing up bridges, spying on the enemy, and slipping back into the teeming jungle. later he went to the prison camp in Manchuria where the Japanese had held his father and helped liberate him.
This is an articulate and informative memoir. In the course of his career the author has written many political and policy books. This gives a sense of the man behind the job. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

We Need More Haibun in English!
Haibun is a Japanese form consisting of poetic prose with haiku and/or tanka interspersed or at the end of the piece. The title is an allusion to the work, "The Narrow Path to the Interior" by the great haiku master Basho.

Ross writes a priceless introduction to haibun that serves as a course all by itself so if you know nothing at all about this wonderful form, you will come away from this book with a solid foundation. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Role Model inLiving in the Japanese Language for Mastery
Donald Keene's personal story on his life-long devotion to the study of Japanese never fails to attract those interested in Japanese and Japan.

I find his accidental first encounter with a strange language, Japanese, quite amusing. A mistake to put a record on a player has eventually led young Keene to dare to learn Japanese and finally to write one of the most comprehensive history of Japanese literature several years ago. My vivid memory is that on a new-year TV program Keene and a notable Japanese poet talked about Japanese literature. The Japanese poet was never equal to Keene on topics in Japanese literature. It might be true that Keene's profound knowledge and appreciation of Japanese literature has no rival even in Japan, maybe except Dr. Jinichi Konishi, Professor Emeritus of Tsukuba University.

In this work, Keene puts an exciting and enchanting account of mishaps, adventures, good luck with Japanese which fascinated and nurtured the author as a distinguished Japan scholar.

I especially love to read his struggle and clever strategy of how he finally reached Tokyo and then, without staying there for even a night he took a night train for Kyoto from which his literary quest originated.

I believe we can enjoy reading detailed episodes that reveal his solid dedication and patience in learning Japanese and Japan. The author's well-thought-out expressions often help us discover the best way to describe in plain English some peculiar aspects of Japanese culture.

Interesting, personal and written with verve!
As someone living in Japan I enjoyed reading this book. Donald Keene is one of the great scholars on Japanese literature and equally at home in it's many facetted culture. The work Dr. Keene has delivered with this autobiography has the feel of many years of being submerged in a fascinating as well as a, for a Westerner, incredibly complex literary culture written in a wonderfully easy to understand style. Not only for those interested in Japanese literature and culture, but also for those who just want to have a good read. While traveling or before going to sleep. Nothing deep, but personal and a joy to read!

A personable and insightful autobiography of a great scholar
Donald Keene is not only one of the WestÕs great literary and cultural translators of Japan, he is an important figure in the history of modern Japanese literature. In this readable and inspiring autobiography, Keene succinctly recalls his experiences with Japan, its language and its culture, and the numerous academic and literary figures he has encountered.

Keene, like many early Japan scholars in the United States, was initially trained by the military for intelligence work during World War II in the Pacific. Most of the book deals with his life between the war years, when he first struggled with the Japanese language, through the 1960s, when he was at the height of his associations with such famous Japanese writers as Yasunari Kawabata, Kobo Abe and Yukio Mishima. Keene was a great fan of Mishima, who is probably the most legendary Japanese writer in the West. Keene knew him well professionally, and openly discusses his efforts to lobby for a Nobel Prize for Mishima. He also talks about the dejection that overtook Mishima for never winning. Keene relates his own sense of loss at the suicides of both Kawabata and, especially, Mishima, and even finds fault with himself for not recognizing sooner the trajectory of MishimaÕs demise.

Keene's autobiography is highly recommended to anyone interested in the literature or scholarship of Japan, as well as to anyone interested in the life of an unusual and inspiring individual. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

the girl with the white flag
In "Girl with the white flag" you experience the harsh realities of warfare and the living conditions of civilians. You encounter a girl named Tomiko on the island of Okinawa in WWII. The background behind the story even being written was when later in life she had been flipping through a National Geographic and had recognized her own photo of her surrendering to United States troops. Upon discovering who was responsible for the picture, she wrote her long, horrifying tale of her taking on the role of a civilian in this time of war.
The story starts out with her describing everyday life in an average Okinawa household. Her father who's a samurai raises her as any person would when his wife passes away. Then all hell breaks loose when the shadowed war with the U.S. reaches their doorstep. Japan currently has rule over the island and they spread farfetched rumors of torture and killing. When Tomiko's father leaves home one day to visit the nearby town to help with recent bombings, he never returns. Upon hearing of fighting in the area they abandon their home and embark on a nightmarish quest.
While hiding in caves amidst machine gun attacks, incendiary blitzes, and Japanese mass suicides and executions, she is split form her family. The betrayal of her home military, the losing of a second family, and the unfortold knowing that she may never see her family again add up in this compelling, emotional adventure. You'll feel heartbreaks, laughs of joy, and bitter hatred through out this novel. It's one book worth reading in a lifetime.
Shane lakes

A Good Children's Book
I moved to Okinawa in 1991 when my parents were both stationed at Kadena Air Force Base. I was eight years old at the time and not long after arriving, I happened to check this book out of the school library. To assume that children cannot understand or appriciate the meaning of war and the hardships that it entails is insulting to their intellegence. I loved this book, and I treasure the signed copy I got in 1993 when Higa-san held a signing at Camp Lester.Like "Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes" this book, narrated by a child, makes the popularly forgotten Pacific Campaign of WWII assessable to children who will then become socially responsible adults. It does not do to shelter children from the injustice of the world.

The book is only mildly graphic, the narrative is heart breaking, and it deserves a place in school libraries right next to Sadako, "Number the Stars" and "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl"

I read this book because she shares my last name ...
but is no relation.And found I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.There are many mentions in the customer reviews about it being middle school or young adolescent lit, so I was a little leery.And it is in a way, because the episodes in her life are just presented the way she remembered them.There is no tying it back to a larger political idea, no closure of narrative like one expect in an adult novel, and often "characters" in her story walk away never to be seen from or heard from again.So, in that way, if you are expecting an adult account with deep reflections, ramifications both political and social, and prescriptions and condemnations, then you need to read another book.But Higa's account was refreshing in that way that children are.She presents everything without guile or over-analysis.You feel the visceral experience with her as she climbs over the wasteland that her country becomes.She never sugar-coats anything because there is no need to when just presented factually.You feel her need, understand her young judgements, and are just charmed by her plucky character.In today's multicultural educational system, this book would be a good addition to any history of WWII.

A highly accessible and captivating account
The Girl With The White Flag is the true and personal story of Tomiko Higa, who as a seven-year-old girl miraculously found the strength and perseverance to survive on her own in Okinawa, during the darkest days of World War II. A highly accessible and captivating account of the will to survive, The Girl With The White Flag is an original, candid, and attention gripping autobiographical narrative which is superbly written and enthusiastically recommended as being quite appropriate for readers of all ages.

Oh How Lovely
This is the only book that I have read cover to cover literally ten times.I have the book basically memorized.I first read it several year ago in my middle school years.Once I started reading I could not put it down!I will always have a copy of it in my house hold and it is in my top three books list.
This a story about a young girl about six years of age whom is amidst WWll in Japan.When her father leaves to go fight in the war the young lady along with her fellow sisters and brother to find safety.Along the way she some how get seperated from her family and is left alone for months dodging bullets, bombs and surviving by finding abandoned gardens and eating out of dead soldiers knapsacks.Her adventure takes her from running from a crazy soldier to a hole in the ground where she finds an old couple who take care of her untilthe young girl is forced to march around a warfront in the brightnees of day in front of American soldiers marching with a white flag in her hand.

No written report could possibly do this book it's justice.You have to read and live the tale yourself. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Hero
Bob Holland and the members of the First Cavalry were true heroes. Without their brave efforts thousands of Allied civilians surely would have perished. Bob tells a compelling story of how the rescue was accomplished. This should be required reading for anyone interested in WWII.

An untold story our brave soldiers' heroism saved 4000 lives