The Battle of Manila: How General Douglas MacArthur and General Tomoyuki Yamashita Shaped History

Patrick Swan: This book is a testament. It is riveting and revolting at the same time. It is painful, painful reading. James M Scott, by chronicling the lives lost restores their humanity. His story is a warning and a reminder that brutality must be checked and punished. Read this book, lest we ever forget this.

United States on Feb 12, 2024

aztec7777: A decent book which is an account of a truly horrific battle in the Pacific War and the overwhelming agony it brought to the non -combatants. I wish the book contained an early chapter devoted to the Japan's military actions and mindset in the 10 years leading up to American involvement particularly with regards to China and Korea. The focus of the author is commendable but the general reader would benefit from the added context.

United States on Jan 07, 2024

Jim Broumley: I had read another book by the author ("Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor") and I enjoyed his writing style. Moreover, I admit that before reading this book I had very little knowledge about the Battle of Manila, and I wanted to know more.

General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the “Tiger of Malaya,” was tasked to defend the Japanese-occupied Philippines in September 1944, just ten days before American forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte. By January 1945, the Americans had landed in two places on the island of Luzon and were working to encircle Manila, the Philippine capital. Yamashita did not declare Manila an open city like MacArthur did in 1941 (to prevent the city’s destruction). He did, however, order a subordinate commander, Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, to withdraw from the city. Iwabuchi commanded approximately 16,000 Japanese sailors and marines. Rather than leave the city, he had his troops dig in and fight to the death. During the battle, his troops also systematically destroyed the city’s business buildings, burned entire neighborhoods of civilian homes, and killed every Filipino they could find. For...

United States on Sep 03, 2023

Ian Thumwood: I am usually a sceptic when it comes to military history as there can be a tendency to ignore the human element with the result that the history misses the social element and can be cold and clinical. Having visited Manila earlier this year, I was intrigued by the absence of older buildings as well as too appreciate what the experience of the Japanese was for the average Filipino.

This book answere my questions but the accounts are so horrific and the level of barbariy meted out by the Japanese occupying forces was repulsive that it numbs the senses. As a piece of history, the accounts of the civilians in this book make anything less than a five star review impossible. The "military" aspect, if anything, is played down although the author has no hesitation in painting Douglas MacArthur as an egotistical fool who ha little grasp of the situation he was facing in Manila and no understanding of the situation on the ground. Without doubt, the "liberation" of Manila came at a huge cost for the inhabitants of the city and whilst we are nowadays used to the idea of failures of armies to fulfil their tasks in freeing countries from tyranny, the author unconsciously looks at the...

United Kingdom on Jul 10, 2023

BK: Great book, vivid descriptions sometimes hard to read account of the atrocities described, but worth the read. Extremely well researched.

Canada on Jun 07, 2020

JustinHoca: This is apparently the first comprehensive book on the Battle of Manila written by an American author, making it essential to any WWII history buff's shelf. I met the author when he gave a presentation of his work at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, his book contributed greatly to the information that we give visitors about the Battle of Manila. I was aware from other media that times were tough in Manila during the war, but I did not grasp the totality of the barbarity until reading this book. I bought the Audible addition as I needed to complete it quickly, but enjoyed the pictures and diagrams included in the written (Kindle) version and I will forever use it as a reference. The author stated that he eliminated three chapters from the final copy due to their graphic nature. Much of his research was simply reading at the National Archives the various testimony and evidence presented at the war trial of Yamashita in November-December 1945. He combined that with materials available in Manila and interviews with survivors themselves into a very comprehensive account of the 29 day battle.

The author offers a brief overview of American history in the Philippines, the controversial...

United States on Feb 21, 2019

Mr. Alan R. Jenkins: The Rape of Nanking and Singapore atrocities are well known in regard to WWII war crimes in the Far East Theatre, but Manila in the Philippines was an equally if not more brutal occurrence. A little over three weeks saw the reinvasion of Luzon near Manila by McArthur and the capture of the once "Pearl of the Pacific" city; but the cost in lives of men, women and children of not only Filipinos and Americans, but French, Spanish, German, Netherlands and China; and including Doctors, nurses, priests and new-borns was more than 100,000. The horror of witness statements of the events that contributed to the eventual war crime tribunal for General Yamashita are detailed in as chronological order as possible; and where specific it outlines many of the most heinous criminal acts against humanity ever recorded. Excellently written and compiled.

United Kingdom on Jan 30, 2019

Zarla: A sweeping epic, very well written.

I bought my dad this for Christmas and he loved it.

United Kingdom on Jan 05, 2019