Review: A good history from some one who was there.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 24, 2013
The author was a Australian soldier who was taken prisoner early in WWII by the Japanese.  He was taken prisoner in SE Asia (Singapore, Thailand) and worked on rail roads as a POW and was sent to to Japan near the end.  He was there when the atomic bombs were dropped.  The book goes into great detail on how the prisoners were treated - brutally in fact.  Mr. Harrison was a lot more generous and forgiving soul than I would have been.  I disagree with his assessment of bravery.  To me a culture of blind obedience to some bushido code is no more bravery than the fanatics who committed suicide in Guyana.  None the less it is a very good read and a very good history of how the Japanese troops in WWII treated those with whom they came in contact.  The Allies were much more generous to the Japanese after the war than they were to the Germans.