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Interviews | November 3, 2009

Sheila A.: IMG On Storytelling: The Powells.com Interview with Donald Miller

2 comments By Sheila A.

donaldmillerDonald Miller is a Christian writer, but the question that Miller asks with his latest memoir, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, is applicable to... Continue »
  1. $13.99 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

    Donald Miller

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

by Hampton Sides

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.

In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.

Review:

“Thoroughly researched and artfully told. . . . A compelling story filled with colorful characters.” —The San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

“[A] beautiful account of heroism . . . Sure to be a classic.” —Men’s Journal

Review:

“The greatest World War II story never told.” —Esquire

Review:

“Riveting and patriotically stirring without ever slipping into mawkishness or sentimentality.” —The New York Times

Review:

“[Sides] liberates his story from documentary and turns it into epic. . . . More than any monument, Ghost Soldiers is the memorial both prisoners and liberators deserve.” —The Seattle Times
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About the Author

Hampton Sides is a contributing editor to Outside. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, DoubleTake, The New Republic, The Washington Post and on All Things Considered. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Jan Lindsay, February 27, 2008 (view all comments by Jan Lindsay)
Hampton Sides, in his well-written, well-researched book documents the human courage within the walls of the Cabanatuan prison camp in the Phillipines and the equally courageous determination of the Rangers who faced danger every step of the way to rescue them. Those who endured the Bataan Death March, the imprisionment and torture for the 3 years before the Rangers came to lead them out the main gate and begin their journey home provides yet another insight into the capability of the incredible human spirit. As I read, I kept wondering if I could have survived. These men are all heros and we should never forget them.
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Lucy Little, November 21, 2007 (view all comments by Lucy Little)
After my early education of WWII via John Wayne, I'm grateful to finally really learn about the war. I think this is one of many recent stories giving the WWII vets the voice they deserve. Ghost Stories provides an incredible story of human survival during the Bataan death march. War is horrific in any form and the WWII vets can attest that it was no easier then even with the entire country behind them.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385495653
Subtitle:
The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Author:
Sides, Hampton
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
Military - General
Subject:
Military - World War II
Subject:
World war, 1939-1945
Subject:
History
Subject:
Military - United States
Subject:
World War, 19
Subject:
Cabanatuan
Subject:
World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities.
Subject:
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps.
Edition Description:
1st Anchor Books ed.
Series Volume:
150-101-686
Publication Date:
May 2002
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
384
Dimensions:
8.04x5.29x.81 in. .84 lbs.
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