Synopses & Reviews
This epic story recounts the exceptional valor and endurance of American troops that battled Japanese forces in the Philippines during World War II.The fight to defend the Philippines from Japanese invasion during 1941 to 1942 ended with the surrender of the largest U.S. military force ever. American servicemen endured rampant disease, near-starvation, the horrors of the Bataan Death March, and life as prisoners of war.
Undefeated captures the fortitude and suffering of the American defenders of the Philippines as no other book has done. Bill Sloan, hailed as “the master of the combat narrative” (The Dallas Morning News), interviewed more than thirty war veterans and drew from unpublished oral history and out-of-print memoirs to provide a unique eyewitness account of this major military encounter and its aftermath. Yet rather than portraying the American defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic foe—as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done—Sloan praises the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
Undefeated also provides vivid—and critical—portraits of the officers who led the American forces, including General Douglas MacArthur, who escaped to Australia as the situation in Bataan worsened, and General Jonathan Wainwright, who succeeded him as top U.S. commander in the Philippines and himself became a POW.
Filled with remarkable feats of courage and endurance, Undefeated re-creates the tragic yet inspiring panorama of POW camps in the Philippines, in all its high-tension drama.
Synopsis
This epic story recounts the exceptional valor and endurance of American troops that battled Japanese forces in the Philippines during World War II.
Bill Sloan, "a master of the combat narrative" (Dallas Morning News), tells the story of the outnumbered American soldiers and airmen who stood against invading Japanese forces in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II, and continued to resist through three harrowing years as POWs. For four months they fought toe to toe against overwhelming enemy numbers--and forced the Japanese to pay a heavy cost in blood. After the surrender came the infamous Bataan Death March, where up to eighteen thousand American and Filipino prisoners died as they marched sixty-five miles under the most hellish conditions imaginable. Interwoven throughout this gripping narrative are the harrowing personal experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines, based on exclusive interviews with more than thirty survivors. Undefeated chronicles one of the great sagas of World War II--and celebrates a resounding triumph of the human spirit.
Synopsis
Bill Sloan, “a master of the combat narrative” (Dallas Morning News), tells the story of the outnumbered American soldiers and airmen who stood against invading Japanese forces in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II, and continued to resist through three harrowing years as POWs. For four months they fought toe to toe against overwhelming enemy numbers—and forced the Japanese to pay a heavy cost in blood. After the surrender came the infamous Bataan Death March, where up to eighteen thousand American and Filipino prisoners died as they marched sixty-five miles under the most hellish conditions imaginable. Interwoven throughout this gripping narrative are the harrowing personal experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines, based on exclusive interviews with more than thirty survivors. Undefeated chronicles one of the great sagas of World War II—and celebrates a resounding triumph of the human spirit.
Synopsis
Bill Sloan, “a master of the combat narrative” (Dallas Morning News), tells the story of the outnumbered American soldiers and airmen who stood against invading Japanese forces in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II, and continued to resist through three harrowing years as POWs. For four months they fought toe to toe against overwhelming enemy numbers—and forced the Japanese to pay a heavy cost in blood. After the surrender came the infamous Bataan Death March, where up to eighteen thousand American and Filipino prisoners died as they marched sixty-five miles under the most hellish conditions imaginable. Interwoven throughout this gripping narrative are the harrowing personal experiences of dozens of American soldiers, airmen, and Marines, based on exclusive interviews with more than thirty survivors. Undefeated chronicles one of the great sagas of World War II—and celebrates a resounding triumph of the human spirit.
About the Author
Bill Sloan is a respected military historian and author of more than a dozen books, including Brotherhood of Heroes: The Ultimate Battle. He lives in Dallas, Texas.