Description
Book Synopsis During the early months of World War II, Winston Churchill maneuvered to get the U.S. involved in the war to save his country from German invasion. Roosevelt, scheming to lure Hitler into a casus belli, ensnared Japan instead, resulting in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War that followed. When the doomed U.S. garrison in the Philippines soon capitulated to the Japanese, the atrocities inflicted on the Filipino and American units that surrendered were portents for the inhabitants of Manila.
The history chronicles the 1945 recapture of Manila largely from the perspective of the civilian population, which suffered horrific brutality from the Japanese, followed by destruction and heavy loss of life during the American assault. Individual stories are included of citizens caught in the crossfire between the tenacious Japanese defenders and American troops determined to seize the capital city while minimizing their own casualties, regardless of the cost in ci
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. My Grandmother’s House
- 2. We Are All in the Same Boat Now
- 3. Harbingers of the Final Doom
- 4. Prelude to the Horrors
- 5. The Coming Ill Wind
- 6. The Battle for Manila Begins in Earnest
- 7. The Dance with Death Continues
- 8. “A panorama of physical and spiritual disaster
- Epilogue
- Appendix A: Order of Battle on the Eve of the Liberation of Manila
- Appendix B: Artillery in Support of the Assault on Intramuros
- Appendix C: Artillery Expended in Support of the Assault on Intramuros
- Appendix D: U.S. Casualties in the Battle for Manila
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
