The Battle for Manila [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Richard Connaughton (Author) "Between July 1941 and March 1942 the Japanese overran and occupied the great cities of Southeast Asia - Saigon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Batavia (Djakarta), Rangoon..." (more)
Key Phrases: propaganda corps, urban fighting, port district, Manila Bay, United States, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A detailed account of the liberation/destruction of Manila, which left 6,500 American, 20,000 Japanese, and 200,000 Manila citizens dead and leveled the thriving, cosmopolitan city once known as the pearl of the Orient.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press; Illustrated. edition (January 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891417710
• ISBN-13: 978-0891417712
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #473,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family Memories, December 23, 1999

By	Robert Hansen (San Lorenzo, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle for Manila (Hardcover)

My mother was born and raised in Manila and met my father there. I grew up hearing these stories first hand and saw the war damage with my own eyes. For myself, my mother, and her family and friends this book was an emotional juggernaut and extremely difficult to read. It's easy to say in hindsight, that what we did was wrong but, on the other hand when your friends, family and city is raped and mutilated before your very eyes there is no easy solution. History and war is seldom brought to the reading public on a personal level like this. This book personalizes it. The people and places are real. I know they are real. My family was there.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric re-view of the major Asian urban battle of WW2, March 25, 1999

By	Paul F. Whitman ([e-mail]) (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle for Manila (Hardcover)

This is a highly detailed account of the bitter fighting which left Manila in ruins. The voice of the book appears to be that of a committee, and it lacks the unified vision and humanity of say, a Cornelius Ryan. The authors seem to be smugly "wise after the event", bringing modern-day sensitivities to what was essentially a fight-to-the-death city wide bar-room brawl. Nonetheless, it's a must read if you are planning to go to Manila, where you can still visit the scenes where these vast, and minor, tragedies were played out. Soak in the atmosphere, but ignore the judgmental pronouncements.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Impartial, hastily written history of a bloody urban battle, July 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Battle for Manila (Hardcover)

Experienced British military historians add little to existing accounts of the greatest urban battle fought in the Pacific during WW II, judging without evidence, with little original research, failing to utilize most published sources and failing to realize the Japanese defenders had been ordered by Imperial General HQ to fight to the death. My view is based on extensive reading of those sources, talks with survivors and my personal presence at the scene