The Knights of Bushido: A History of Japanese War Crimes During World War II Paperback – August 17, 2008

This book should be mandatory reading for every high school student in the United States, lest we forget the savage treatment allied POWs suffered at the hands of the Japanese. Only 4% of allied prisoners of war died in German POW camps, but 27% of allied prisoners died in Japanese POW camps. We can forgive, but we should never forget.

Excellent primer on the atrocities the Japanese armed forces committed during World War II, with reviews of the pre-war & war terror the Japanese inflicted on China & it's people, including "The Rape of Nan King" in particular, where it is estimated between 250,000-300,000 men, women and children were murdered by the Japanese conquerors while the military leaders turned a blind eye & often sadistically encouraged the accompanying horrors of torture, mutilation and rape. The book is fairly explicit in it's description of the depravity of the Japanese military from the top on down, which included regular episodes of cannibalism, not done out of necessity, but done to celebrate victory. The beginning of the book contains a fairly brief but concise chronology of the gradual military take-over of the country & finally, of the emperor himself. I had never learned the story of how Japan came to be the despicable imperial power it was before & during WWII, so it was very enlightening for me to discover the parallels between Japan & Germany, specifically in how the people of both countries were propagandized and coerced into obedience & even devotion to their national "cause". In the case of Germany, it was the cause of the Arian "Master Race". In the case of Japan, it was also the cause of the master race (Japanese & the ancient code of Bushido) that would "liberate" and ultimately control all of Asia. Much of the writing contains quotes straight from court trial documents, providing a large measure of objectivity to the corresponding analyses. Younger generations are being told that America paralleled the imperial nature of Japan, and our young are being fed much misinformation regarding many historical facts surrounding the war in the Pacific. This book brings out the truth of the barbarity of the Japanese and the blind obedience of the citizens who partook of that barbarity & hatred of non-Japanese. Contrast that with America (and of course others), who had mercy upon the Japanese people & helped put that country back on it's feet after the war! There is no comparison with America, even when considering the re-location camps here in the states. This book helps to dispel the myth that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki were cruel and unnecessary. The book reminds the reader through the stating of many statistics, just how extensive the depravity of the Japanese was - from Nan King to Australia. It also describes the devious nature of the Japanese politicians & military in taking advantage of the European War theater & in manipulating events in their quest to control all of Asia. The book in no way claims to be an exhaustive source on any of the subjects it covers. It contains numerous references to more in-depth reading for those interested in knowing more about a particular area. The last section of the book is devoted to short bios & overviews of court proceedings & verdicts given to the major war criminals tried by the British-led tribunal. Several popular war-crimes defense strategies are also discussed, along with reasons why they were not accepted as valid by the tribunal. I would give the book 5 stars except that there are some instances where readers might get confused as to whether they are encountering the author's comments, or court testimony or some other quote - it is not always clearly noted (it could be a problem only in the kindle version - I don't have the hardcopy version). All in all, this was a very good book, and I will continue using it for reference to other reading materials.

"The Knights of the Bushido, A History of Japanese War Crimes During World War II" is not an easy read, as mentioned by other reviewers. It is not an easy read for two main reasons. One is that Lord Russell, like many British authors it seems, fills the book with names, facts, figures, dates, events, geographical areas, etc. (This is not a bad thing, since history is full of facts, figures, dates and events). And the second reason that the book is not an easy read is due to the horrific brutality of the Japanese armed forces during the second World War. The photo on the cover of the book speaks volumes. It shows Sikh prisoners being used as live targets in Singapore, by the Japanese army.

The last chapter of the book is titled "Retribution". It lists 25 major Japanese war criminals and their crimes against humanity. It also gives the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Tribunal's sentence concerning each major war criminal. Of the 25 major war criminals, 16 were sentenced to life imprisonment, seven to death, and two to sentences from 7-20 years. Further research indicates that most of these Japanese war criminals were released from prison due to "ill health" after only a few years. Then miraculously they lived long lives after release from prison; most lived until close to the age of ninety.

Sugamo Prison, where the Japanese war criminals were confined, was turned over to the Japanese government at the end of the American occupation of Japan. Japan closed Sugamo Prison in 1971 and pardoned or paroled the inmates.

Of note, as bad as the Nazis were during WWII, an estimated 4% of non-Russian allies died in German POW camps, while 27% of captured allies died in Japanese POW camps.

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. "The Knights of the Bushido" should be read and studied long after the Greatest Generation has passed on.

A tour de force in documentation and mind-set of the atrocities committed by the Japanese leadership in WWII. As a layman, I knew about some of the point in time tragedies, but never internalized how systematic and culturally based the de-humanization and mistreat was. This book, in addition to making the scale of the suffering real, also spends a considerable amount of effort in explaining (if such things can be explained) the thinking and culture that justified the torture and killings. Shortly after reading Knights of Bushido, I read The Twilight Warriors by Robert Gandt, and felt I had a much better understanding of how thousands of Japanese airmen could voluntarily become kamikazes.

Since the war ended and the generation which suffered through it has diminished I hear an awful lot of how dropping "The Bomb" on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was such an inhuman act. I used to tell those people to read about the war in some detail before they make such statements. This book does that, it tells of the most terrible treatment of Australian, American and British soldiers who were captured and also of the women and children who were slaughtered simply because the Japanese army didn't know what to do with them. Even though the world has changed and new generations feel differently we must never forget the horror that once ruled over all our lives and we must always remember that it is possible to have again Man's inhumanity to man.