Surviving Bataan and Beyond: Colonel Irvin Alexander's Odyssey as a Japanese Prisoner of War

Recounts the author's experience as a prisoner of war

This is Col. Irvin Alexander's gripping memoir of the fall of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March, and his three and a half years as a prisoner of war during World War II. Originally written in 1949 but not published until now, Alexander's remarkable and chilling odyssey is told with clarity and stark realism. As a U.S. infantry officer assigned to the Philippine Army, Alexander was wounded in combat and decorated for heroism in the losing battle for Bataan. But the inevitable surrender to the Japanese was just the start of the nightmare. The brutality of the Death March was exceeded only by the horrors that awaited American POWs in fetid prison camps and ships. Starvation, disease, madness, and torture were the POWs' greatest enemies, and death was the only escape. This is an astonishing story of human suffering, courage, ingenuity, and hope. Its insight and imagery make it a superb example of one man's victory over despair. Strongly recommended for all libraries and historical collections.?Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, ME
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