The Anguish of Surrender Japanese POWs of World War II
Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, (2003). First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. Pp. xx; 282. Bibliography. Index. Illustrated with a 16 pp. section of b&w photographic reproductions. Two maps. Black cloth with gilt lettering on spine. An attractive copy. Fine / Fine. Item #1081
Inadvertently, Straus provides a strong case against waterboarding and other extreme coercion methods that have arisen lately, including in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, showing that the most significant WWII interrogation results were wrought by treating prisoners with respect and humanity, using the prisoner's language and idioms, not through force. This, of course, was while dealing with an enemy that was inhumanly fanatical and zealous (sounds familiar), and therefore most resistant to providing information. Contains a few first-person accounts of capture and imprisonment by Japanese soldiers. Dust jacket now protected in a clear, removable archival sleeve.
Price: $30.00