Rampage

MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila

By: James M. Scott

Narrated by: Jesse Einstein

The definitive history of one of the most brutal campaigns of the war in the Pacific.

Before World War II, Manila was a slice of America in Asia, populated with elegant neoclassical buildings, spacious parks, and home to thousands of US servicemen and business executives who enjoyed the relaxed pace of the tropics. The outbreak of the war, however, brought an end to the good life. General Douglas MacArthur, hoping to protect the Pearl of the Orient, declared the Philippine capital an open city and evacuated his forces. The Japanese seized Manila on January 2, 1942, rounding up and interning thousands of Americans.

MacArthur, who escaped soon after to Australia, famously vowed to return. For nearly three years, he clawed his way north, obsessed with redeeming his promise and turning his earlier defeat into victory. By early 1945, he prepared to liberate Manila, a city whose residents by then faced widespread starvation. Convinced the Japanese would abandon the city as he did, MacArthur planned a victory parade down Dewey Boulevard. But the enemy had other plans. Determined to fight to the death, Japanese marines barricaded intersections, converted buildings into fortresses, and booby-trapped stores, graveyards, and even dead bodies.

The 29-day battle to liberate Manila resulted in the catastrophic destruction of the city and a rampage by Japanese forces that brutalized the civilian population. Landmarks were demolished, houses were torched, suspected resistance fighters were tortured and killed, countless women were raped, and their husbands and children were murdered. American troops had no choice but to battle the enemy, floor by floor and even room by room, through schools, hospitals, and even sports stadiums. In the end, an estimated 100,000 civilians lost their lives in a massacre as heinous as the Rape of Nanking.

Based on extensive research in the United States and the Philippines, including war-crimes testimony, after-action reports, and survivor interviews, Rampage recounts one of the most heartbreaking chapters of Pacific War history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 James M. Scott (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Bloody Nightmare

Do not attempt to eat anything when u listen to this. You may upchuck. This is a tale of TOTAL WAR!
The

EXCELLENT story that will open your eyes!

I thoroughly enjoyed Rampage. This story will open your eyes to the history of what truly took place in the Philippines after the Japanese invaded. This book will enlighten the reader to the truth of a horrible time in history when many innocent women, men and children where callously executed. You should read ALL of James M Scott’s books!

Detailed review of the Battle of Manila

The month-long, Battle for Manila in early 1945, unwanted by supreme commanders on both sides, resulted in devastation and atrocities unmatched in the Pacific War. Caught between the advancing American troops and the trapped and rampaging Japanese Marines, the civilian population of Manila suffered over 100,000 deaths. Having lived in the Malate section of Manila fifty years later, Scott's description of the battle brought to my mind vivid images of death and destruction to a familiar but now peaceful and vibrant urban area of the city. This is a battle that would not have been fought had certain Japanese leaders followed orders and withdrawn from the city thus leaving an open city as ordered by their distant commander. The events of this battle have left a legacy that affects Philippine society to this day. This topic and book should be required reading for any student of Philippine history or the Pacific War.

Amazing

I never knew this story knew how brutal the Japanese could be. The detail of what the Japanese did to civilians beyond believe

A terrifying account ..

The Japanese atrocities detailed in this book border on unbelievable. Historically, accurate and more frightening than any fiction, the capacity for man’s inhumanity to man is born out. If you are a historical buff with interest in the second world war, then you really should give this book a listen, This however, is not an enjoyable listen. It is not meant to be.

 When one is going through the book, you ask yourself how is this possible? Not only is it possible, horrors like this continue to this day?