My rating: 4 stars
Nonfiction books are usually hit and miss for me, with
the likelihood of me going down the DNF route a lot greater than with fiction,
which is why I generally choose my non-fiction reads very carefully.
Fortunately, MacArthur’s Spies proved to be a worthy read and is a book I
would definitely recommend to anyone interested in World War II history.
As this was essentially a “history” book, I didn’t expect
it to be as well-written as it was. The
editing was top notch and despite reading an advance galley copy of the book, I
found very little to complain about in this area. While I agree with some reviewers who felt
that certain parts of the book came across sounding like newspaper reports,
this really didn’t bother me too much given that enough of the book was written
like “fiction” that everything balanced out in the end, at least for me. Of course, having read up on the author Peter
Eisner’s extensive background in journalism after finishing this book, I am not
surprised that the writing and editing were as good as they were. It was also obvious that Eisner had done
extensive and meticulous research, as the amount of detail he gave was
indicative of the exhaustive efforts he put into reviewing National Archive
records and extracting factual evidence that others may have ignored or
considered not important. I definitely
appreciated getting a different perspective of the war, from a country that is
not often mentioned in most mainstream WWII historical and literary works. Before reading this book, I had no clue about
the importance of the Philippines as a strategic, coveted base for both the
Axis and Allied countries during the war.
The book also brought to light many of the atrocities suffered by Filipinos
(both civilian and military) as well as American and other foreign prisoners of
war during the 3 year Japanese occupation.
The horrific atrocities described in the book were hard to read and more
than a few times I was floored by the staggering number of people who had died
in those 3 years, whether from torture, starvation, or for merely being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. Despite
how difficult some of these details were to read through, I feel it is
necessary for us to read and understand and remember the devastating effects
that war has, regardless of which country.
One of the things that made this book stand out from other “history”
books about the war was the story revolving around espionage and the three figures
described in the title who were the main focus of the book: John Boone, the American soldier who set up
guerilla operations in the jungle and prepared them to fight against the
Japanese; Chick Parsons, the American businessman and U.S. Navy intelligence
officer who eventually became MacArthur’s spymaster, bringing together the
guerilla and underground network to support Allied war effort in the
Philippines; and Claire Philips, a little-known American singer living in the
Philippines who becomes a key figure in the underground guerilla network,
gathering intelligence for the Americans while trying to help the countless
prisoners of war suffering various atrocities at the hands of the Japanese
occupation troops. Despite the title,
this book at its core is actually more focused on Claire and the author’s
attempt to bring her true story to light (I highly recommend reading the
Preface to the book where Eisner explains the basis of his research in great
detail and also the reason why he chose to make Claire the focus of the
book). There are not a whole lot of
books out there that focus on the contributions of women to the war effort, so
I especially appreciated this aspect of the book. Claire Philips was indeed an interesting
woman and despite her questionable background and ethics as well as extremely messy
relationships, there is no doubt in my mind that she should be remembered as a
heroine who willingly put her life on the line for the Allied war effort (as
should all the other people mentioned in the book who were also part of the
underground network providing food and medicine to POWs and defying the
Japanese at any opportunity they could).
This is a highly recommended read that gives not only a detailed
account of the war effort in the Philippines, but also a fascinating story about
the intricacies of espionage involving ordinary people. It is also a tale of courage and heroism in
the face of untold suffering and horrific war atrocities. I learned a lot from reading this book, but
more importantly, I have a newfound appreciation and gratitude for all of those
men and women who put their lives on the line to serve our country, whether on
the front lines via military service or behind-the-scenes contributions such as
ordinary citizens providing needed support to prisoners of war or other
efforts. Definitely a good book that
deserves to be read!
Received ARC
from Viking Press via Penguin First-to-Read program.
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