Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War

From Booklist
Lukacs’ contribution to WWII POW literature reconstructs an escape by Americans from the Japanese-occupied Philippines. From biographical introductions of the dozen Americans involved, dramas of their captures at Bataan and Corregidor, and ordeals of imprisonment and maltreatment, Lukacs launches into their breakout scheme and the nail-biting danger of putting it in motion. Ably declaiming the ensuing intrepid events, Lukacs readily evokes the high tension and strenuous travails of the fugitives’ evasion of enemy patrols en route to evacuations by American submarines. But, as Lukacs recounts, their stories of Japanese atrocities (which included revelation of the Bataan Death March), in which their heroic saga was wrapped, were too hot for officialdom to handle. Fearful of endangering remaining POWs, but also tempted by the opportunity to put to use the inevitable intensification of popular anger against the Japanese, FDR expressly delayed release of the news until it coincided with a war-bond sales drive. Built from every available research source, Lukacs’ diligent, impassioned history will aid and abet the ever-growing interest in the WWII fighting experience. –Gilbert Taylor
Review

Like the event it covers, Escape from Davao is unique. You are holding in your hands the story of the only successful American group escape from a Japanese camp."
—James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise


“Escape From Davao is a remarkable story that explores the heights of human courage and compassion even as it reveals the depths of brutality that one set of human beings is capable of inflicting on another. Exhaustively researched and superbly written, the book incorporates many elements of a well-crafted suspense novel. Indeed, readers may wish at times that it were fiction, rather than cruel, distressing fact.”
—Bill Sloan, author of Brotherhood of Heroes, The Ultimate Battle and The Darkest Summer


“John Lukacs has justifiably brought attention to one of the Pacific War’s most overlooked stories in his riveting book about the escape from Davao. Lukacs so breathes life into the tale that readers feel the drama and suspense as if they were present.”
—John Wukovits, author of Admiral “Bull” Halsey: The Life and Wars of the Navy’s Most Controversial Commander


“Escape from Davao is an extraordinary book for at least two reasons. One is the quality of the author’s storytelling; the other is the richness of his research. His reconstruction of this almost entirely unknown episode of World War II is formed into a superb and inspiring narrative. And more than commendable is the evidence of his truly exhaustive research – rare in the historiography of that war.”
—John Lukacs, author of The Legacy of the Second World War and The Duel: The Eighty-Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler


“In this…exceptional account…of individual triumph and collective failure, Lukacs's supple style must be noted. He writes vibrant prose and creates powerful action scenes. …Lukacs's skill as a storyteller makes this book very rewarding.” —Thomas Mullen, America in World War II Magazine