Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath

Anyone who wants to understand anything about the US prisoner-of-war experience under the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII needs to read this narrative feat by authors Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman. Switching between the minutely researched stories of a young American cowboy and artist named Ben Steele–whose experience informed the character of Michael Gannon in Shining Sea beyond any other and whose astonishing spirit has become a personal beacon for this author–and Japanese soldiers purposefully dehumanized by their army, Tears in the Darkness illuminates the horror of the Bataan Death March and its aftermath in a way that is both unforgettable and extremely important. It’s unputdownable, as well.