Mr. Michel's War: From Manila to Mukden: An American Navy Officer's War with the Japanese Hardcover – November 4, 1997

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. There are other POW accounts of U.S. naval personnel in the Pacific, but this is the first one I have read that includes a graphic and detailed account of the battle action at sea before the man was captured. Being first written down shortly after WWII (1948), Mr. Michel's words have the immediacy and freshness of the "you are there" feeling that pulls you into the tremendous drama. The authenticity is tangible in the frequent mentions of the names of other POW's and the Japanese language expressions that he picked up.He beat the odds of survival, over and over. Another great value in this account is that he recounts the stories from other POW's that were told to him, such as those who came from the Philippines, Singapore, and other naval vessels (including British, Dutch, and Australian).This book needs an index added. The very short postscript describes the post-war years for Mr. Michel himself and some of the Allied POW's who are named in the account, but it needs some follow-up research added on the brutal Japanese who are named (by nicknames, mostly) at the various camps in Japan, and later, China. It is understandable that Mr. Michel himself probably had no interest in pursuing their fates, but this information was a standard feature of most other POW accounts published in the 1990's. Were any of them caught after the war and brought to the war crimes trials?

Super book. Recommended by a friend and well worth the read.

Excellent book.

Written shortly after the Second World War, Mr. Michele's War is the memoir of a US Navy officer who fought in America's first battles against the Imperial Japanese Navy during the war. Hopelessly out gunned and out classed by superior Japanese forces a scratch fleet of American, British Dutch and Australian naval ships sought to slow Japan's war machine down in the critical early days of 1942. However valiant, the allied forces were defeated by the Japanese and the last two-thirds of Michel's book details his time as a prisoner of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.Michel's 3 1/2 years as a POW ranged from the absurdly comical to the painfully brutal. Perhaps atypically, Michel details not only the brutal and criminal treatment he and other POWs received but also some of the more humane treatment that he was fortunate enough to receive (or witness). His book doesn't vilify every Japanese soldier and/or citizen which, given the fact that he wrote the original manuscript in 1948, says quite a bit about his character to this reviewer. However, where war crimes were committed, he doesn't pull any punches. There were many Japanese soldiers and officers whom he encountered who were later tried for war crimes (several of whom committed suicide rather than face the gallows).Overall, Michel's text is engaging and well written making this book an easy to read memoir. Certainly, as the members of this "Greatest Generation" pass away, it will be these narratives that live on and serve as testament to their sacrifice and dedication. Michel's is a worthy addition to this collection and certainly worth the time of anyone interested in the Pacific Theater of Operations during WWII.

Very interesting story of a U.S. Naval officer caught in the early and losing battles of the Pacific war, with a lot of detail about the battle of the Java sea. It led me to buy the old Revell four stacker destroyer kit! The author then becomes a Japanese prisoner and is liberated in China in 1945. Well written and it covers an area not often written about, go buy if you like the Pacific war in it's early stages.