{"product_id":"ship-of-ghosts-the-story-of-the-uss-houston-fdrs-legendary-lost-cruiser-and-the-epic-saga-of-her-survivors-9780553384505","title":"Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, Fdr's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Son, we're going to Hell.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The navigator of the USS \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn't a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again-until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as \u003ci\u003eThe Bridge on the River Kwai\u003c\/i\u003e, the war continued for the men of the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e--a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma-Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will-power--and the undying faith that their country would prevail. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e's survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it's easy to forget that every single word is true.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames D. Hornfischer\u003c\/b\u003e was a writer, literary agent, and book editor. He was the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers \u003ci\u003eNeptune's Inferno, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShip of Ghosts, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Fleet at Flood Tide\u003c\/i\u003e, all widely acclaimed accounts of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, as well as the upcoming \u003ci\u003eWho Can Hold the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e. His books have received numerous awards, including the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Distinguished Service and the Naval Historical Foundation Distinguished Service Award. James D. Hornfischer died in 2021.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bantam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50726119735570,"sku":"9780553384505","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bab69ea9-6c67-42c8-b9c4-667979ddeee0.jpg?v=1734854779","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/ship-of-ghosts-the-story-of-the-uss-houston-fdrs-legendary-lost-cruiser-and-the-epic-saga-of-her-survivors-9780553384505","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}