Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of of Her Survivors

Author James Hornfischer definitely knows how to write books, and on the writing, research, and presentation this book would be normally rated by me at five stars plus. Unfortunately, the book is over 500 pages long including useful notes and appendices, whereas the Houston slides beneath the waves on page 145. In short, this book is mostly about the survivors and their experience in Japanese captivity -- a very worthwile story, but not one having to do with the Houston. The buyer needs to beware of this, and if one's interest only extends to the saga of the Houston itself, page 145 is the end of the book. That being said, the Houston's saga is thrilling as a sacrificial lamb on the altar of Allied cooperation and inter-Allied command. As Hornfischer points out with devastating clarity, cooperative commands like that of the ABDA didn't work -- they just got everyone killed. The Dutch leadership was ineffective, and often at odds with the American. This is a good lesson for those who are in favor of United Nations control of international peace-keeping forces that tend to be helpless when confronted by a resolute enemy. The politics are fascinating particularly since the Dutch empire was indefensible, and one wonders if sacrificing good American ships and men was worth attempting to shore up another European nation's imperialism in the name of solidarity. Both men and ships would have been much more useful if they had been saved for the Solomons campaign later in the year, particularly since there is no evidence that they slowed the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia by a single day. The Battle of Sunda Strait took place because the Perth and Houston blundered into the Japanese invasion force, which continued on schedule despite receiving a minor scare. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Houston and her men were wasted. One also wonders how high Captain Rooks would have rised in World War II had he not been written off with his ship. The book also discloses the lack of effective training in the American Navy at the time, particularly with respect to fighting at night. Although Rooks went further than almost all other captains during this period, her ship remained below the standards for the Japanese in combat efficiency. This is not meant to denigrate the American sailors and officers, but training at the time avoided dangerous exercises that might cause casualties in order to placate an uninformed public and their muckraking politicians searching for headlines (and indeed, that continues to the present day). Instead of following the German dictum that "sweat saves blood", American forces at the time trained leisurely to avoid that sweat and paid later in higher casualties. A very minor criticism -- I would have enjoyed reading about Admiral Hart's subsequent career and life as one of the major players putting the Houston into the situation she found herself in 1942. Regarding the second two-thirds of the book, the litany of Japanese atrocities is important, but almost tiresome. The author does extremely well in holding the reader's interest and dispelling myths about prisoner life (as compared with that presented by Hollywood). Even more compelling are the actions by both the US and Japanese governments after the war. Houston survivors received nothing from the Japanese, and an insulting $2.50 per day from the US (only because they were maltreated -- otherwise it would have been $1.50 per day). As everyone knows, the government that paid the greatest reparations after the war was the US (for holding persons of Japanese ancestry in detention camps and the Marshall Plan). The Soviet Union acquired great swaths of territory (1/3 of Poland, for example) in Europe as well as acquiring Sakalin and the Kuriles, but that was agreed at Yalta to remake the map rather than as war reparations. Even worse is that American citizens were/are prohibited from seeking damages from the Japanese by our State Department, even for their time as slave laborers. As always, American servicemen were ridden hard and put away wet by our government. Where was the Marshall Plan to repay the Houston survivors for their sacrifices? Ah, but I digress..... Anyway, this is a very fine work, but the reader should know what it really covers before deciding on a purchase.

James D. Hornfischer was one of the great narrative historians of the US Navy during WW2. So far, I've read three of his outstanding books: "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors", "Neptune's Inferno", and , most recently, "Ship of Ghosts". This book tells the story of the USS Houston, how it was lost, and the battle that the survivors went through, as POWs of the Imperial Japanese.As others reviewers have already written on the details, all I'm going to do is reiterate my headline for this review. This epic should be required reading in U.S. high school, and college American History courses. To any history teachers, and professors reading this review, I recommend that you get ahold of this book ASAP, read it, and then add it to your teaching plan for when you teach about WW2.

I vaguely knew of the USS Houston and its loss in the Java Sea. I also knew of the Trans-Burma railroad and how it was built by Allied POW slave labor. I never knew the connection until I read this book.=== The Good Stuff ===* The book begins on board the USS Houston as it sees action in the early days of WWII, but the majority of the book is the story of the men who survived the shipwreck and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. Brutally treated, they went on to various fates in the Japanese POW system, but most of the book centers on the struggle of many of these prisoners to build the trans-Burma railroad.* There are quite a few "named" characters, and we learn some of the details of their struggles. The book is a nice mix of history and personal stories, and relates the struggles of the prisoners to the war in general quite well. There is certainly violence and material not for the squeamish, but James Hornfisher doesn't sensationalize any of it.* The writing is an easy-to-read style, perhaps a touch too informal, but captures the story quite well. It is ultimately a sad story, although there are several "happy" ending buried in it. I had trouble putting the book down, and ended up reading it in two sittings.* Because of the nature of the work, there are not a lot of references, or even multiple independent sources. Despite that, the material comes across as believable, even though it is in direct contrast to other "non-fiction" account, specifically The Bridge Over the River Kwai.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===* Some of the material does get a bit repetitive, although that is the nature of a brutal imprisonment.* I didn't like the ending chapters of the book. The author seems conflicted between how much follow up to do on the named characters. He hints that there were definite PTSD issues, but avoids a serious or detailed discussion. And while there are some anecdotal stories of the post-war life of some of the men, there is no organized attempt to catalog their life histories.=== Summary ===The book was one of the more amazing "personal accounts" I have ever read, and included a lot of things I never knew about. I hadn't considered that a "free market" thrived, even in the jungles of Burma, between prisoners, natives and even Japanese captors. I also never knew the role of "Korean" guards as allies of the Japanese, or the treachery of Jaavanese natives. Overall, the book was a very moving experience, and I would recommend it to any casual or serious WWI history fan.

Rating 4.5 I would recommend this book to those amongst us who like details. For example, the Burma/Siam railway experiences of the Allied PoWs. The descriptive analysis leaves you with a lump in your throat. Also, the experiences of the sailors and marines on board the USA Houston are raw and so real. What did I not like? Sometimes too many adjectives, but I accept that it would difficult to convey the true horror of the Japanese actions without them.I am now going to read about Guadalcanal.

I usually like Hornfischer's books, usually all about the combat exploits of the US Navy in World War 2. This one is mainly about being a POW of the Japanese. Theres the odd jibe about the British, as the Australians were much favoured...

First class writing, that tells the story of these brave men fighting against all odds to survive the brutality of a Japanese pow camp, highly recommended for both its clear narrative and historical content easily put for anyone to understand.

good reading and service

What I have found is that James Hornfischer's book on what happened to the USS Houston in 1942, (she ended up being sunk by the Japanese), and what happened to the survivors, fits in superbly with John Toland's "Rising Sun" for the overall picture of World War II in the Far East, "Battle of the Java Sea" by David Thomas for a zooming in on what was a series of naval engagements early in the war, of which the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942 was the largest, with James Hornfischer's book zooming in on the travails of one particular ship, the USS Houston, involved in those naval engagements until she was sunk in an action just after the Battle of the Java Sea, and what happened to the survivors.Whilst James Hornfischer's book can also be taken as an excellent "stand alone" book, because he does put what happened to the USS Houston into context, for a better understanding of the context I think that the starting point is "Rising Sun" by John Toland, followed by "Battle of the Java Sea" by David Thomas, followed by "Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston" by James Hornfischer, ... and in that order.For me, all three books were "a gripping read", but for a yet more complete picture of what happened in the Far East in the earlier part of World War II, and, crucially for those already planning our defence with World War III in mind, books on the air war are also essential reading, ... but that is another story.