Long Hard Road

Between 1941 and 1945 more than 110,000 American marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailors were taken prisoner by German, Italian, and Japanese forces. Most who fought overseas during World War II weren't prepared for capture, or for the life-altering experiences of incarceration, slave labor, torture, and camaraderie bred of hardship that followed. Historian Thomas Saylor offers the harrowing--and hope-filled--stories of nearly one hundred POWs, in the words of the soldiers themselves. These very personal accounts reveal what it was like to be the "guest" of the Axis Powers and how these men managed to survive. In the closing chapter to this moving narrative, the men speak of their difficult transition to life back home, where many sought--not always successfully--to put their experience behind them.