The Stragglers

by E.J. Kahn Jr.

This book, first published in 1962, recounts all known cases of holdouts, or stragglers, from the Imperial Japanese army on islands in the Pacific following the end of World War II. With their empire defeated, this book is a gripping account told from the survivors’ perspective, detailing the stragglers’ struggle for survival as they turned to theft, pillage—and even cannibalism.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Ely Jacques Kahn Jr. was an American journalist and writer. His career with 'The New Yorker' lasted for roughly five decades.

Reviews

[Mark Einselen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Japanese soldiers who were marooned on jungle islands after WW2 have intrigued me since I was a kid. Their eternal warrior mindset was so foreign to me. For whatever reason I had never done any research or reading into the curiosity until I found a first edition 1962 "The Stragglers" at the library book sale.

This book profiles several case studies and answers many intriguing questions in 176 pages. It's a hard book to put down. Tales from several soldiers on multiple islands show how vastly different the various survivors coped in their circumstances, some for many years, even decades. No judgements are made as to what was the right thing to do, the facts are simply presented for the fascinated reader to devour and ponder.

Due to the immediacy the book was written after the discovery of two soldiers in 1960 it doesn't contain a definitive collection of stories. A Japanese Lieutenant was "captured" or "rescued" in 1974. This book can't offer a conclusive history owing to the remote and hidden nature of the stranded veterans, but it certainly whets the appetite to learn more upon the completion of the final chapter.

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to learn something new everyday and this book provided something new. I had heard there were Japanese who didn't know about the surrender, but I didn't realize there was as many as there were. EJ Kahn does a great job of telling the story about how some of these men survived.

[greg mcqueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting subject

I have often wondered about the Japanese left behind. It must have been a hard life
This is a good read.