Return to Victory: MacArthur's Epic Liberation of the Philippines

by James P. Duffy

General Douglas MacArthur's bloody campaign to defeat die-hard Japanese forces and liberate the Philippines
 
“I shall return,” General Douglas MacArthur promised the Filipino people following the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Philippines in spring 1942. The people there believed MacArthur’s vow—and even Americans were stirred by his dramatic pledge. Now, two and half years later, MacArthur was ready to fulfill his promise--the liberation of the Philippines was about to begin.
 
It would not be an easy campaign. The more than 7,000 islands of the Philippine archipelago were the key to taking down the Japanese Empire—and the Imperial forces were prepared to sacrifice every man and every ship to prevent MacArthur from regaining control of them.
 
Covering both the strategic and tactical aspects of the campaign through the participation of its soldiers, sailors, and airmen, as well as its commanders, James P. Duffy leads readers through a vivid account of the nearly year-long, bloody campaign to defeat over a quarter million die-hard Japanese defenders in the Pacific theater. Return to Victory is a wide-ranging, dramatic and stirring account of MacArthur’s epic liberation of the Philippines.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The moronic descriptions of an exalted. Never mind the dead, it was EPIC. And who cares what the people wanted? It was a liberation. In the same way the Japanese before them Liberated the locals. Or the Spanish before who also Liberated the population. And notice how life over there, after the American second Liberation, is pretty much like say life in the UK. A worthy effort to keep the drug plantations working for Democracy.

[Barred Owl Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good historical coverage with maps!

[Bill Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly a 3.5. This book covers an often overlooked aspect of World War II, the Liberation of the Philippine Islands. Many histories of the Second World War focus on the naval battle of Leyte Gulf and only touch on the land battles that took place. Then they move on to Iwo Jima and Okinawa. But fighting in the Philippines continued through the remainder of the war. This included the islands of Leyte, Mindoro, Luzon, Mindanao and numerous others. It is definitely a topic that needs more attention.

This is a fairly readable volume that definitely provides information I had not run across before. I did not know how extensive the guerrilla activity was in the Philippines prior to and during the battles. Nor how helpful they were in defeating the Japanese. Also how many of the Japanese fled to the island interiors and fought from there.

This book did have issues though. There seemed to be a lot of repetition throughout-information mentioned two, three or more times. I also felt that a little more detail of the many island battles and campaigns could have been included. Still, definitely a book to consider.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1968 while returning from a semester studying at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, we stayed in Manila, Philippines. We walked through Fort Santiago. During World War II, Fort Santiago was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army which used its cells to store weapons and gunpowder to be used to kill thousands of Filipinos in the Manila massacre. Approximately 600 American prisoners of war died of suffocation or hunger after being held in extremely tight quarters in the dungeons at Fort Santiago. Because the bay and river near the fort, prisoners were sometimes simply drowned in their cells by the rising tide. Because of this experience I was most interested in the Battle of Manila. While the book covers its content well, there was too much stress on the sea battle prior to and during the Leyte invasion. Still interesting, but the book did not have the content I most wanted to know. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Stuart Keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about the battles to return to the Philippines.
Easy to read, covers the return of MacArthur to the Philippines. Details land and sea battles. Names and dates off the players. Includes strategies of the leaders. For the sea battles name’s of the ships, results of the battles and dates.
Included are explanations of battles and atrocities.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about the little known long, drawn out battle for the Philippines. This is a long over due story of this important "stepping stone" towards ending the war in the Pacific. I for one, didn't think we had the number of troops that were involved in this theatre. A good book to fill in a lot of vacancies in the Pacific War.