MacArthur's Spies reads like Casablanca set in the Pacific,
filled with brave and daring characters caught up in the intrigue of
war--and the best part is that it's all true! --Tom Maier, author of
Masters of Sex
A thrilling story of espionage, daring and deception set in the exotic
landscape of occupied Manila during World War II.
On January 2, 1942, Japanese troops marched into Manila unopposed by
U.S. forces. Manila was a strategic port, a romantic American outpost
and a jewel of a city. Tokyo saw its conquest of the Philippines as the
key in its plan to control all of Asia, including Australia. Thousands
of soldiers surrendered and were sent on the notorious eighty-mile
Bataan Death March. But thousands of other Filipinos and Americans
refused to surrender and hid in the Luzon hills above Bataan and Manila.
MacArthur's Spies is the story of three of them, and how they
successfully foiled the Japanese for more than two years, sabotaging
Japanese efforts and preparing the way for MacArthur's return.
From a jungle hideout, Colonel John Boone, an enlisted American soldier,
led an insurgent force of Filipino fighters who infiltrated Manila as
workers and servants to stage demolitions and attacks.
"Chick" Parsons, an American businessman, polo player, and expatriate in
Manila, was also a U.S. Navy intelligence officer. He escaped in the
guise of a Panamanian diplomat, and returned as MacArthur's spymaster,
coordinating the guerrilla efforts with the planned Allied invasion.
And, finally, there was Claire Phillips, an itinerant American torch
singer with many names and almost as many husbands. Her nightclub in
Manila served as a cover for supplying food to Americans in the hills
and to thousands of prisoners of war. She and the men and women who
worked with her gathered information from the collaborating Filipino
businessmen; the homesick, English-speaking Japanese officers; and the
spies who mingled in the crowd.
Readers of Alan Furst and Ben Macintyre--and anyone who loves
Casablanca--will relish this true tale of heroism when it counted the
most.
