The Second World War ended over 60 years ago, and yet there are still incredible tales emerging from it. This book is one of those. It documents the efforts of a rather unusual group of people who, from their base in central city Manila, ran an intelligence, supply and humanitarian organization right under the nose of their Japanese occupiers.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* As would be expected, any history of the Philippines in the 1940’s would be full of conflicting stories, half-truths, misleading statements, outright lies, and every other sort of fiction and non-fiction possible. Peter Eisner makes a valiant attempt to sort through these to tell the story of this characters. He is honest about his research, his assumptions, and where he believes some records are in error. It is probably as accurate an account as will ever be generated.

* The story is, at the core, about an unlikely heroine who I will refer to as Claire. Claire changed names, and husbands, fairly often, so there is no use trying to be more descript. Starting from nothing, Claire opened a successful nightclub in wartime Manilla, catering to Japanese soldiers and officers. Gathering up loose chat, she developed intelligence on Japanese intentions which eventually made its way to MacArthur’s headquarters.

* Claire also ran a supply operation that benefitted many American and Allied POW’s who were held in virtual starvation conditions in Japanese camps. Through a mixture of bluff, guile, bribery and downright sneakiness, she supplied food, clothing, medicine, intelligence and morale boosts to a small army of POW’s and guerrillas.

* Eisner does a commendable job of explaining Claire’s situation and methods, and highlighting the risks she and her compatriots ran everyday dealing with the violent and unpredictable Japanese occupiers. It is one of those books that you end up reading while holding your breath. The author writes in clear, easy-to-read prose, and I ended up reading the book in two sittings--- once it grabs you, it doesn’t let go.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* Despite the author’s best efforts, there is some question regarding how much of the material is strictly true. Claire admitted that she was not always strictly truthful in accounts ghost-written for her after the war. And many of the other characters also had numerous reasons to be less that truthful. However, there are enough of those small touches that make most of the content “ring true”. Certainly, Claire had some very influential admirers after the war, all the way up to General MacArthur.

* It would have been nice to see a summary of the book, giving some indication of the value of Claire and the Filipino resistance organizations she worked with. There is no question they kept some number of POW’s alive, if not strictly healthy. But it was much tougher to gauge the impact of their intelligence and guerilla supply efforts.


=== Summary ===

I found the book spell-binding and a real page turner. I had never read any history of wartime occupation in the Philippines, and independent of the story line, the background information was very enlightening. And whether the story related is strictly true or not, it does offer a glimpse of the courage, and brutal existence, of Filipino citizens during the war. Anyone with even a slight interest in WWII or human courage under duress would likely enjoy the book.