Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Length: 396 pgs.

I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway. Boy, am I glad that I did! I am a historical fiction fan and have read a vast amount of WWII books but this one is set in the Phillippines and is the first one I have read set in that locale.

James Propfield’s future is planned. He is to marry the lovely daughter of his mother’s friend, go to seminary, and return home to preach with his father. The only problem is that James doesn’t want any of this. He can’t seem to muster the courage to tell his father. When the big brother of one of his best friends enlists to fight in World War II, he sees his way out. Jimmy, Huck, and Billy enlist together and are sent to the Philippines. The beauty of the area has these three young men enthralled. They are enjoying life until the day the Japanese focus their efforts on the Phillippines. War is brutal and many men are lost in the conflict. Then the unthinkable happens and McArthur orders a retreat. The soldiers left behind become prisoners of war. Jimmy and his friends are taken prisoner and support each other on what is later called the “Bataan death march”. Their time in the prisoner camps is horrible.

This is a coming-of-age story shaped by the events of WWII. The friendship of these three young men was strengthened by the hardships they endured together. Their ability to pull together rallied them and the men around them in times of trouble. They will be captured, and how will they adapt to the brutality of their captors? Will all three friends return home together? Will Jimmy’s father accept this drastic change of plans?

Marcus Brotherton has written a well-researched account of WWII in the Phillippines that illuminates the difficulties of those trying to survive the POW camps. The conditions were brutal and those in charge treated the prisoners sadistically. The Nazi death camp soldiers were noted for their abuses against humanity. The Japanese soldiers in the PHillipine camps are every bit as cruel. They were experts at destroying any sense of morale the soldiers might have. The lack of medical aid combined with the lack of medical staff made recovery from any illness or wound nearly impossible. So many men died in these camps. The captors starved the men, mistreated them, and exposed them to unnecessarily harsh conditions. I had heard of the Bataan Death March and briefly studied it in history classes but Brotherton’s narrative made this real and not just some dry fact. Near the end of the book, Jimmy talks about the stockpiles of Red Cross care packages, food, and letters from home that were discovered after the liberation of the POW camps. It is not clear whether all the Japanese soldiers were equally vengeful in the camps or whether some soldiers looked the other way or even aided the POWs. I had no idea how many men were left when we retreated from the Phillippines. Perhaps we focus on the attack at Pearl Harbor and the Phillippines has been more of a footnote. Why haven’t we given the same level of scrutiny to the camps in the Phillippines? I appreciated the friends in this story. Their dialogue was very natural and believable.

This book really struck a chord with me. As I stated above, my knowledge of WWII revolves mainly around the European aspects of the war. Reading about the Bataan camps shocked me. Marcus Brotherton has illuminated an unfortunate part of history, one we should remember alongside the European occupation by Nazis. Whether you know of the Bataan Death March or not, The Long March Home is an eye-opening story all historical fiction fans should read.

My Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻/5