In battle after battle, japanese soldiers avoided surrender by participating in fierce suicide attacks. The most fearsome scenes of all took place on the island of sipan when organized military resistance became impossible. Author ivan morris says it was not only pilots or even military men who responded with suicidal desperation to the agonizing course of events.
Can suicidal bravery and fanatical determination make up for material, industrial and numerical insufficiency? As the Asia-Pacific conflict turns against the Japanese these questions are put to the test. The results are nightmarish.