DRAGON OF THE MANGROVES
Yasuyuki Kasai
iUniverse
2006
ISBN: 0-595-39026-9
Fiction, Historical Fiction
During World War II, my father fought with the British Army's 99th (R.B.Y.) Field Regiment R.A. in India and Burma and wrote of his experiences in his memoir, The Road to Mandalay.
Based on actual incidents, and viewing the war from the opposite perspective, the characters in this novel are Japanese soldiers caught in the midst of extraordinary times.
Skillfully weaving the stories of the two main characters—Second Lieutenant Yoshihisa Sumi who is ordered to rescue a penned-in garrison; and Superior Private Minoru Kasuga, a soldier in that ill-fated garrison—the author brings to life the military tactics and equipment, and the emotional effects of wartime events as well as, in this case, the horror of the dragons of the mangroves' crocodile attacks.
Vivid imagery and descriptions, keen characterizations and quick pacing all draw the reader through an exciting and interesting wartime story the like of which is very rarely seen, but one which only helps to highlight the terrible devastation of wars and their effects on human beings, and the often indescribable and wondrous machinations of Nature Herself.
An excellently crafted story well worth reading.
(Book Review by Michael Woodhead, 2007)
