American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898-1945

Osprey Fortress #4

by Mark Berhow, Chris Taylor (Illustrator)

The Philippines were declared an American Territory on January 4, 1899, and fortification construction soon began on the islands in the mouth of Manila Bay. Among the sites built were Fort Mills (Corregidor), Fort Frank, and the formidable "concrete battleship" of Fort Drum. The defenses suffered constant Japanese bombardment during World War II, leading to the surrender of American forces. In 1945 the forts were manned by Japanese soldiers determined to hold out to the bitter end. This title details the fortifications of this key strategic location, and considers both their effectiveness and historical importance.

Genres: Military History, Nonfiction, History, World War II

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Macka · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second time in as many days I have been disappointed by a 'fortress' book. 39% of the way through the book and we are already on to the retaking of Corregidor.

I picked up this title after reading an article in 'After the Battle' magazine, and at 25 pages long it contained more information and photos than in this book.

These books are feeling very pumped out. This one feels more like a school kids essay rather than an actual book you should be paying money for.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad little book, but I do wish it were longer. It did contain some great pictures, but I would have liked many more. Some of the CGI illustrations were pretty cool. Again, I wish there were more of them.

[Almantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osprey Publishing Fortress publication.
A short summary of the enormous effort to establish fixed defenses and why they failed due to the changes both in equipment/weapons and tactics to employ them.