A forgotten chapter of heroism, brutality and survival from the opening days of World War II.

The USS Houston, famed for ferrying FDR on several voyages, was on the wrong side of the Pacific when World War II broke out. The fate of the ship and her crew has never been fully revealed until now. Battered and on the run after several skirmishes in the opening weeks of the war, the Houston was looking for shelter. Just after 11:30 at night, on Feb. 28, 1942, the Houston and the Australian cruiser Perth sailed into the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java. Their arrival coincided with the landing of a massive Japanese army on the island. Against overwhelming odds, the two ships battled for more than an hour before they were sunk. Those who survived were captured and taken to Singapore, but that was only the beginning of their nightmare. The prisoners were put to work in what would become an infamous stretch of jungle, the Burma-Thailand Railway, basis for the epic The Bridge on the River Kwai. Though the Perth and Houston survivors shared the same experience, the author focuses on the Houston crew. As in Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (2004), personal accounts from survivors make vivid the brutal experience. Scattered by the current, some sailors were immediately captured, while others evaded the enemy for days or weeks. Back home, families waited for news that never came. Harrowing and frank, the story of a gritty band of men -- starved, isolated and working under excruciating conditions -- reflects the triumph of will over adversity.

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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
by James D. Hornfischer

National Bestseller

In the tradition of #1 New York Times bestselling Flags of Our Fathers, James D. Hornfischer's inspiring chronical portrays a naval battle unlike any other in U.S. history. Facing overwhelming firepower, with no prospect of reinforcement, 13 American warships began a fight they couldn't win.

Told from the point of view of the men there, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors captures Navy pilots attacking enemy battleships with makeshift weapons, a veteran commander improvising tactics, and young crews rising to an impossible challenge. The readers follow an iron-willed, self-made executive officer who leads his men through a sea of carnage over two hellish days and nights, clinging to survival amid oil, blood, sharks, and madness. Despite an overmatched U.S. force enduring the loss of five gallant ships and nearly a thousand brave men, they turned a certain crushing defeat into a momentous victory that would lead to the final surrender of America's ruthless imperial foe.