Valley of Darkness: The Japanese People and World War Two

I originally discovered this book at my university's library while working on a paper about the the lives of the Japanese people during the closing months of the war. Though it was in very poor condition (stained pages filled with pen marks, binding completely broken), it was one of the most fascinating and complete sources I was able to find about the topic. My only major complaint is that Havens cites all of his sources with end notes that do not indicate which information came from which sources nearly as clearly as I would have liked. With this book currently available used for <$1 you'd be insane not pick it up if you have even a passing interest in the subject matter.

An English language account of the Japanese PEOPLE living under the strain and horrors of wartime is indeed something worth having for anyone interested in the subject of World War II. Havens's prose brims with an enthusiasm for his subject. It is a well-researched book - the only drawback being that the photo reproductions are a bit blurry (at least in my copy) and do not offer a very compelling contribution to this otherwise engaging read. Let's hope this book is available again soon.