By any measure, the battles of Bataan and Corregidor were amongthe most intensely fought and devastating episodes in the WorldWar II Pacific theater. Beginning in early 1942, the JapaneseImperial Army invaded the Philippines in an attempt to controlthe Pacific region and expand its sphere of influence. The retreatand last stand of Filipino and American allied forces marked thelargest surrender in their respective military histories. Their efforts slowed the Japanese advance but only at great cost.John A. Adams Jr. provides a new and compelling explorationof these pivotal events by recounting the history of Bataan andCorregidor through the eyes of 89 soldiers and officers who wereformer students and citizen soldiers from the Agricultural andMechanical College of Texas. All were products of the Corps ofCadets, and indeed no other institution could boast of such a largedeployment in the opening of the war.

While many words have been written on Bataan and Corregidor,none have taken the approach of collective biography as TheFightin’ Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor does here. As a result, this book is not only a new contribution to the history of World War II but also stands to be a landmark publication on the history of Texas A&M University.