KEMPEITAI - Japan's Dreaded Military Police by Lamont-Brown, Raymond

Phoenix Mill 1998, Sutton, UK 1st editiohard bound n w/dj, VG/VG condition, 6 x 9, x, 182 pp, illus, maps, glossary, bibliog, index.-------------------------------------------The Kempeitai, Japan's secret military police and counter-espionage service, were held in justifiable dread in the military occupied territories of what the Japanese called the Dai Taa Kyozonken (Great East Asia Co-Existence Sphere - a euphemism for Japanese occupied territories) of the Second World War empire.They were a grimly efficient corps, possessing wide powers which they were trained to employ ruthlessly. Through sheer horror tactics the Kempeitai and their ethnic collaborators from Manchuria to Singapore, imposed submissiveness upon reluctant nations and planned brutality and processes to break the human spirit.-------------------------------------The origins of the Kempeitai are examined and its subsequent growth from out of the Japanese military police and Secret Service; its recruitment and training are outlined, its structure and duties, military philosophy and influence. With the use of first-hand accounts from Kempeitai members and its victims, the ruthless nature of this much feared organisation is brought to life. The book concludes with a look at the fate of the Kempeitai and how its members were assimilated into post-war Japanese economic and political life.Kenipeitai sheds new light on this little known but greatly feared organ of repression, and will appeal in particular to students of Axis history, and to all with an interest in the Second World War in general.