I just finished reading a rather amazing book, "Prisoners of the Japanese: POWs of World War II in the Pacific" by Gavan Daws.  I had always heard that Japanese POWs had it bad, but to read the documented details, starting with MacArthur's debacle in the Philippines and running through the end of the war, was truly moving, eye opening, and disturbing.  Given the harsh conditions, treatment by the Japanese, starvation, and disease, it is surprising that anyone survived.  The Japanese particularly didn’t like red-headed Allied POWs, nor bomber crews.  The latter were considered to be war criminals, not POWs.

It's a tough read because of the brutality, but I highly recommend it. Here's the amazon link: [url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688143709/qid=1035152431/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-6579630-4205622[/url]

Also along the same line (and also hard to read, for the same reasons) might I suggest "Hidden Horrors - Japanese War Crimes in World War II" by Yuki Tanaka, 1993