Podcast with Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, author of “The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War”
The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War. Nicholas Evan Sarantakes (Oxford University Press, February 2025)
On 6 February 1945, just three days after the U.S. army started to fight the Japanese in the city of Manila, General Douglas MacArthur declared that “Manila had fallen.” In truth, the battle would take another month, as U.S. forces fought their way through block after block. By the end of the battle, which featured some of the most intense urban fighting faced by the US army, Manila was in ruins, the old walled city of Intramuros was flattened, and 100,000 Filipino civilians were dead.
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes writes a comprehensive history of the fighting in The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War. Nicholas Evan Sarantakes is an associate professor in the strategy and policy department at the U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of four books, including Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
