Annihilation Zones: Far East Atrocities of the 20th Century

by Stephen Barber

Documenting many shocking examples of Far Eastern atrocity, Barber takes a historical look at the reigns of such dictators as Pol Pot, who less than 25 years ago founded a state based on sexual... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1840680652
• ISBN13: 9781840680652
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Creation Books
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A surreal reading experience

To be sure, Stephen BARBER`s ANNIHILATION ZONES is a weird book. It can not be emphasized enough: Do not expect a standard history book, or you will be grossly disappointed! It is also inevitable that you will be shocked and disturbed by the atrocities described and the author's perspective. If I had to pidgeon hole ANNIHILATION ZONES I would label it as revisionist history re-imagined by the infamous Marquis deSADE. The book details war crimes, atrocities and massacres in East Asia. The first chapter revolves around Emperial Japan's reign of terror during the second world war and beyond - from the massacre of Nanjing in 1937 (where Japanese soldiers mowed down tens of thousands of Chinese) to Unit 731. Situated at Pingfang, Unit 731 was a research unit for germ warfare and commited unspeakable atrocities, including dissection and evisceration of living prisoners (!). The widespread cannibalism among Japanese soldiers (mostly in New Guinea and Borneo, where whole armies were abandoned by the High Command without food supply or permission to surrender) is also scrutinized. Believe me, this makes for quite disturbing reading, as the author vividly details the horrifying acts of cannibalism ("The unlucky soldiers assigned to be culled and eaten were now ripped apart rather than decapitated, and the remaining soldiers would thrust their heads into the half-emptied stomachs and chests of the victims, rolling their faces around among the slithering entrails and attempting to bite out the smaller organs with their teeth, before running madly around the encampment in groups, caked in arterial blood and yelling invocations to the glories of the slaughtered human body.", page 52), including comments on the consumption of raw brain tissue, which led to ravaging madness among the soldiers and descriptions of desecration of dead bodies. The author piles up atrocity after atrocity, from the battle of Manila ("Many of the city's young female population were simultanously sodomized and eaten alive by gangs of soldiers", p. 57) to the bombing firestorms of Japanese cities. A particular interesting chapter, titled "Post-war Japan : The lust for death lives on", revolves around true crime, ranging from serial killers to the Aum cult's 1995 poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Yukio MISHIMA's coup in an attempt to restore Emperial power and the well-known writer's subsequent harakiri suicide is also covered. The second part (and in my view the highlight of the book) details Magadan, Stalin's death camp in the Far East in the Siberian costal region of the Okhotsk sea, which claimed the lives of millions. This is an excellently written account of a descent into hell! The third part revolves around Pol POT and the genocide against the Cambodian people from 1975-1979. Of particular interest in this part are the detailed accounts of Toul Sleng S 21, a huge torture prison in Phnom Penh. What is remarkable about the book is the blatant artistic licence it takes

Annihilation Zones

Too horrible to read straight through. Had to put it down and rehumanize myself. The leaders who were characterized here were depraved, inhuman and held ultimate power. It did not matter what nationality the leaders were; once a leader, they became monsters. I also have a new UNappreciation of General MacArthur as a conquering hero.