Unit 731: The Japanese Army's Secret of Secrets

By Peter Williams, David Wallace (journalist)

Categories: History

In Unit 731, the documentary makers Peter Williams and David Wallace investigate the Japanese Army unit set up in 1935 by the bacteriologist Shiro Ishii in occupied Manchuria, where soldier-scientists carried out freezing, ballistics and vivisection experiments on prisoners in pursuit of a biological weapon. Inspired by their television documentary, the book charts the deal under which the unit's research data was secretly traded to the United States in return for immunity from war-crimes prosecution, and asks how far its activities reached beyond Manchuria.

Recommended by 1 person

• Jocko Willink: “there's two books that I reviewed and will be referring to during this podcast. One is Unit 731 by Peter Williams and David Wallace”