When the Japanese took the Philippines during WWII, 77 American women, navy and army nurses, were caught on Bataan and later imprisoned by the Japanese. The few who escaped were cast by the American press more as belles than as professionals who had held steady in their devotion to their patients and their country in the face of bombing, starvation and the gruesome injuries and diseases of their charges. The 77 women left behind never received as much attention, and Norman (Women at War) tries set the record straight about exactly what the Angels of Battaan and Corregidor did throughout the war. The book derives from interviews with 20 of the 77 nurses who were captured and is at its best when it stays closest to their words and stories, with extensive quotations from diaries and interviews.

Waking up to war -- Manila cannot hold -- Jungle hospital #1 -- The sick, the wounded, the work of war -- Waiting for the help that never came -- "There must be no thought of surrender" -- Bataan falls: the wounded are left in their beds -- Corregidor: the last stand -- A handful go home -- In enemy hands -- Santo Thomas -- STIC, the first year, 1942 -- Los Banos, 1943 -- Eating weeds fried in cold cream, 1944 -- And the gates came crashing down -- "Home, . We're really home." -- Aftermath -- Across the years.