The Eighty Thieves provides a first hand account of what life was like for American P.O.W.s in World War II Japan. Former Navy serviceman Anthony "Tony" Iannarelli was stationed on the island of Guam when it was invaded and captured by the Japanese just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, placing he and the other servicemen among the first American prisoners of the war. Upon their capture, the men were informed that it was Japan's aim "to inflict on its prisoners as much pain as humanity would allow."

This soon proved to be a reality as the P.O.W.S found themselves subjected to near starvation, harsh physical labor, inadequate medical care and relentless beatings. Fluent in Japanese, the author was able to gain insight into his captor's thinking, enabling him to frequently negotiate for the lives of his fellow servicemen, as well as his own.

Of the prisoners originally captured, the Japanese would later single out eighty men as trouble-makers, for their having engaged in acts of theft and sabotage. Attempts to control these men would prove to be unsuccessful however, and for four years these Eighty Thieves would continue to frustrate their captors.

From the sometimes humorous acts of subversion, to the frequent serious encounters with the guards, the reader is taken through the entire war, up until the dropping of the atomic bomb and beyond. At a time when courage meant everything, The Eighty Thieves is the story of eighty brave men who waged their battle for survival against the enemy, in Japan's own backyard.

Over 200 pages, complete with diagrams and photographs.