Gold Warriors by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave

How America secretly recovered Yamashita's Gold immediately after World War 2. Great masses of treasure in gold, platinum, diamonds, other precious gems, solid gold Buddhas, art works, ancient artifacts, priceless manuscripts, were confiscated or stolen from 12 countries conquered by Japan between 1895 and 1945. In 1943 a U.S. submarine blockade prevented Japan from shipping all the war loot home. It was hidden in caves and underground vaults in the Philippines using POWs and slave labor, under the command of General Yamashita and Japanese princes including Emperor Hirohito's brothers. U.S. agents caught, tortured and bribed Yamashita's driver who showed them 12 vaults packed with gold ingots. President Truman ordered them to be recovered secretly both in the Philippines and Japan. They were used to set up secret slush funds to bribe foreign political and military leaders during the Cold War. Billions of dollars worth of this treasure was put in banks all over the world where it was used to block free elections and install pro-American regimes. Much of the treasure was used to create and finance Japan's one-party dictatorship of the LDP. The rest vanished into secret offshore accounts. The Seagraves discovered who was involved at the highest levels, and how the secret recovery was carried out. Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking said: "The Seagraves have uncovered one of the greatest secrets of the 20th Century." Dr. Chalmers Johnson said this book is "Easily the best guide to the scandal of Yamashita's Gold."