Japan's vast hoard of war booty known as Yamashita's Gold was long thought to be buried in caves in the Philippines. But in their book 'Gold Warriors,' Sterling and Peggy Seagrave sensationally claim that the treasure trove was secretly recovered -- and continues to oil the wheels of politics in Japan and beyond. As Roland Kelts discovered through interviews with the authors, it is a tale as disturbing as they insist it is well-founded.
In the months preceding the invasion of Iraq in early 2003, Bush administration officials proclaimed that the United States would do for the Middle Eastern nation what it had done for Japan more than 50 years before: "Democratize it."
The gross oversimplification was roundly demolished by critics across the political spectrum. But not so by author Sterling Seagrave who, with wife and co-author Peggy, has published nine books on Asia and Japan and their relations with the West.