Go to Hachette Book Group home

Search

Site Preferences

Show prices in:

By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.

The Pursuit of Plan Z

An American Insurgent, His Filipino Guerrillas, and the Greatest Special Operations Coup of the Pacific War

The Pursuit of Plan Z Open the full-size image

Contributors

By John R Bruning

Formats and Prices

Price

$32.50

Price

$41.00 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $32.50 $41.00 CAD
  2. ebook $15.99 $20.99 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99

Also available from:

The Pursuit is Plan Z is the unlikely origin story of the intelligence coup that led to the largest naval battle in history, in World War II’s Pacific Theater, resulting in the most crushing defeat the U.S. Navy has ever inflicted on an enemy force.
 
In March 1944, the Japanese admiral in charge of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Navy departed the Palau Islands, bound for the Philippines. With him was a secure briefcase containing the location and numbers of every single Japanese aircraft, ship, sailor, and soldier in the Pacific. Dubbed War Plan Z, the documents detailed how and where the Japanese would counter-attack any American offensive.
 
En route, Admiral Fukudome’s flying boat got lost in a storm and crashed off the coast of Cebu. The admiral survived, as did his briefcase. Both were captured by Filipino guerrillas, who brought them to their commander, American insurgent James Cushing. Recognizing the value of the intelligence, Cushing made plans to smuggle Fukudome and the documents out of the Philippines and into the hands of General MacArthur’s special operations department. Japanese forces unleashed a wave of wanton violence, burning a path of destruction deep into Cebu’s central mountains in search of their captured admiral.
 
Cushing knew the real value wasn’t the admiral, but the war plan—and the Japanese were not yet certain the insurgent had found the briefcase. But soon after Fukudome was released, the chase was back on after a captive confessed Cushing possessed War Plan Z. What followed was one of the war’s most epic pursuits, a deadly game of cat and mouse through the Philippine Islands to get Plan Z to a special operations USN submarine. The course of the war’s final year would be determined by who won this race.

Genre:

On Sale
May 5, 2026
Page Count
528 pages
Publisher
Hachette Books
ISBN-13
9780306835032

You May Also Like

Escape from the Deep
Escape from the Deep $21.99 $28.99 CAD
Naples '44
Naples '44 $19.99 $25.99 CAD
Ira Hayes
Ira Hayes $19.99 $25.99 CAD
The Mighty Moo
The Mighty Moo $35.00 $45.00 CAD
The Liberation Line
The Liberation Line $34.00 $44.00 CAD

John R Bruning

About the Author

John R. Bruning is the author or collaborating writer of twenty-four books, including the national bestseller Indestructible, as well as Race of Aces, Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island, The Devi’s Sandbox, Outlaw Platoon with Sean Parnell, Shadow of the Sword with Jeremiah Workman, How to Break a Terrorist with Matthew Alexander, House to House with David Bellavia, and Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent with Fred Burton. Bruning lives in Independence, Oregon, and has two children.

Learn more about this author