Free on Kindle March 14, 2026 (PST).
Available in audio courtesy of Amazon’s Audible Audiobooks initiative. Paperback edition coming soon.
In the aftermath of World War Two, and indeed all wars
before and since, few names evoke as much horror as Unit 731, a Japanese death camp located in Northeast China.
Unit 731: The Japanese Auschwitz exposes one of the darkest and least acknowledged chapters of the 20th century—a secret biological warfare program whose atrocities rival those of Nazi Germany’s most infamous death camps.
In this meticulously researched volume, Book 9 in The Underground Knowledge Series, the veil is lifted on the origins, operations, and enduring legacy of Unit 731, the covert Japanese military complex where science, ambition, and cruelty fused into industrialized murder.
Purchase Link
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRJ8LR8P
Snippet
Excerpt from the Introduction of our new release book, Unit 731:
The Japanese Auschwitz – Book 9 in The Underground Knowledge Series – by James
& Lance Morcan
…the name Unit 731 became synonymous with Auschwitz, that most infamous Nazi concentration camp. Hence, this book’s subtitle: The Japanese Auschwitz.
Although less widely reported than Mengele’s medical
research at Auschwitz, many historians have compared the hideous medical
experiments at Unit 731 to those conducted by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Unit 731’s condemned endured unimaginable horrors. These
included high-voltage electric shock experiments, cyanide poisoning, frostbite
studies, and biological weapons testing involving the forced application of
anthrax, heroin, and other drugs; some inmates were injected with bacteria from
plague-infected fleas procured from mice; and slow, live dissections of
subjects without the use of painkillers were commonplace.
The prisoners were referred to as “monkeys” in scientific
papers, but it was common knowledge in Japanese military and political circles
at least that the test subjects were in fact human beings.
The end result was tens of thousands of victims died at Unit
731 and its sister sites, keeping in mind the Pingfang complex was not an
isolated entity. Similar units proliferated across Asia – all coordinated in
accordance with Ishii’s vision of using biological warfare as a national
instrument of modern science and medicine.
Other complexes, including Unit 1644 in Nanjing, Unit 9420
in Singapore, Unit 8604 in Guangzhou, and Unit 1855 in Beijing formed a
strategic alliance programmed to support Japan logistically, militarily and
politically.
Casualty estimates vary, but our research shows that most
historians agree between 10,000 and 12,000 people perished within Unit 731
alone while Japan’s broader biological warfare program killed as many as
250,000 (some say 300,000) people across China.
Unit 731 is a sobering reminder that science and medicine
without ethics can evolve into weapons of unforeseen and almost unimaginable
destruction.
In the following pages we document what led to the formation
of Unit 731, the horrors its inmates endured, and the aftermath following
destruction of the unit at war’s end. We also address the uncomfortable truth
that most of the perpetrators walked free, their victims forgotten in the
proverbial fog and mist of postwar politics.
Be warned: it’s not an easy read.
-James & Lance Morcan
James Morcan
New Zealand–born actor, writer, and producer James Morcan is
the co‑author of numerous bestselling novels and nonfiction works, many written
with his father, Lance Morcan. His books span historical adventure,
international thrillers, and investigative nonfiction, and have been translated
into eight languages. Morcan is also a screenwriter and lead actor in several
international film productions, including the post‑apocalyptic feature After
Armageddon. Through Morcan Motion Pictures, he is developing adaptations of
Silent Fear and The Underground Knowledge Series. Beyond publishing and film,
he hosts the Underground Knowledge podcast and founded one of Goodreads’ most
active global discussion groups.
Lance Morcan
New Zealand novelist, screenwriter, and former journalist
Lance Morcan is the author of more than 35 fiction and nonfiction titles, many
co‑written with his son, James Morcan, and published through Sterling Gate
Books. Their collaborations span historical adventure, international thrillers,
and investigative nonfiction, including the bestselling White Spirit, Into the
Americas, and The Underground Knowledge Series. Lance’s solo work includes the
sweeping historical epic New Zealand: A Novel, a project five decades in the
making. Several Morcan titles have been long‑running Amazon bestsellers, and
their production company, Morcan Motion Pictures, is developing film
adaptations of Silent Fear, Into the Americas, and White Spirit.
For inquiries, media requests, or additional information
about James and Lance Morcan’s work, please contact their publisher:
https://morcanbooksandfilms.com/category/new-zealand-a-novel/
If you enjoy discovering new stories,
you may also like The AnaRose Chronicles—a trilogy of award‑winning
adventure novellas. https://books2read.com/u/4jzKAY
