KAMIKAZE, OR 'divine wind', refers to the 5,000 Japanese pilots who deliberately crashed their planes into Allied ships east of the Philippines during the last months of the Pacific War. Post-World War II, the kamikaze were stereotyped as mindless fanatics hell-bent on a violent death. Nothing could be further from the truth. Within this gripping, though flawed, military drama are the stories of brave, often foolhardy, men who sacrificed themselves, even when they knew Japan could not win the war. Many of the airmen wrote deeply moving poems before their final flight, poetry dedicated to their emperor, nation and families. And their final hours were often spent in a quasi-mystical state of serenity, praying they would be remembered as gods. More pitiful stories emerge as the Pacific War draws to a close. The wife of one man, rejected as a kamikaze because he was married with children, killed herself and their offspring. Her last words to her husband were: 'Please fight with nothing weighing on your mind.' There are reports that women accompanied their husbands or fiances on their missions, squeezed into the cockpits for their fiery farewells. It's morbid stuff but riveting. The book's strength lies in the authors' understanding of the values and traditions that motivated these men - for example, the belief that Emperor Hirohito was a god. And it's comforting to read that not all the Special Attack crews agreed with the suicide policy: many thought it wasteful. However, few refused to go. Unfortunately, what could have been a worthy book is spoilt by disingenuous historical analysis, and the authors' pro-Japan bias. For starters, the mass executions carried out by Japanese troops in Nanjing in 1937 are glossed over. The authors imply the Chinese might have initiated events by attacking Japanese soldiers in a nearby village. There is also an insidious suggestion that Korea willingly merged with Japan during the latter's 1910-1945 occupation. And it is misleading - some might say insulting - to propose that many of the 200,000 Korean sex slaves who serviced Japanese soldiers were prostitutes by trade before the war and that they 'were attracted by higher payments'. It is well documented that the women from Korea, China, the Philippines and Holland were forced into prostitution. Another fault is the blatant tie-in with the events of September 11 last year. The dust-jacket announces that Kamikaze 'offers insight into the al-Qaeda warriors', but apart from one reference to 'the terrorist blitz on America in September 2001' and obvious comparisons in the preface about self-sacrifice for sacred beliefs, the book contains no fresh observations about Osama bin Laden and his organisation. The one similarity between the Japanese kamikaze and contemporary suicide bombers the authors could have discussed is that unquestioning loyalty to causes often leads to a shameful waste of human life. Read an extract from Kamikaze in tomorrow's Sunday Review. Kamikaze: Japan's Suicide Gods by Albert Axell and Hideaki Kase Longman $250