TO die voluntarily in the prime of life is unnatural.

The very thought of death is unbearable for any sound person. Given that Japan's Kamikaze pilots were sound of mind, why then did these youthful pilots, perhaps as many as 7,000, willingly choose to kill themselves near the close of a war that was long past winning?

In Kamikaze -- Japan's suicide Gods, Albert Axell sheds light on the world of the Kamikaze pilots and this remarkable development in military and world history. He also analyses the parallel with the September 11 catastrophe and the mentality behind suicide missions.

The book includes some extraordinary, previously unpublished documents and information, including:

An original suicide manual and confidential suicide instructions

Interviews with surviving Kamikaze pilots and instructors

Details of a little known "first" Kamikaze attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941.

A chapter on British RAF pilots in the Arctic whose missions were, in fact, as deadly as the Kamikaze pilots.

The Kamikaze pilots were part of the national military policy of Japan during the Second World War. It was noted that the most effective way to inflict damage to warships was to crash planes into them. It was therefore decided that pilots would purposely crash their planes, which were to be loaded with half a ton of explosives, into enemy warships. The call for Kamikaze pilots drew a staggering response. Three times as many applied for suicide flights, as the number of planes available.

As one young Japanese airman said in a letter to his family:

"Dear Parents,

Please congratulate me. I have been given a splendid opportunity to die,"

Flying Petty Officer First Class, Isao Masuo.

Kamikaze includes gripping real-life stories of life and death -- interviews, memories and anecdotes from trained Kamikaze pilots who lived to tell the tale, as well as Kamikaze instructors.

This month sees the 57th anniversary of the destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs. Whether the war against Japan would have been prolonged for many months without them being used is still argued about to this day. But there is absolutely no doubt about the suicidal determination of many Japanese to resist any invasion of their homeland by Allied forces. And the attacks by Kamikaze pilots remind us of the fanatical efforts to make any invasion as costly as possible to the Americans.

It's a fascinating study of a viciously fought conflict.

Kamikaze -- Japan's suicide Gods by Albert Axell and Hideaki Kase, is published on August 27 by Longman History priced £19.99.