Currently reading
Alex
The Glass Room
Peter the Great: His Life and World
If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children
Skin Deep
The Good Daughter
A Boy in Winter
The Tie That Binds
The Idiot (Everyman's Library, #254)
The Velvet Hours
The Forgotten Highlander: One Man's Incredible Story Of Survival During The War In The Far East
To read Alastair Urquhart's account of the horrors he endured at the hands of the Japanese is shocking and quite moving. An extraordinary story of a 19 year soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japenese in Singapore. He not only survived 750 days in the jungle working as a slave on the notorious death railway and the bridge on the river Kwai but he was also taken prisoner on one of the Japanese Hell ships which was torpedoed resulting in nearly everyone on board, but Urquhart liked to tell the tale and his book is a remarkable telling of his journey. I have read a few books written by or about survivors of the War in the far east and each one is as important in its own right and deserves its place on The History Book Shelves. These soldiers accounts of their time as POWs at at the hands of the Japensese make for harrowing but powerful and necessary reading and for me their survival stories are in rememberance and in honor of their comrades who didnt make it back home.
This account is well written, concise and moving. I marvelled at the strength of mind and character of Alistair to survive the horrendous conditions he was subjected to by the Japanese. His journey home return to civilian life must have been just as difficult as I cant imagine how he documents his return to "normal" life and his struggles with coping. I was shocked that POWs were asked to sign a disclaimer by the British Army to say they would never speak of what had happened to them while POWs. These men truly were the forgotten heroes who arrived home to silence and struggled to put the past to rights.
An inspirational story for those interested in history and war. I can also recommend [bc:Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption|8664353|Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption|Laura Hillenbrand|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327861115s/8664353.jpg|12946965] and [bc:A Doctor's Sword – How an Irish Doctor Survived War, Captivity and the Atomic Bomb|31354409|A Doctor's Sword – How an Irish Doctor Survived War, Captivity and the Atomic Bomb|Bob Jackson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470397891s/31354409.jpg|52035367] both books are remarkable survival stories.
