The epic story of one of the most savage battles of the Second World War. Kohima. In this remote Indian village near the border with Burma, a tiny force of British and Indian troops faced the might of the Imperial Japanese Army. Outnumbered ten to one, the defenders fought the Japanese hand to hand in a battle that was amongst the most savage in modern warfare. A garrison of no more than 1,500 fighting men, desperately short of water and with the wounded compelled to lie in the open, faced a force of 15,000 Japanese. They held the pass and prevented a Japanese victory that would have proved disastrous for the British. Another six weeks of bitter fighting followed as British and Indian reinforcements strove to drive the enemy out of India. When the battle was over, a Japanese army that had invaded India on a mission of imperial conquest had suffered the worst defeat in its history. Thousands of men lay dead on a devastated landscape, while tens of thousands more Japanese starved in a catastrophic retreat eastwards. They called the journey back to Burma the 'Road of Bones', as friends and comrades committed suicide or dropped dead from hunger along the jungle paths. Fergal Keane has reported for the BBC from conflicts on every continent over the past 25 years, and he brings to this work of history not only rigorous scholarship but a raw understanding of the pitiless nature of war. It is a story filled with vivid characters: the millionaire's son who refused a commission and was awarded a VC for his sacrifice in battle, the Roedean debutante who led a guerrilla band in the jungle, and the General who defied the orders of a hated superior in order to save the lives of his men. Based on original research in Japan, Britain and India, 'Road of Bones' is a story about extraordinary courage and the folly of imperial dreams.

Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 - The Epic Story of the Last Great Stand of Empire

KEANE, Fergal

Harper

Kohima. In this remote Indian village near the border with Burma, a tiny force of British and Indian troops faced the might of the Imperial Japanese Army. Outnumbered ten to one, the defenders fought the Japanese hand to hand in a battle that was amongst the most savage in modern warfare.

Road of Bones: The Epic Siege of Kohima 1944

History

Asia

HarperPress

All of These People: A Memoir

Journalist Fergal Keane's memoir is the account of a journey, a story about bearing witness to horror but also confronting the ghosts within. At its heart is the story of a son's journey in search of his father and the reconciliation that is possible even after death.In this book, Fergal Keane addresses his experience of wars of different kinds, some very public and others acutely personal. Often deeply moving and painful, but equally often ruefully funny, he describes intimately a life uneasily shadowed by the spectre of alcohol.As a nephew of a famous writer and son to a much-loved actor his was a family of storytellers, from whom Keane inherited a love of words and adventure. Growing up in Ireland in the 60s and 70s the country of myth and reverence was being dismantled in front of his eyes with the first stirrings of a sexual revolution; later he became a cub reporter in an atmosphere filled with the smells of drink and cloudy with cigarette smoke, then followed his childhood dream to go to Africa. Here he witnessed the violence of the South African townships and the terror in Rwanda, the most extreme kinds of human behaviour.Keane's life as one of Britain's leading war reporters is all that we imagine: journeys across landscapes traumatised by death and hunger, encounters with some of the most evil figures of the last half century. Life in such vulnerable areas of the globe is emotionally draining, but can be illuminated with astonishing moments of camaraderie and human bravery. And so this is also a memoir of the human connections, at once simple and complex, that are made in extreme circumstance.

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

HarperCollins, UK

In a memoir of staggering power and candour, award-winning journalist Fergal Keane addresses his experience of wars of different kinds, some very public and others acutely personal.
During his years of reporting from the world's most savage and turbulent regions, Fergal Keane has witnessed the violence of the South African townships and the terror in Rwanda, the most extreme kinds of human behaviour, the horror of genocide and the bravery of peacekeepers faced with overwhelming odds. As one of the BBC's leading correspondents, he recounts extraordinary encounters on the front lines. Alongside his often brutal experiences in the field, he also describes unflinchingly the challenges and demons he has faced in his personal life growing up in Ireland.
Keane’s existence as a war reporter is all that we imagine: frantic filing of reports and dodging shells, interspersed with rest in bombed-out hotels and concrete shelters. Life in such vulnerable areas of the globe is emotionally draining, but full of astonishing moments of camaraderie and human bravery. And so this is also a memoir of the human connections, at once simple and complex, that are made in extreme circumstances. These pages are filled with the memories of remarkable people. At the heart of Fergal Keane's story is a descent into and recovery from alcoholism, spanning two generations, father and son; a different kind of war, but as much part of the journey of the last twenty-five years as the bullets and bombs.

Arts & Literature

Harper-perennial

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love

A family story of blood and memory and the haunting power of the past.2018 WINNER OF THE CHRISTOPHER EWART-BIGGS MEMORIAL PRIZE2017 WINNER OF THE NON-FICTION IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERAfter nearly three decades reporting conflict from all over the world for the BBC, Fergal Keane has gone home to Ireland to tell a story that lies at the root of his fascination with war. It is a family story of war and love, and how the ghosts of the past return to shape the present.
Wounds is a powerful memoir about Irish people who found themselves caught up in the revolution that followed the 1916 Rising, and in the pitiless violence of civil war in north Kerry after the British left in 1922.
It is the story of Keane’s grandmother Hannah Purtill, her brother Mick and his friend Con Brosnan, and how they and their neighbours took up guns to fight the British Empire and create an independent Ireland. And it is the story of another Irishman, Tobias O’Sullivan, who fought against them as a policeman because he believed it was his duty to uphold the law of his country.
Many thousands of people took part in the War of Independence and the Civil War that followed. Whatever side they chose, all were changed in some way by the costs of violence. Keane uses the experiences of his ancestral homeland in north Kerry to examine why people will kill for a cause and how the act of killing reverberates through the generations.

Historical

William Collins

When President Habyarimana’s jet was shot down in April 1994, Rwanda erupted into a hundred-day orgy of killing – which left up to a million dead. Fergal Keane travelled through the country as the genocide was continuing, and his powerful analysis reveals the terrible truth behind the headlines. ‘A tender, angry account … As well as being a scathing indictment – Keane says the genocide inflicted on the Tutsis was planned well in advance by Hutu leaders – this is a graphic view of news-gathering in extremis. It deserves to become a classic’ Independent.

Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey

Africa

Penguin??Books

Fergal Keane is one of the BBC's best known foreign correspondents. His latest work for Radio 4 was "Letter to Daniel", an emotional message to his newborn son. This work contains a collection of his pieces and includes the "Letter to Daniel" and a similar despatch he wrote to his deceased father. The book also features many of his pieces for "From Our Own Correspondent" and articles written for the "Spectator", the "Guardian" and the "BBC Worldwide" magazine.

Letter To Daniel Tie In: Despatches From The Heart

Penguin Uk

A follow-up to "Letters to Daniel", this collection of pieces is largely taken from Fergal Keane's broadcasts and columns from some of the most horrific warzones he has visited in 1999: Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Rwanda.

Letters Home

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Gardners Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by KEANE, Fergal. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by KEANE, Fergal

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by KEANE, Fergal. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 - The Epic Story of the Last Great Stand of Empire

Road of Bones: The Epic Siege of Kohima 1944

All of These People: A Memoir

All of These People: A Memoir

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love

Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey

Letter To Daniel Tie In: Despatches From The Heart

Letters Home