Penguin Book of Modern & Historic Speeches Shrinkw

MacArthur, Brian

For King and Country: Voices from the First World War

Far more than an anthology, this gripping collection of writings tells the story of World War I from the perspective of those who endured its horrors both home and abroad. From the men who served in Europe come accounts of fear, tedium, horror, and occasional joy, while those on the home front describe the pain of waiting for news of their loved ones. Along with selections from letters, diary entries, and memoirs, famous songs sung in the trenches as well as poems from soldiers and noted authors alike are also included. Together these documents create a seamless and movingly immediate narrative of one of the century’s most infamous conflicts.

History

Military

Little, Brown Book Group

Surviving the Sword, Prisoners of the Japanese 1942-45

Europe

Time Warner

Many of the prisoners held by the Japanese during the Second World War were so scarred by their experiences that afterwards they could not discuss them even with their families. They believed that their brutal treatment was, literally, incomprehensible. But some prisoners were determined that posterity should know how they were starved and beaten, marched almost to death or transported on 'hellships', used as slave labour - most notoriously on the Burma-Thailand railway - and how thousands died from tropical diseases. They risked torture or execution to keep secret diaries and make drawings that they hid wherever they could, sometimes burying them in the graves of lost comrades. The diaries tell of inhumanity and degradation, but there are also inspirational stories of courage, comradeship and compassion. When men have unwillingly plumbed the depths of human misery, said one prisoner, the artist Ronald Searle, they form a silent understanding of what solidarity, friendship and kindness to others can mean. The diaries and interviews with surviving prisoners drawn on in SURVIVING THE SWORD will tell a new generation about that solidarity, friendship and kindness.

Surviving The Sword: Prisoners Of The Japanese 1942-45

Asia

Little,Brown & Co

Surviving The Sword: Prisoners of the Japanese 1942-45

ABACUS +

Far more than an anthology, this gripping collection of writings tells the story of World War I from the perspective of those who endured its horrors both at home and abroad. From the men who served in Europe come accounts of fear, tedium, horror, and occasional joy, while those on the home front describe the pain of waiting for news of their loved ones. Along with selections from letters, diary entries, and memoirs, famous songs sung in the trenches as well as poems from soldiers and noted authors alike are also included. Together these documents create a seamless and movingly immediate narrative of one of the century’s most infamous conflicts.

Surviving the Sword: Prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East, 1942-45

Random House, Inc.

During World War II, there were few fates that could befall a soldier so hellish as internment in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. To this day, many survivors–most of whom are in their eighties–still cannot talk about their experiences without unearthing terrible memories. Surviving the Sword gives voice to these tens of thousands of Allied POWs and offers us a powerful reminder of the terror and depravations of war and the resilience of the human spirit. In this important book, Brian MacArthur draws on the diaries of American, British, Dutch, and Australian Fepows (Far Eastern prisoners of war), some of whose recollections are published here for the first time. These soldiers wrote and kept their diaries, in secret, because they were determined that to record for posterity how they were starved and beaten, marched almost to death, or transported on “hellships”; how their fellows were summarily executed by guards or felled by the thousands by tropical diseases; and how they were used as slave labor–most notoriously on the Burma-Thailand railway, as depicted in The Bridge on the River Kwai. The diaries excerpted in this book make plain why the Fepows believed that their brutal treatment by Japanese and Korean guards was, literally, incomprehensible to those who did not live it. The prisoners whose stories appear here risked torture and execution to keep diaries and make sketches and drawings that they hid from the guards wherever they could, sometimes burying them in the graves of lost comrades. The survivors’ narratives reveal not just a litany of horrors, but are a moving testament to the nobler instincts of humanity as well, detailing how the POWs prevailed over horrible conditions, even finding or creating a precious few creature comforts and sustaining the rudiments of culture, learning, and play. Forced into solidarity by inhuman conditions, the soldiers showed incredible compassion for one another, improvising ingenious ways to care for the sick, boost morale by subtly mocking their jailers’ authority, or even turn meager rations into the occasional feast. Countless thousands died in Japanese prison camps during World War II. Those fortunate enough to emerge from their ordeal were never the same again. Surviving the Sword at last fills a notable historical gap in our understanding, while also commemorating and memorializing the Fepows’ struggle and sacrifice.

Random House]

Requiem: Diana, Princess of Wales 1961-1997 - Memories and Tributes

Collects essays, reflections, poems, and funerary tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales, by commentators, writers, and those who knew her

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Arcade Publishing

Leaders & Notable People

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Books by MacArthur, Brian