|
|
|||
|
||||
OverviewLoet Velmans was seventeen when the Germans invaded Holland. He and his family fled to London on the Dutch Coast Guard cutter Seaman's Hope and then sailed to the Dutch East Indies-now Indonesia-where he joined the Dutch army. In March 1942, the Japanese invaded the archipelago and made prisoners of the Dutch soldiers. For the next three and a half years Velmans and his fellow POWs toiled in slave labor camps, building a railroad through the dense jungle on the Burmese-Thailand border so the Japanese could invade India. Some 200,000 POWs and slave laborers died building this Death Railway. Velmans, though suffering from malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, and unspeakable mistreatment, never gave up hope. Fifty-seven years later he returned to revisit the place where he should have died and where he had buried his closest friend. From that emotional visit sprung this stunning memoir. Long Way Back to the River Kwai is a simply told but searing memoir of World War II-a testimonial to one man's indomitable will to live that will take its place beside the Diary of Ann Frank, Bridge over the River Kwai, and Edith's Story. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Loet VelmansPublisher: Skyhorse Publishing Imprint: Arcade Publishing Dimensions: Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 21.00cm Weight: 0.272kg ISBN: 9781611451856ISBN 10: 161145185 Pages: 256 Publication Date: 15 September 2011 Audience: General/trade , General , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: No Longer Our Product Availability: In Print This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviewsThis candid, understated book is a useful contribution to our understanding of an essential truth.--Washington Post Book World Author InformationTab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |