Overview

STOLEN CHILDHOODS offers a window to a forgotten era of European colonialism and explores what happened when that world was brutally and suddenly shattered. Living on what effectively became the frontline of a war, in daily contact with an enemy whose values were totally alien, they witnessed acts of shocking violence. They had to cope with the knowledge that beloved family members had been beaten and saw at close quarters the evil that human beings can wreak on each other when the social rulebook is torn up. It was as if in an instant their childhoods had been stolen from them. But their stories also prove inspirational, such as the nine-year-old girl who stood up to the Japanese guards, or the children who taught themselves Latin by etching out their verbs in the dust.

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Tyrer's triumph is to capture the full breadth of the internment experience for children, from black comedy and adventure to bitter tragedy, and a cross a great geographical spread... It is profoundly satisfying to read that many of [the] children went on to transcend the trauma of the camps and live happy lives, into old age THE SUNDAY TIMES fascinating... At times the narrative is harrowing and violent, but the stories recounted are also filled with the spirit of human resilience and extraordinary capacity to adapt to inhospitable surroundings and treatment. YOUR FAMILY HISTORY This is the heart-rending story of some of the 3,000 children who were interned in World War II Japan. From terrifying tales of brutality to the uplifting episode of a nine-year-old standing up to her captors, this is war from a child's eye view. FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE this excellent history remains a collection of individual stories of suffering and in many - but not all -cases of ultimate triumph. [Tyrer] is also concerned with how the children coped when finally released out of Japanese hands and into civilisation. Theirs is a moving story of cruel events all too easily forgotten CONTEMPORARY REVIEW

'Tyrer's triumph is to capture the full breadth of the internment experience for children, from black comedy and adventure to bitter tragedy, and a cross a great geographical spread... It is profoundly satisfying to read that many of [the] children went on to transcend the trauma of the camps and live happy lives, into old age' THE SUNDAY TIMES

Author Information

Nicola Tyrer is a freelance journalist who writes for the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. Her previous books include SISTERS IN ARMS and They Fought in the Fields, a history of the Land Girls.

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