Story death railway

The True Story of the Death Railway & The Bridge on the River Kwai A first edition softcover published by J P Picture cover boards are as new, binding is tight & strong, an as new copy Postage within South Africa R50.00 Overseas Customers can contact us for a Postal Quotation

Buy The Death Railway - A brief history of the Thailand - Burma Railway for R595.00

Size A4. Softcover in good condition with 60 pages and b/w photographs. The decision to build the railway was made by The Japanese Cabinet following the decisive defeat of its navy at Battle of Midway 1942. The Japanese had also planned to use the railway to launch an attack on India. Postage in RSA = R55.00.  

This is the story of an attempted coup d'etat more than twenty years ago on the Seychelles, an idyllic but obscure group of islands in the Indian Ocean. At the time, the attempt made headlines across the world, partly because it involved names still famous or notorious from the mercenary involvement in the Congo in the 1960's, partly because it involved the hijacking of an Air India jetliner, partly because South Africa, the international pariah, was involved, and partly because the incident was perceived as another small skirmish in the Cold War. However, this is more than a behind-the-scenes account of those faded headlines. It is the story of one individual's personal growth.  The author writes, "I was wounded and captured in the Seychelles. I was severely beaten on a daily basis, stood trial and then was sentenced to death. I eventually served two and a half years in prison, a time, which I value with hindsight because I now realize it was then that I discovered hidden depths in my comrades and myself. I discovered humanity in my jailers and in the president of the Seychelles, whom my group had set out to depose. Cut off from my wife and family, I treasured their support from a distance and today do not for an instant take for granted the strength and joy of a loving family. And I deepened my religious faith, which today lights my path. It seems an odd thing to say, but I owe a lot to that escapade in the Seychelles. I realized how shallow and crass the racial attitudes are that exist in this world we live in. Human courage and kindness, I discovered, knows of no racial barriers. I experienced the unbelievable magnanimity and greatness of spirit of President Albert Ren, the man to whom I owe my life. I also experienced support from a distance from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a person I had been conditioned to expect nothing from except hostility. It was an illuminating and humbling experience. I also experienced the fickleness of the apartheid regime. I suppose, it would have been expecting a bit much for them to admit they backed the Seychelles attempt and supplied the weaponry, but as far as I am aware, they subsequently did not stir a finger, officially or unofficially, to ameliorate our condition or secure our release. What they did do was put sinister and unpleasant pressure on my wife, alone in Durban with two young children, for reasons I am still at a loss to understand." Paperback, 200 pages Published July 2014 This book is imported on demand and dispatched within 15 working days depending on supplier

This is the story of an attempted coup d'etat more than twenty years ago on the Seychelles, an idyllic but obscure group of islands in the Indian Ocean. At the time, the attempt made headlines across the world, partly because it involved names still famous or notorious from the mercenary involvement in the Congo in the 1960's, partly because it involved the hijacking of an Air India jetliner, partly because South Africa, the international pariah, was involved, and partly because the incident was perceived as another small skirmish in the Cold War. However, this is more than a behind-the-scenes account of those faded headlines. It is the story of one individual's personal growth.  The author writes, "I was wounded and captured in the Seychelles. I was severely beaten on a daily basis, stood trial and then was sentenced to death. I eventually served two and a half years in prison, a time, which I value with hindsight because I now realize it was then that I discovered hidden depths in my comrades and myself. I discovered humanity in my jailers and in the president of the Seychelles, whom my group had set out to depose. Cut off from my wife and family, I treasured their support from a distance and today do not for an instant take for granted the strength and joy of a loving family. And I deepened my religious faith, which today lights my path. It seems an odd thing to say, but I owe a lot to that escapade in the Seychelles. I realized how shallow and crass the racial attitudes are that exist in this world we live in. Human courage and kindness, I discovered, knows of no racial barriers. I experienced the unbelievable magnanimity and greatness of spirit of President Albert Ren, the man to whom I owe my life. I also experienced support from a distance from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a person I had been conditioned to expect nothing from except hostility. It was an illuminating and humbling experience. I also experienced the fickleness of the apartheid regime. I suppose, it would have been expecting a bit much for them to admit they backed the Seychelles attempt and supplied the weaponry, but as far as I am aware, they subsequently did not stir a finger, officially or unofficially, to ameliorate our condition or secure our release. What they did do was put sinister and unpleasant pressure on my wife, alone in Durban with two young children, for reasons I am still at a loss to understand." Paperback, 200 pages Published July 2014

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 6 - 13 working days Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders, captured by the Japanese in Singapore. Forced into manual labor as a POW, he survived 750 days in the jungle working as a slave on the notorious "Death Railway" and building the Bridge on the River Kwai. Subsequently, he moved to work on a Japanese "hellship," his ship was torpedoed, and nearly everyone on board the ship died. Not Urquhart. After five days adrift on a raft in the South China Sea, he was rescued by a Japanese whaling ship. His luck would only get worse as he was taken to Japan and forced to work in a mine near Nagasaki. Two months later, he was just ten miles from ground zero when an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In late August , he was freed by the American Navy--a living skeleton--and had his first wash in three and a half years. This is the extraordinary story of a young man, conscripted at nineteen, who survived not just one, but three encounters with death, any of which should have probably killed him. Silent for over fifty years, this is Urquhart's inspirational tale in his own words. It is as moving as any memoir and as exciting as any great war movie. Features Summary * An extraordinary and moving tale by an ex-POW and last surviving member of the Gordon Highlanders regiment that was captured by the Japanese in Singapore... Author Alistair Urquhart Publisher Abacus Release date Pages 312 ISBN ISBN

1994 first edition hardcover with dust jacket in very good condition.  A thick book of 709 pages.  R55 postage in SA or R60 courier to most bigger cities. Sir Edward Dunlop, or 'Weary' as many knew him, became a hero to thousands of prisoners of war on the Burma-Thailand 'Death Railway' during World War II. When the War broke out he took charge of a surgical team at St. Mary's, Paddington in the Emergency Medical Service, then joined the Australian Army and served in Palestine, Egypt, Greece, Crete and North Africa. In 1942 he sailed with his medical unit to Java and elected to be captured with the Allied General Hospital he began there. During more than three years as a prisoner of war, his gift for organizing vast hospital camps in Java and on the railway in Thailand, his courage, compassion and determination to get men home alive, made him a legend in his lifetime. Had his frank diaries of captivity been found by the Japanese, he would have been beheaded. Returning to Australia in 1945, Weary dedicated his life to caring for former Allied prisoners of war. Sadly he died before this biography, written with his full cooperation, could be published.

2003 softocver 178 pages, softcover has a few small marks, book in very good condition - text clean and binding good, - No overseas shipping

Hardcover with DJ (now protected) HRSC Publishers First edition glossy pages.24.5x35cm There are some dustmarks but generally the book is in very good condition with no inscriptions.(see pics below). Please feel free to ask questions.   "The railway age dawned in South Africa in with the opening of a line about three kilometres long between Durban Harbour and the market square of the town. This book gives an account of the origin and construction of this pioneer railway line, the gradual development leading to the completion of the railway link between Durban and Johannesburg in , and the subsequent inmprovements to the line and its operation up to . Due regard is also paid to the political and economic circumstances which accompanied early railway construction in South Africa.............. That the book is based on sound scientific research will be evident from the numerous source references. It should therefore satisfy the demands of academics. At the same time it is written in an informal style and is lavishly illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams. It should therefore also appeal to the general reading public. the technical detail provided in the final chapter will be of interest to the railway and steam enthusiast"   Please look at my other book listings as I am happy to combine postage should you wish to purchase more than one item. 10% discount will be given for orders of 5 or more books packaged and posted together. Click the link below to see what other books I have for sale    

Buy The Thai-Burma Railway - The true story of the Bridge on the River Kwai - special pack for R380.00

Buy The Zanzibar Chest: A Story of Life, Love, and Death in Foreign Lands by aidan hartley 2003 hardcov for R75.00

Buy The Death of the USS Thresher: Story Behind Historys Deadliest Submarine Disaster BY N Polmar pp for R75.00

Buy OPERATION CERTAIN DEATH - THE INSIDE STORY OF THE SASS GREATEST BATTLE - DAMIEN LEWIS for R60.00

This is the story of Comrade September, a member of the ANC and its military wing, MK. He was abducted from his hideout in Swaziland by an apartheid death squad in August 1986 and taken across the border to South Africa, where his interrogation and torture began. It was not long before September began telling his captors about his comrades in the ANC. By talking under torture, September underwent changes that marked him for the rest of his life: from resister to collaborator, insurgent to counter-insurgent, revolutionary to counter-revolutionary and, to his former comrades, hero to traitor. This book is about these changes and about the larger, neglected story of betrayal and collaboration in the struggle against apartheid. It seeks to understand why September made the choices he didcollaborating with his captors, turning against the ANC, and then hunting down his comradeswithout excusing those choices. Looking beyond the black and white that still dominates South Africa’s political canvas, the book examines the grey zones in which South Africans, combatants and noncombatant, lived. It seeks to contribute to scholarly attempts to elaborate a denser, richer and more nuanced account of South Africa’s modern political history. It does so by examining the history of political violence in South Africa; by looking at the workings of an apartheid death squad in an attempt to understand how the apartheid bureaucracy worked; and, more importantly, by studying the social, moral and political universe in which apartheid collaborators like September lived and worked. Paperback, 320 pages About the Author Jacob Dlamini is at present a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and a Research Associate at the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP), University of the Witwatersrand. He holds a PhD from Yale University. Previously he worked as a journalist and was at one time the political editor of Business Day. His book Native Nostalgia (Jacana, 2009), about growing up in the township of Katlehong on the Witwatersrand, has won great acclaim.

This is the story of Comrade September, a member of the ANC and its military wing, MK. He was abducted from his hideout in Swaziland by an apartheid death squad in August 1986 and taken across the border to South Africa, where his interrogation and torture began. It was not long before September began telling his captors about his comrades in the ANC. By talking under torture, September underwent changes that marked him for the rest of his life: from resister to collaborator, insurgent to counter-insurgent, revolutionary to counter-revolutionary and, to his former comrades, hero to traitor. This book is about these changes and about the larger, neglected story of betrayal and collaboration in the struggle against apartheid. It seeks to understand why September made the choices he didcollaborating with his captors, turning against the ANC, and then hunting down his comradeswithout excusing those choices. Looking beyond the black and white that still dominates South Africas political canvas, the book examines the grey zones in which South Africans, combatants and noncombatant, lived. It seeks to contribute to scholarly attempts to elaborate a denser, richer and more nuanced account of South Africas modern political history. It does so by examining the history of political violence in South Africa; by looking at the workings of an apartheid death squad in an attempt to understand how the apartheid bureaucracy worked; and, more importantly, by studying the social, moral and political universe in which apartheid collaborators like September lived and worked. Paperback, 320 pages About the Author Jacob Dlamini is at present a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and a Research Associate at the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP), University of the Witwatersrand. He holds a PhD from Yale University. Previously he worked as a journalist and was at one time the political editor of Business Day. His book Native Nostalgia (Jacana, 2009), about growing up in the township of Katlehong on the Witwatersrand, has won great acclaim.