Surviving the Sword: Prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East, 1942-1945

If you ever wanted to read about Japanese run POW camps, then this is the book for you. The book is filled with details about the camps run for the Allied soldiers taken prisoner during the war. It also contains a lot of details that can easily prove very upsetting to the reader. I would give a BIG warning about the gruesome factor for this book.

It details events at specific camps, but also has various thematic elements. Some of the topics include Changi; the Burma Railroad; the Bridge on the River Kwai; and Sonkurai in the camps and areas. For thematic elements, the author has survival, books, food, religion, jungle medicine, smoking and various other elements.

Then there is a section on the "hellships," camps in Japan, and various other areas.

Very thorough, very upsetting, and very well done.



Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page