Author:Laurens Van Der Post
What follows is the story of two British officers whose spirit the Japanese try to break. Yet out of all the violence and misery strange bonds are forged between prisoners - and their gaolers. In a battle for survival that becomes a battle of contrasting wills and philosophies as the intensity of the men's relationships develop.
Masterly storytelling.
—— The TimesOne of our foremost writers of naval fiction.
—— Sunday TimesA compulsively readable storyteller
—— Sunday Express100 per cent proof adventure
—— New York TimesHiggins makes the pages fly
—— New York Daily NewsThe master craftsman of good, clean adventure
—— Daily MailA seasoned pro . . . Mr Higgins knows how to tell a story!
—— The New York Times Book ReviewThe architect of the modern thriller
—— The Huffington PostUnsurpassed by any adventure story in recent years
—— Alistair MacLean, author of The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles DareWell deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Ms Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh
—— EconomistIt is quite outstanding, full of beauty, pain and truth... We are lucky to have this book
—— Anne Chisholm , Sunday TelegraphThe facts surrounding the discovery of this book are as remarkable as its contents are magnificent... A triumph of indomitability and a masterwork of literary accomplishment
—— Sunday TimesDeftly translated by Sandra Smith, this is possibly the most devastating indictment of French manners and morals since Madame Bovary, as hypnotic as Proust at the biscuit tin, as gruelling as Genet on the prowl. Irène Nemirovsky is, on this evidence, a novelist of the very first order, perceptive to a fault and sly in her emotional restraint
—— Evening StandardAn heroic attempt to write a novel about a nightmare in which the author is entirely embedded
—— Anita Brookner , SpectatorRead this haunting novel, then read [Nemirovsky’s] letters in this edition to feel the full force of the work
—— Fiona Wilson , The TimesWhile marked by poppy wearing and memorial ceremonies, the First World War is also sustained through family history, handed down from one generation to the next. No book better articulates the impact of this narrative than Stephen Faulks’ Birdsong.
—— Lucy Middleton , Reader's DigestA truly amazing read
—— Gail Teasdale , 24housingI’d never read such descriptive literature, and couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about what I’d just read. His [Faulks] portrayal of terror on the battlefield is so powerful
—— Anna Redman , Good HousekeepingMy all-time favourite book
—— Kate Garraway , Good Housekeeping