Building the Death Railway: The Ordeal of American Pows in Burma, 1942-1945

by Robert S. La Forte and Robert S. LaForte

Book Overview

The Oscar-winning movie 'Bridge Over the River Kwai' dramatized to millions the building of the infamous Japanese 'Death Railway' - the supply line for Japan's planned invasion of India during World War II. But the movie told only part of the story, giving the impression that all men working on the line were British. In fact, 668 Americans - serving on the USS Houston and with the Texas National Guard's Second Battalion - worked alongside the other...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 084202428X
• ISBN13: 9780842024280
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 6.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A unique perspective

Having read a number of books (memoirs) of Japanese pow experiences, I found this one surprisingly unique. It documents the exact words of prisoners, as transcribed from their personal oral interviews. Indeed, the "author" notes that he did not write the book, but merely edited it.

Justification

I was privileged to know, albeit briefly, one of the American men cited in this book -- a fellow Texan I am proud to say. This fascinating and revolting book fully illuminates why it was absolutely necessary to vaporize two cities in the society which produced the monsters responsible for the "Greater Southeast Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere." They all deserve to rest not in peace, but in the Bad Place... forever and ever Amen.