One Fourteenth Of An Elephant

By Ian Denys Peek

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330364634
• ISBN13: 9780330364638
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 1.3" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Moving and very readable - a must read

One Fourteenth of an Elephant is a haunting and deeply moving account of a "memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand railway" as told by a survivor. Ian Denys Peek was captured by the Japanese in Singapore in 1942 and along with his brother and thousands of others was forced to build the Burma-Thailand railway (as also depicted in The Bridge on the river Kwai). The title comes from working along side an elephant that refused to pick up a log that was too heavy and as result 14 prisoners were forced to manually move it instead. Written with frankness, passion and a remarkable eye for detail, this book should become one of classics of the Second World War. It is written in the first person present tense and describes the author's memories of those events is great detail. I originally expected it get repetitive after the first 100 pages, but there are only a few minor repetitive passages. The only disappointment with the book is that it ends with his release and journey back to England. I personally would have loved to learn more about the process of returning to the 'real world' and what life had in store after that. I guess that was just too personal to include. A must read.