Surviving the Sword

We are all too aware of the horror of the Holocaust. Fifty-five years on, the most controversial, unresolved issue of the Second World War is the savage treatment of their prisoners by the Japanese. For as many as 18 hours a day, they toiled in back-breaking conditions. Disease - malaria, dengue fever, beriberi and dysentery - was rife. They were treated worse than animals - starved of food, sleep and shelter while working in death camps. Their captors took their Red Cross parcels and laughed; the cruelty was abominable. Although some individual experiences have been given testimony on film (BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI) and in books (i.e. Eric Lomax's THE RAILWAY MAN), Brian MacArthur's BUSHIDO is the first comprehensive history of the FEPOWS (Far East Prisoners of War). Here is the full story of the FEPOWS' life on the edge of existence from 1941, when Hong Kong fell, and 1942, when Singapore surrendered, until 1945.