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DAWS, GAVAN: : PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE - POWs OF WORLD WAR II IN THE PACIFIC: THE UNTOLD STORY

LONDON.ROBSON BOOKS LTD.,1995.

ISBN 0860519783.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. FINE-/NFINE. Owner's inscrptn+contempraneous date to front free endpaper but no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of publisher's price - these edns generally believed to be export edns,released before the trade distribution in the country of the published book's origin.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy,red+black representaion of the Japanese rising sun flag illustrated front panel+spine/ backstrip of dwdj,with capitalised,white-lettered part+sub-title and capitalised,grey-lettered author name; a sunned and slightly faded spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+ lettered part-title and author's name as the front's and the publisher’s capitalised,white-lettered+illustrated colophon to foot of same, rear panel of dw/dj with black background with critics' white-lettered,advance reviews. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no major nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges lightly toned by faint dust-flecks, bright but with faint,sporadic foxing/ spotting; contents however,are bright,tight, clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages’ corner tips – would appear unread,apart from my own collation. Publisher’s bright,crisp,clean/unblemished,sharp-cornered, original plain black cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip, and immaculate,repeated b/w illustrated regional map of Zone of Captivity,The Pacific War,Mid-1942,showing the extent of the Zone; includes Machuria,Korea,Japan, Burma,Thailand,French-Indo China, Malaya,Sumatra,Java,Borneo,Philippines, Netherlands East Indies and New Guinea. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,9-462pp [paginated] includes author's Acknowledgements,author's Note,IX (9) chapters,contemporary b/w photographs to pp225- 40 in 1 block,Sources,Notes and an Index; plus [unpaginated] blank with owner inscrptn,half-title+title pages,an epigram,a Contents list/ table and to the rear,2pp blanks.                Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its 35+ year-old age. It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher overall grading.Despite them,it really is still an exceptional copy for its cleanliness, brightness and lack of other,major detracting faults.                                          Gavan Daws has combined ten years of documentary research and hundreds of interviews with surrviving POWs to write this explosive, first-and-only account of the experiences of the Allied POWs of World War II. The Japanese Army took over 140,000 Allied prisoners,and one in four died in the hands of their captors.Here Daws reveals the survivors' haunting experiences,from the atrocities perpetrated during the Bataan Death March and the building of the Burma-Siam railroad to descriptions of disease,torture,and execution.                    Among the many disturbing questions raised by this powerful and uncompromising book is that of the value placed on the lives of Allied POWs bytheir own supreme command.Of all military prisoners who died inthe Japanese zone of captivity.more than one in four were killed by "friendly fire" ordered by General Douglas McArthur - a te rible fact that is nowhere to be found in official military histories.            The inhuman cruelty of the Japanese prison camps is laid bare.It is impossible not to be seized by the horror of the POWs' ordeal, documented here by ten years of research, including much previously unpublished material and harrowing first-hand accounts from hundreds of interviews with survivors. Yet the book,at its core,tells the heartening story of ordinary men trapped in impossible circumstances,not only struggling to survive but stubbornly, triumphantly asserting their inextinguishable humanity.                                        Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.    ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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