Product Description

A naive young man, a radio enthusiast and radio buff, was caught up in the fall of the British Empire at Singapore in 1942. He was put to work on the Railway of Death - the Japanese line from Thailand to Burma. This was the most disastrous engineering project in history, which killed 250,000 Allied prisoners and Thai labourers. Lomax helped to build a radio so that he and his comrades could follow news of the war. The Japanese discovered the radio and Lomax was exhaustively and brutally tortured. One of his tormentors was a young Japanese interpreter; Lomax never forgot him. Despite an outwardly successful life, Lomax was emotionally ruined by his experiences and could never share them with anyone. Almost 50 years after the war, his life was changed by the discovery that his interrogator, the Japanese interpreter, was still alive. This is the story of a tragic life and a transformed old age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #354501 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
"'An extraordinary story of torture and reconciliation - I turned the last page weeping tears of sorrow, pride and gratitude' John McCarthy"

From the Publisher
ONE OF TWELVE TITLES IN VINTAGE'S A FORMAT WAR PROMOTIONWINNER OF THE 1996 NCR BOOK AWARD.

About the Author
Eric Lomax was born in 1919. He now lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Customer Reviews

brilliant gripping read
i wondered if i was reading the right book when i started reading this one,starts of slow all about his life and railways (trainspotting i thought).boy was i WRONG once you get really into it - what a book you can not put it down it is sad but comical at the same time , what the writer went through would kill most people I TAKE MY HAT OFF TO MR LOMAX WOULD RECOMEND THE BOOK TO ANYBODY

The Railway Man/ Authur Eric Lomax
Without doubt the finest book I've ever read. Anybody who can read this without tear staining the pages has no soul or emotions.
It starts slowly showing a boy who is awkward because he doesn't share the normal interests of youth but it develops through his age experience and the horrors he endures to provide a man of intense intelligence compassion and the ultimate forgiveness to provide us all with a desire to do the best we can, and yes I'm crying as I write this review. I've just ordered a new copy as my other one is very dog eared.

OUTSTANDING!
I have never read a book so fast in all my life! A real 'page-turner', a riveting story. Its incredible that anyone could survive the experiences described in this book. I think that this book is crying out to be made into a film. It has everything that would make a truly great film :- a time of turmoil, an exotic location, a mild-mannered character drawn into a horrifying set of circumstances and surviving against staggering odds, humanity displayed at its best and at its worst, the backdrop of a world war, and ultimate reconciliation and forgiveness - the solution of an inner torment that could be solved in no other way.

I hope to see this on the big-screen one day.