Memoirs Books

Book SynopsisA bestseller in 1946, Railroad of Death is the first and best account of forced labour on the Burma Railway. John Coast was a young officer in the Norfolk Regiment who was taken prisoner at the Fall of Singapore in February 1942. He took notes and concealed them from the Japanese for nearly three years, but he lost the lot when he was forced to bury them in Chungkai Camp to avoid repeated searches. Coast had to write the book all over again while on the voyage home. His book is moving, dramatic and chilling in the detail it gives of the cruelty inflicted by Japanese and Korean soldiers on the prisoners and Asian workers who died in even greater numbers working on the railway. Yet it is at the same time lyrical in its descriptions of the natural world surrounding the camps and the food and kindness shown by some Thais to the prisoners. Coast brings to life the camps and towns of the Burma Railway and the culture of Bali and Indonesia that so entranced Coast, allowing him to find some comfort and meaning amid the horror.This new edition has an introduction and appendices which takes Coast's legacy of dealing with his experiences in the camps forward through to his groundbreaking 1969 BBC programme Return to the River Kwai and beyond and includes transcriptions of his BBC interviews with his Japanese captors and Takashi Nagase. Nagase's appearance, decades before his meeting with Eric Lomax, author of The Railway Man, is revelatory when he and the other Japanese are asked to comment on evidence of Japanese treatment of POWs on the Railway. Other appendices include never before published documents which help reveal details about secret radios and attempted escapes masterminded by the talented group of officers around Coast. The new edition includes an index and list of newly identified individuals mentioned in the book including the famous Lieutenant Colonel Toosey.Trade Review"a harrowing account." "--The New York Times"

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Book SynopsisThis is the true story of a life shared and a relationship formed over twenty years, between Morag Higgins and her companion, a horse called Bruja. At times humorous, often deeply emotional but overall one woman's story of a lifelong bond between her and a horse from which she learned so much. Morag has been riding for over thirty five years and teaching for almost three decades. She has had the privilege to have known and worked with many, many horses in her career having participated in several disciplines such as jumping, dressage, one day eventing, showing and western riding. In 'Bruja' Morag encapsulates the life of one horse and its profoundly moving effect on all who knew her.

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Book SynopsisUsing skills developed since teaching himself to type at the age of eight, Rose describes his 20 years of working in newspapers, radio and television before publishing his first book.

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Book SynopsisBacktrack is the star-studded account of Tessa Nilesâ 30 years of working alongside the greatest names in rock and pop; the story of a young girlâs quest to discover her true voice as she charts her rise to become one of the most respected session singers in Britain. Follow Tessa as she records with superstars.

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Book SynopsisOffers a memoir of revolution and exile. This book is not only the odyssey of one intellectual doomed to exile, but also a message of hope and salvation for the increasing number of people forced to leave their homeland and settle in America.

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Book SynopsisWidowed at 34, Tre Miller Rodriguez finds New York life difficult to bear, so she sets off to travel the world, her husband's ashes in hand. This spontaneous act becomes a self-searching journey,one that ultimately brings Rodriguez to reunite with the daughter she gave up for adoption at 18.Trade Review“Story of a woman turning grief into courage...Blogospheric immediacy charges the book's pages. At once touching and shockingly stark...Gripping, real.” —Publishers Weekly “No other book entangles romance and grief in such an urgent and beautiful way. Tré Miller Rodríguez writes as she lives: with breathless poise, unmatched style and fierce bravery.” —Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance “Splitting the Difference is a story of love and loss told with flair, ballsy bravado and unflinching honesty.” —Susan Shapiro, author of 5 Men Who Broke My HeartTable of Contents Contents Sunday Mourning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Dumb Sh*% People Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 I'm the White Elephant in the Room? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Ring on the Right Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Cruelest Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Meltdowns & Melanoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Fight or Flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Travel as Prozac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 (Not) Home for the Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Lost & Found in Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Thanks for the Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Striped Shirts & Epitaphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Waking Up in Havana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Heart-Shaped Gratitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

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