The Naked Island
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
One of the most harrowing and unflinching accounts to emerge from the Second World War, The Naked Island chronicles the brutal experiences of Russell Braddon as a prisoner of war under the Japanese, from the catastrophic fall of Singapore in 1942 to the savage conditions endured within the infamous Changi Prison Camp and along the Burma-Thailand Railway. Braddon recounts with raw, unsparing honesty the starvation, disease, forced labour, and daily degradation suffered by thousands of Allied prisoners, bearing witness to both the worst of human cruelty and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. Illustrated with haunting drawings made clandestinely inside Changi Prison Camp by the renowned artist Ronald Searle, the narrative gains a visceral, documentary power that transcends the written word alone. A cornerstone of Australian war literature, The Naked Island stands as a testament to national identity forged in suffering, capturing the larrikin courage and dark humour that defined the Australian soldier even in the most desperate of circumstances. Braddon's prose is direct and unadorned, carrying the authority of lived experience rather than the detachment of historical observation, and his account remains as morally urgent today as when it was first published. For anyone who wishes to understand what the Pacific War truly cost its survivors — body, mind, and soul — this book demands to be read.
Author: Russell Braddon
Format: Hardback
Genre: WW2
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
One of the most harrowing and unflinching accounts to emerge from the Second World War, The Naked Island chronicles the brutal experiences of Russell Braddon as a prisoner of war under the Japanese, from the catastrophic fall of Singapore in 1942 to the savage conditions endured within the infamous Changi Prison Camp and along the Burma-Thailand Railway. Braddon recounts with raw, unsparing honesty the starvation, disease, forced labour, and daily degradation suffered by thousands of Allied prisoners, bearing witness to both the worst of human cruelty and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. Illustrated with haunting drawings made clandestinely inside Changi Prison Camp by the renowned artist Ronald Searle, the narrative gains a visceral, documentary power that transcends the written word alone. A cornerstone of Australian war literature, The Naked Island stands as a testament to national identity forged in suffering, capturing the larrikin courage and dark humour that defined the Australian soldier even in the most desperate of circumstances. Braddon's prose is direct and unadorned, carrying the authority of lived experience rather than the detachment of historical observation, and his account remains as morally urgent today as when it was first published. For anyone who wishes to understand what the Pacific War truly cost its survivors — body, mind, and soul — this book demands to be read.