Prisoner of the Samurai: Surviving the Sinking of the USS Houston and the Death Railway
Language: English
Published by Casemate, 2018
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Jeff Stark, Barstow, CA, U.S.A.Jeff Stark
AbeBooks seller since June 30, 2003
Condition: Used - Fine
£ 4.94
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Bright and fine jacket and book with no wear or markings - looks new. Illustrated section. Jacket is tan with POW photo on cover of dj.
Seller Inventory # 062254
- Title
- Prisoner of the Samurai: Surviving the Sinking of the USS Houston and the Death Railway
- Author
- Gee, James; Smith, Rosalie H.
- Publisher
- Casemate
- Publication year
- 2018
- Condition
- Fine
- Dust jacket
- Fine
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1612005977
- ISBN 13
- 9781612005973
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Dimensions
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall
At first, assignments in Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines―whilst instructing him in the rough and tumble of crew life―were free of encounters with the enemy. But then in 1942 the Houston was first attacked during the battle of the Flores Sea and subsequently sunk by the Japanese fleet during the battle of the Java Sea. Witnessing the last moments of the great ship, Gee survived a prolonged period in the sea clinging to a makeshift raft, before being picked up by a Japanese ship. But this was just the beginning of his ordeal.
Initially held prisoner in Java and forced to load and unload enemy ships, he was then transferred to Burma where he worked on the notorious “death railway,” living on the banks of the River Kwai. Those who survived the hard labor and harsh conditions there would be sent on to Thailand, then Singapore before arriving in Japan in 1945. There, they spent the last few months of the war working in coal mines just 40 miles outside Nagasaki. The dire circumstances of Gee’s incarceration were only overcome through the compassion and companionship of fellow detainees and his determination to endure.
After his liberation, he was sent to Guantanamo Bay Naval Hospital, Cuba. There, he encountered Rosalie Hamric Smith R.N., who was serving as Charge Nurse in the Psychiatric Ward, and who helped him to record his experiences as part of his treatment. Rosalie worked his accounts into a manuscript which, following her sudden death, languished in an attic for over thirty years. Now rediscovered, James Gee’s incredible story can be told to a new generation.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
As a nurse at the end of World War II, Rosalie H. Smith worked with liberated prisoners of war and helped them record their experiences as part of their recovery. She wove together James Gee’s detailed memoirs to tell his entire story.
Allyson Smith rediscovered her mother’s account of James Gee’s experiences in World War II after Rosalie’s death. She subsequently researched and edited the manuscript, to bring it to a wider audience.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Rare, old, out-of-print, first editions, autographed, americana, documents, letters, early imprints, unusualSeller's business information
Jeff Stark
CA, U.S.A.
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