Lost Souls of the River Kwai: Experiences of a British Soldier on the Railway of Death

by Bill Reed, Mitch Peeke

This is the moving story of a young man who found himself along with thousands of his comrades in the nightmare of Japanese captivity. Unlike so many (it is said that one Commonwealth POW died for every sleeper laid) Bill lived to tell the tale. Indeed it is remarkable that this story has not been told before, so graphic are Bill's memories of the hardships and horrors. The book goes on to describe how the experiences of those years have affected his life since.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir, World War II, War

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth memoir (sad but true) from the lips of one man who survived the horror of being a Japanese POW during WWII.

I am glad to have read this book to know the true story behind the Hollywood-story that gave us the 1957 Academy Award winning movie ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’. Film historians might be interested to know of this book.

Clearly history teaches human beings nothing; they don’t learn from the past, nor do they try not to repeat it.

[Becca Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible, if not shocking insight into the prisoner of war camps in Japan. Something that everyone should read to ensure such atrocities are not repeated.

[Soon Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving real story about survival of world war 2 British soldiers under Japanese Imperial Army captivity.

[Oliver Hepburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short review, but I thought Bill’s account of the War was quite endearing. The writing style of the author makes it such a pleasurable and easy book to read. The actual content, believe it or not, is not particularly astonishing or out of the ordinary for the men who were unlucky enough to be taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore, Burma, and Malaya. Over 100,000 allied POWs ended up working for the Japanese on the Burma-Siam Railway, a ghastly figure when you realise what they all had to go through. The fact that Bill’s experience was a common one really highlights the level of brutality these poor men faced in captivity. Overall a great story of life building the ‘Death Railway’. Definitely one to recommend.