This book was written basically to demonstrate the procedures that Sgt Peter Trunce used in trying to get refugees safely out of Burma and away from the Japanese during World War II. Some of these refugees were their own worst enemies. They died because of their own foolish mistakes, lack of reason and discipline, and lack of knowledge. It was obvious from the letter he wrote that Sgt Trunce had much compassion for the people he was there to help.

A firsthand account of a WWII special forces unit in Burma—a tale of “small triumphs, blunders, and . . . sudden and unpleasant death in the rainforest.” —Chicago TribuneIn early 1942, with World War II going badly, President Roosevelt turned to General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, now known as the “Father of Central Intelligence,” with orders to form a special unit whose primary mission was to prepare for the eventual reopening of the Burma Road linking B...

After the brutal suppression of an unarmed national uprising, which cost thousands of lives, Rory MacLean seized the chance to visit Burma. Travelling from Rangoon to Mandalay and Pagan, into the heart of the Golden Triangle, he heard stories of freedom fighters, government censors, basket weavers, farmers and lovers -- ordinary people struggling to survive under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in the world. He met Aung San Suu Kyi, the most courageous woman of our time and t...

The ceremonious protocol of the Yills was impressive, colorful, and, in the long run, deadly! It was up to Jame Retief to figure out how to respond to the Yill's overtures in the correct manner; all the while keeping his superiors from making a deadly mistake. Only one man could think quickly enough to get the job done!

The antique Silk Road that connected the Chinese and Mediterranean Worlds for more than a millennium, facilitating the exchange of both goods and cultures, is widely known and celebrated. Less familiar is its more southerly equivalent, the ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ that once linked the lush gardens of southwest China with the frigid wastelands of Tibet and – beyond – the torrid plains of northern India. The latter is also sometimes called the ‘Southern Silk Road’, though this is something o...

The essay describes the experience of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so against his better judgment, his anguish increased by the elephant's slow and painful death. After all, as he writes, he kills the animal 'solely to avoid looking a fool'.The story is regarded as a metaphor for British imperialism, and for Orwell's view that...

A blind obsession. A driving ambition. A relentless, unrestrained, single-minded pursuit of a shiny metal. These are the symptoms of a condition known as gold fever, and, like Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, American mining engineer Captain Humbert Reynolds has got it bad.Possible side effects include: temporary insanity, a propensity for violence, and death.The search for gold has taken Reynolds from the ruins of the Yucatan to the mountains of Ecuador to the w...

Until a few weeks before the fall of Rangoon, the British had not dreamt the Japanese would invade Burma. So in early 1942, British soldiers trained for desert warfare fought a Japanese Army trained and equipped for the jungle. Those who survived this fierce fighting faced malaria, air attack, and lack of food and water, on the long walk out through the Valley of Death. Ragged groups of soldiers and civilians were forced to trek out of Burma through some of the most inhosp...

Do you fumble when someone mentions Belarus. Or even have trouble placing Belgium on the World Map. Worry no longer. Here is a system that will place in your mind all the countries of Europe through an easy mnemonic based system. Know the Region of the World. Know the Countries. Know the mnemonic sentence. And you are the master of all you survey.This is a unique way to draw the World Map. Simple straight lines are drawn to separate the countries. Then a few countries are taken at ...

Under a Lucky Star is the autobiography—the lifetime of adventure—of the explorer and archaeologist Roy Chapman Andrews. Adored by the public and pursued by the press, Andrews came as close to superstar status in the 1920s as any explorer of the twentieth century. Much of Under a Lucky Star focuses on his grandest adventure, the Central Asiatic Expeditions, a series of five daring journeys into uncharted expanses of the Gobi Desert that produced a previously unknown treasure-trove of dinos...

The true story of a soldier who survived Japanese capture, a sinking hell ship, and the bombing of Nagasaki, all while his family fought their own battle in the Burmese jungle.While leading an attack on Hong Kong's Golden Hill, Jack Devereux of the Royal Scots is shot through the head. Then a Japanese officer attempts to behead him in order to blood his samurai sword. Waking briefly, Devereux kills his would-be executioner, impressing his captors. Fascinated by thei...