The Garret Tree
Sunday, April 06, 2008
A River Kwai Story published, available online
A River Kwai Story: The Sonkrai Tribunal was officially published on April 4, 2008 by Allan and Uwin in Australia. The publisher is distributing the book in Australia, New Zealand and parts of the western Pacific. Allan and Unwin also has non-exclusive rights to distribute the book in Asia.
So far I haven't been able to sell rights in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.
No matter, in the age of the Internet, the book is available online almost everywhere! (See below)
A River Kwai Story is a project that has taken almost eight years, but I was planning it for almost a decade, if not more, before that.
My father was a prisoner on the railway of death and so I heard his stories at the breakfast table. He also bought any book he could on the railway, most of the POW memoirs that were published following the success of David Lean's movie The Bridge on the River Kwai.
I really began work in the summer of 2000, when I was admitted to the interdisciplinary masters program at York University in Toronto.
Although my father was part of the group known as "H Force," when I was reading the memoirs my father had bought, I had a gut feeling that "F Force," the events at Sonkrai, was the key to understanding what happened on the Railway of Death. My gut feeling was confirmed when, as part of the interdisciplinary program, I began studying international humanitarian law and found out that the story of F Force not only had some of the most fascinating characters of the Second World War, but was also a little known but key case in the concept of command responsiblity for war crimes.
As I entered the second year of the part time program in September 2001 (I worked for CBC throughout the process and I am still working for CBC News) the attacks on September 11, and the subsequent events in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and Iraq made the story all the more relevant. While the Bush administration was denying that there was a strong legal definition of what constituted "inhuman treatment" of detainees, it was clear that every post-war case in the Far East, including the cases tried by the United States, clearly defined "inhuman treatment."
After I graduated from the MA program in the fall of 2003, I turned turning the academic thesis into a book. I thought it would take a year. It took four. There were delays in getting additional material to flesh out the academic thesis, to write the book as world events kept me busy at my job and then there were some delays in the production process at the Australian publisher.
Now it's available for you to read:
International orders for A River Kwai Story The Sonkrai Tribunal
Readers in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere can order A River Kwai Story through allbris, an online book store that consolidates orders from both online and "bricks and mortar" chain and independent bookstores.
The Asia Bookroom, in the Canberra suburb Macquarrie is an alibris affiliate, and that means readers can purchase A River Kwai Story through alibris and the Asia Bookroom.
In North America, go to alibris US to order A River Kwai Story.
In the United Kingdom, go to alibris UK to order A River Kwai Story.
The cost of the book as of April 6, 2008 (may vary due to currency fluctuations)
Canadian $49.56
US $46.69
UK £24.58
Alibris says delivery time is about three weeks.
Note despite the flag on the site, you are not ordering a used book. Asia Bookroom sells new books and, of course A River Kwai Story is brand new!
There is also a direct link to the alibris site from Google products.
Robin's other books
You can also get used copies of my earlier books through alibris.
In North America click here
In the United Kingdom click here
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, Iraq,F Force, Prisoner of War,
military tribunal, law, book
11:39 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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A River Kwai Story: The Sonkrai Tribunal was officially published on April 4, 2008 by Allan and Uwin in Australia. The publisher is distributing the book in Australia, New Zealand and parts of the western Pacific. Allan and Unwin also has non-exclusive rights to distribute the book in Asia.So far I haven't been able to sell rights in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.
No matter, in the age of the Internet, the book is available online almost everywhere! (See below)
A River Kwai Story is a project that has taken almost eight years, but I was planning it for almost a decade, if not more, before that.
My father was a prisoner on the railway of death and so I heard his stories at the breakfast table. He also bought any book he could on the railway, most of the POW memoirs that were published following the success of David Lean's movie The Bridge on the River Kwai.
I really began work in the summer of 2000, when I was admitted to the interdisciplinary masters program at York University in Toronto.
Although my father was part of the group known as "H Force," when I was reading the memoirs my father had bought, I had a gut feeling that "F Force," the events at Sonkrai, was the key to understanding what happened on the Railway of Death. My gut feeling was confirmed when, as part of the interdisciplinary program, I began studying international humanitarian law and found out that the story of F Force not only had some of the most fascinating characters of the Second World War, but was also a little known but key case in the concept of command responsiblity for war crimes.
As I entered the second year of the part time program in September 2001 (I worked for CBC throughout the process and I am still working for CBC News) the attacks on September 11, and the subsequent events in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and Iraq made the story all the more relevant. While the Bush administration was denying that there was a strong legal definition of what constituted "inhuman treatment" of detainees, it was clear that every post-war case in the Far East, including the cases tried by the United States, clearly defined "inhuman treatment."
After I graduated from the MA program in the fall of 2003, I turned turning the academic thesis into a book. I thought it would take a year. It took four. There were delays in getting additional material to flesh out the academic thesis, to write the book as world events kept me busy at my job and then there were some delays in the production process at the Australian publisher.
Now it's available for you to read:
International orders for A River Kwai Story The Sonkrai Tribunal
Readers in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere can order A River Kwai Story through allbris, an online book store that consolidates orders from both online and "bricks and mortar" chain and independent bookstores.The Asia Bookroom, in the Canberra suburb Macquarrie is an alibris affiliate, and that means readers can purchase A River Kwai Story through alibris and the Asia Bookroom.
In North America, go to alibris US to order A River Kwai Story.
In the United Kingdom, go to alibris UK to order A River Kwai Story.
The cost of the book as of April 6, 2008 (may vary due to currency fluctuations)
Canadian $49.56
US $46.69
UK £24.58
Alibris says delivery time is about three weeks.
Note despite the flag on the site, you are not ordering a used book. Asia Bookroom sells new books and, of course A River Kwai Story is brand new!
There is also a direct link to the alibris site from Google products.
Robin's other books
You can also get used copies of my earlier books through alibris.
In North America click here
In the United Kingdom click here
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, Iraq,F Force, Prisoner of War,
military tribunal, law, book
Labels: A River Kwai Story, Burma Thailand Railway, F Force, Geneva Convention, Guantanamo, Singapore, war crime, World War II, writing
11:39 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Sunday, March 09, 2008
John McCain on Japanese waterboarding
Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for president of the United States surprised me again tonight when he appeared on 60 Minutes and mentioned to interviewer Scott Pelley about how the Japanese used waterboarding during the Second World War.
In one way, I am not surprised, as the son of Second World War POW, abuse like that is of great interest to all who have that legacy and so it is no surprise that the Senator, who was, of course, a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, would have a strong interest in the subject.
But is, as far as I know, the firs time since the Second World War, that an American politician of McCain's stature has brought up the subject of Japanese waterboarding. It is certainly the first time that a presidential candidate has discussed Japanese waterboarding on a major network news show like 60 Minutes.
Here is the key quote:
You can read the complete 60 Minutes interview here
Here is my account of the infamous Double Tenth waterboarding case in Singapore in 1943.
I first blogged about Waterboarding is a War Crime in November 2005.
Despite the claims of U.S. officials, waterboarding is not an effective interrogation technique.
You can read the entire blog entry but here is the bottom line summary. British and Australian commandos raided Singapore harbour and successfully blew up ships. The Japanese secret police believed it was civilian internees who committed the sabotage.
So the Japanese tortured their suspects, who under water boarding, and other tortures confessed to taking part in a commando raid they knew nothing about.
Related link: An account of the waterboarding of American POWs by the Japanese during the Second World can be found here from Georgtown University.
Watch the 60 Minutes interview with Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain:
Now that Senator McCain has raised the issue, and raised it as part of the campaign, I hope that more people will take a closer look at how the Japanese decided to ignore the Geneva Convention and how the Far East war crimes trials dealt with the issue.
For me this is probably the most interesting U.S. presidential campaign in my lifetime. All three candidates have admirable qualities. (John McCain has also got good poilcies on climate change)
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, John McCain,F Force, Prisoner of War,military tribunal, torture, law, book, waterboarding, water torture, 60 Minutes, CBS,POW
11:27 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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In one way, I am not surprised, as the son of Second World War POW, abuse like that is of great interest to all who have that legacy and so it is no surprise that the Senator, who was, of course, a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, would have a strong interest in the subject.
But is, as far as I know, the firs time since the Second World War, that an American politician of McCain's stature has brought up the subject of Japanese waterboarding. It is certainly the first time that a presidential candidate has discussed Japanese waterboarding on a major network news show like 60 Minutes.
Here is the key quote:
Pelley asked him about American interrogation methods today. Asked if water boarding is torture, McCain said, "Sure. Yes. Without a doubt."
"So the United States has been torturing POWs?" Pelley asked.
"Yes. Scott, we prosecuted Japanese war criminals after World War II.
And one of the charges brought against them, for which they were convicted, was that they water-boarded Americans," McCain said.
You can read the complete 60 Minutes interview here
Here is my account of the infamous Double Tenth waterboarding case in Singapore in 1943.
I first blogged about Waterboarding is a War Crime in November 2005.
Despite the claims of U.S. officials, waterboarding is not an effective interrogation technique.
You can read the entire blog entry but here is the bottom line summary. British and Australian commandos raided Singapore harbour and successfully blew up ships. The Japanese secret police believed it was civilian internees who committed the sabotage.
So the Japanese tortured their suspects, who under water boarding, and other tortures confessed to taking part in a commando raid they knew nothing about.
Related link: An account of the waterboarding of American POWs by the Japanese during the Second World can be found here from Georgtown University.
Watch the 60 Minutes interview with Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain:
Now that Senator McCain has raised the issue, and raised it as part of the campaign, I hope that more people will take a closer look at how the Japanese decided to ignore the Geneva Convention and how the Far East war crimes trials dealt with the issue.
For me this is probably the most interesting U.S. presidential campaign in my lifetime. All three candidates have admirable qualities. (John McCain has also got good poilcies on climate change)
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, John McCain,F Force, Prisoner of War,military tribunal, torture, law, book, waterboarding, water torture, 60 Minutes, CBS,POW
Labels: A River Kwai Story, Burma Thailand Railway, CBS, climate change, Geneva Convention, Guantanamo, Japan, John McCain, Singapore, torture, war crime, water torture, waterboarding, World War II
11:27 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Kwai, photography updates
A couple of updates:
Promotion for A River Kwai Story, from my agent Waterside Productions.
Photography
Third place, Feature photography, Clips contest for November 2007, from the Eastern division of the News Photographers Association of Canada.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, F Force, Prisoner of War, military tribunal, photography, book
9:48 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Promotion for A River Kwai Story, from my agent Waterside Productions.
Australian publishers Allan and Unwin will reveal the long-held secrets of the River Kwai Story in their April 2008 publication of A River Kwai Story, The Sonkrai Tribunal by Waterside Author Robin Rowland.According to the author, more prisoners of war died at Sonkrai than any other camp on the infamous River Kwai Railway. The seven thousand Australian and British prisoners of war who comprised F Force were sent by the Japanese to build the toughest section of the railway in the mountains between Thailand and Burma. More than three thousand people died from slave labour, disease, starvation and exposure to the never-ending monsoon rain.
In 1946 seven former guards from the infamous River Kwai camp were put on trial for their lives before a military tribunal in Singapore, charged with the deaths of more than three thousand people. The account of the trial tells for the first time the story of F Force from all sides-Australian, British and Japanese-from the lowest private to the lieutenant colonels in command. The testimony, verdict and the surprise sentence shed new light on what really happened on the Railway of Death.
A River Kwai Story, The Sonkrai Tribunal is much more than a story of the infamous Railway of Death during the Second World War. The book is about the fairness of military tribunals/trials/commissions in cases where there are atrocities and heavy loss of life. As the United States begins trials of alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, the reader discovers that the story of the River Kwai, known best through David Lean’s Oscar winning movie starring Alec Guinness and William Holden, is as relevant as tonight’s evening news, for the events on that railway led to military tribunals with almost the same rules of evidence and the same charges of unfair proceedings as are the trials now on at “Gitmo.”
Photography
Third place, Feature photography, Clips contest for November 2007, from the Eastern division of the News Photographers Association of Canada.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, F Force, Prisoner of War, military tribunal, photography, book
Labels: A River Kwai Story, Allen and Unwin, Burma Thailand Railway, photography, photojournalism, writing
9:48 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
My microcareer in videogames
When you've got a book coming out you Google yourself a little more frequently just to see what's happening out there.
That's how I found out today that my very brief career in videogames actually resulted in a game called Maabus. Somehow the reference showed up in the second page of my Google search.
Back in the winter of 1993, I was freelancing, mainly as an underpaid casual writer at CTV News and so I was always on the lookout for other work. And that's how I came to be working for a CD duplicating company in Toronto called MicroForum that wanted to move from manufacturing into actual production.
I was hired to write a scenario for a game, where earth was threatened some mysterious force.
Here is the blurb and it is pretty close (as far as I remember) to what I wrote:
So I handed in the scenario, got paid and that was the last I heard about it, until today,more than 15 years later.
Now, thanks to Google, I find myself on a game review site called Moby Games, as a game developer!
(There's nothing there right, but I certainly intend to update it)
I never even got a copy of the game. (So I just bought a used copy on EBay.)
When PC Gamer reviewed the final product, it said:" On the box Maabus comes in, Microforum calls it both "the ultimate videogame" and "the ultimate adventure" - and that's a good clue to what's wrong with it. Maabus tries to be two things at once, and it succeeds at neither." The sort of thing you'd expect for a first effort (for both me and the company)
But it appears that the music is quite catchy and that's why the "Maabus Trailer" been posted on YouTube.
From the comments it appears that the song is much more popular than the game itself!
The credits say the music for the game was created by Maurizio Guarini and Steve Convery, but the trailer, according to the YouTube the credit for theTrailer for "Maabus" by Monolith Productions, taken from Softkey's "Game Empire" disc.
(It appears that it was an early effort by the Monolith Productions, now part of the Warner empire.)
So it's unclear where the song came from. I'll update when I get the CDs!
Technorati tags
writing, games, Maabus,
9:43 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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That's how I found out today that my very brief career in videogames actually resulted in a game called Maabus. Somehow the reference showed up in the second page of my Google search.Back in the winter of 1993, I was freelancing, mainly as an underpaid casual writer at CTV News and so I was always on the lookout for other work. And that's how I came to be working for a CD duplicating company in Toronto called MicroForum that wanted to move from manufacturing into actual production.
I was hired to write a scenario for a game, where earth was threatened some mysterious force.
Here is the blurb and it is pretty close (as far as I remember) to what I wrote:
The year is 1999.
A mysterious new form of radiation is threatening life as we know it on Earth.
... On a small tropical island, 1500 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Pacific, something sinister is going on...
Rumors abound: monstrous mutants, alien fiends, and inexplicable phenomena. Is this the malicious plot of a hostile country? Or does the threat originate from some extra-terrestrial power?
Many research teams have gone in... not a living soul has ever come out!
Now as the last hope, the military has turned to you to crack the mystery and save the world from impending devastation. Your mission is to explore the island with the aid of a highly advanced computerized robot and an arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons. You must investigate uncharted tropical terrain, examine and analyze clues to seek out and destroy the source of this Evil. It will take all of your courage, skills and wits. And remember...
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!
Now, thanks to Google, I find myself on a game review site called Moby Games, as a game developer!
(There's nothing there right, but I certainly intend to update it)
I never even got a copy of the game. (So I just bought a used copy on EBay.)
When PC Gamer reviewed the final product, it said:" On the box Maabus comes in, Microforum calls it both "the ultimate videogame" and "the ultimate adventure" - and that's a good clue to what's wrong with it. Maabus tries to be two things at once, and it succeeds at neither." The sort of thing you'd expect for a first effort (for both me and the company)
But it appears that the music is quite catchy and that's why the "Maabus Trailer" been posted on YouTube.
From the comments it appears that the song is much more popular than the game itself!
The credits say the music for the game was created by Maurizio Guarini and Steve Convery, but the trailer, according to the YouTube the credit for theTrailer for "Maabus" by Monolith Productions, taken from Softkey's "Game Empire" disc.
(It appears that it was an early effort by the Monolith Productions, now part of the Warner empire.)
So it's unclear where the song came from. I'll update when I get the CDs!
Technorati tags
writing, games, Maabus,
Labels: game, Maabus, Toronto, videogame, writing
9:43 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Kwai, Afghanistan links
A couple of quick links.
Front Line
An audio slideshow for CBC.ca with photographs from a forward operating base in Afghanistan by award winning photographer Louie Palu.
Front Line
Photography and audio by Louie Palu
Reporter/editor James Cudmore
Producer Robin Rowland
Cecil Brett
Cecil Brett is one of the key characters in A River Kwai Story. Brett was the intelligence officer who wrote the official analysis and history of the Burma Thailand Railway at the end of the Second World War. Brett was a Canadian intelligence officer assigned to a special allied unit in South East Asia.
From 1963 to his retirement in 1983, Brett was a professor at Monmouth College in Illinois.
Here is a mention of A River Kwai Story from the Monmouth College faculty Pipeline for Jan. 19-25. The page is not archived so here is what it says:
9:47 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Front Line
An audio slideshow for CBC.ca with photographs from a forward operating base in Afghanistan by award winning photographer Louie Palu. Front Line
Photography and audio by Louie Palu
Reporter/editor James Cudmore
Producer Robin Rowland
Cecil Brett
Cecil Brett is one of the key characters in A River Kwai Story. Brett was the intelligence officer who wrote the official analysis and history of the Burma Thailand Railway at the end of the Second World War. Brett was a Canadian intelligence officer assigned to a special allied unit in South East Asia.
From 1963 to his retirement in 1983, Brett was a professor at Monmouth College in Illinois.
Here is a mention of A River Kwai Story from the Monmouth College faculty Pipeline for Jan. 19-25. The page is not archived so here is what it says:
Cecil Brett featured in new book
A former faculty member's pre-Monmouth College experiences are featured in Robin Rowland's new book, "A River Kwai Story: The Sonkrai Tribunal."
Cecil Brett, who taught government and history at Monmouth from 1963 to 1983 and was director of the East Asian Studies program, also did post-World War II intelligence work on the Burma Thailand Railway, which Rowland says is a "significant part" of his book, which will be released in Australia this April.
In a communication to the college, Rowland thanked MC history professor Stacy Cordery for her help in his research.
9:47 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Thursday, December 20, 2007
A River Kwai Story progress report
A brief pre-Christmas progress report on A River Kwai Story The Sonkrai Tribunal.
I spent the first couple of weeks of December going through what were once called (and perhaps still are in some ways) "the galleys." In the old days the galleys were the proofs were the long sheets of paper taken off long rows of metal ("hot") type. Later the galleys were the proofs that came out of some sort of electronic typesetting system.
These days it is Adobe's Acrobat system that is the standard, the complete book (all 6.5 megabytes) came to me by e-mail as a pdf attachment for that final check.
So it is now off to the printers (although the book won't be officially out until April, this was a good time to fit into the production schedule.
There is growing pre-publication interest in the book, with my agent looking at an offer for Asian English language rights and United Kingdom rights. Now perhaps an North American publisher will be interested as well.
I appeared live on BBC Radio Five this week (live from a CBC studio in Toronto) at 10:30 pm Toronto time, 3:30 am in the UK, for a 20-odd minute interview with Up All Night's host Rhod Sharp where we explored both the historic aspects of A River Kwai Story and the modern implications.
There is, unfortunately, no podcast of the show, and the onsite "aircheck" expired on Dec. 26.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, Iraq,F Force, Prisoner of War,
military tribunal, law, book
10:02 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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A brief pre-Christmas progress report on A River Kwai Story The Sonkrai Tribunal.
I spent the first couple of weeks of December going through what were once called (and perhaps still are in some ways) "the galleys." In the old days the galleys were the proofs were the long sheets of paper taken off long rows of metal ("hot") type. Later the galleys were the proofs that came out of some sort of electronic typesetting system.
These days it is Adobe's Acrobat system that is the standard, the complete book (all 6.5 megabytes) came to me by e-mail as a pdf attachment for that final check.
So it is now off to the printers (although the book won't be officially out until April, this was a good time to fit into the production schedule.
There is growing pre-publication interest in the book, with my agent looking at an offer for Asian English language rights and United Kingdom rights. Now perhaps an North American publisher will be interested as well.
I appeared live on BBC Radio Five this week (live from a CBC studio in Toronto) at 10:30 pm Toronto time, 3:30 am in the UK, for a 20-odd minute interview with Up All Night's host Rhod Sharp where we explored both the historic aspects of A River Kwai Story and the modern implications.
There is, unfortunately, no podcast of the show, and the onsite "aircheck" expired on Dec. 26.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, Burma Thailand Railway, World War II, Iraq,F Force, Prisoner of War,
military tribunal, law, book
Labels: A River Kwai Story, BBC, Burma Thailand Railway, CBC, Geneva Convention, Guantanamo, Japan, Singapore, war crime, World War II, writing
10:02 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
A big cross border camera rip off
At this moment the Canadian dollar has fallen back even with the United States dollar.
One US greenback may no longer be worth $1.10 Cdn, as it was when a friend of mine was up from New York a couple of weeks ago but it's at PAR. $1=$1.
So how's this for yet another big cross-border rip off.
I really like my new Sony A700 camera. Not so sure about Sony.
And the one additional feature that most A700 users want is the vertical grip, that is just that a vertical grip --but it also has space for two batteries.
The manufacturers list price has been $399.99 in Canada and $349.99 in the US.
It isn't any more.
Sony US is selling the vertical grip through Sonystyle.com at $249 and giving US customers free shipping up until December 31.
Here's the page from the US Sony style site,
but in Canada it is still $399.99 and no free shipping through the Great White North.
Here's the Canadian URL
And just for the record at the moment $1 Cdn = 111.04 Yen, $1 US =111.11 Yen. Not much of a difference is there???
Technorati tags
photography, Sony, Alpha 700, Canadian dollar
11:04 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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At this moment the Canadian dollar has fallen back even with the United States dollar.
One US greenback may no longer be worth $1.10 Cdn, as it was when a friend of mine was up from New York a couple of weeks ago but it's at PAR. $1=$1.
So how's this for yet another big cross-border rip off.
I really like my new Sony A700 camera. Not so sure about Sony.
And the one additional feature that most A700 users want is the vertical grip, that is just that a vertical grip --but it also has space for two batteries.
The manufacturers list price has been $399.99 in Canada and $349.99 in the US.
It isn't any more.Sony US is selling the vertical grip through Sonystyle.com at $249 and giving US customers free shipping up until December 31.
Here's the page from the US Sony style site,
but in Canada it is still $399.99 and no free shipping through the Great White North.
Here's the Canadian URL
And just for the record at the moment $1 Cdn = 111.04 Yen, $1 US =111.11 Yen. Not much of a difference is there???
Technorati tags
photography, Sony, Alpha 700, Canadian dollar
Labels: Ajpha 700, Canada, dollar, Minolta, photography, photojournalism, Sony, United States
11:04 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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