The Bridge Over The River Kwai shows 'saving face' can be as vitally important to the British as it is to the Japanese.
After an endless march, thousands of Allied POWs captured by the Japanese in the jungles of Burma and Siam reach the River Kwai, where Imperial Army General Saito instructs them to build the longest bridge on the line, linking two sections of railway from The Bay of Bengal to Singapore.
British Colonel Nicholson steadfastly commands the POWs, insisting they wear regulation uniforms and wielding an upright dignity to emphasize superiority. General Saito insists Nicholson work alongside his men, but is soon disabused of this, when the prisoners consistently sabotage plans and equipment. With inadequate nutrition, jungle diseases run rampant amongst the men who haven't succumbed to the brutal Japanese guards. Nicholson sets out to prove British supremacy by taking control, and ensuring the bridge be built to withstand time itself.
If only they knew British Force 136 had been working with the Siamese anti-Japanese underground movement. Agents on ground reconnaissance marched for days through the jungle, enduring fire ants and leeches to reach the river. The plan is enacted: packing the supports with explosives to detonate when the first train from Bangkok crosses - loaded with munitions, troops, and high-ranking Japanese Generals.
This easily moves between the POW's and the saboteurs, building to an exciting climax - although, a very different ending from the celebrated film. Colonel Nicholson is the epitome of principled British character, unwavering to his own detriment. This is a Man's novel, featuring no sign of a female character. Tense and exciting, this is a truly enjoyable classic.
Author Pierre Boulle was with the French Army in Indochina in WWII, serving as a secret agent in Singapore, and sent to help resistance movements in Burma. Captured and subjected to forced labour in 1943, he escaped to join Force 136 in Calcutta.
Boulle based the fictional Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï (The Bridge Over The River Kwai), on the real plight of Allied POWs forced to build the 415 km railway (the 'Death Railway'), killing 116,000 during construction.
The 1957 film directed by David Lean (renamed The Bridge On The River Kwai) is now recognized as one of the greatest films ever made. The highest grossing film of the year, it won 7 Oscars (including Best Picture, Best Actor Alec Guinness, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Boulle, despite not having written it).
1952 / Paperback / 192 pages
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