The Seed and the Sower
By (Author) Sir Laurens Van Der Post
Vintage Publishing
Vintage Classics
1st February 2002
3rd January 2002
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Second World War fiction
823
Paperback
240
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 14mm
171g
This is war as experienced in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java in 1942, but, above all, war as experienced in the company of the prisoners and oppressors. What follows is the story of two British officers whose spirit the Japanese try to break. Yet out of all the violence and misery strange bonds are forged between prisoners - and their gaolers. In a battle for survival that becomes a battle of contrasting wills and philosophies as the intensity of the men's relationships develop.
Laurens van der Post was born in Africa in 1906. Most of his adult life was spent his time divided between Africa and England. His professions of writer and farmer were interrupted by ten years in the army, behind enemy lines in Abyssinia, the Western Desert and the Far East where he was taken prisoner by the Japanese while commanding a small guerrilla unit. He went straight from prison back to active service in Java. He was awarded the CBE for his services in the field.