Charles G. Roland is Jason A. Hannah Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
``This is a meticulously researched book using interviews,
archives, libraries and other writings. The mammoth task of
collecting this scattered material and sifting it was conducted
over twenty years....Roland's simple story of the common man,
coping with adversity, shows that humanity at its best will always
overcome its common frailties.'' -- C.P.W. Warren, University of
Manitoba -- Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, Vol 19 No 2,
2002, 200310
``Few historians had admitted what Roland proves so conclusively:
that the story of Allied servicemen captured in Hong Kong is
explicitly a medical story, and that their captivity experiences
can best be understood by exploring them from a medical
perspective....The result is a compelling account which sensitively
yet graphically documents the agonies endured by Allied prisoners
in Japanese captivity....Roland...has culled archives in Australia,
Canada, Hong Kong, Britain, the United States, and Singapore,
supplementing that material with interviews with former prisoners
and published and unpublished memoirs....Such extensive source
material, and such a nuanced and convincing argument, guarantees
that Long Night's Journey into Day will be the authoritative source
on the subject for many years to come.'' -- University of Manitoba
-- Canadian Military History, Book Review Supplement, Spring 2001,
200110
``A welcome and excellent addition to the small literay resource
available....Considering the extraordinarily difficult
circumstances in which these [prisoners] lived, these records are a
tribute to their fortitude and determination.'' -- Geoffrey Gill,
Liverpoool School of Tropical Medicine -- Medical History, Vol 46
No 4, October 2002, 200210
``This is a story of disease and starvation, and its direct impact
on POW survival rates. It is a gruesome story, punctuated with
moments of comedy and pathos. Above all, it is a story of
unstinting dedication by the medial officers and the hospital
orderlies who performed heroic tasks in such demanding
environments. The array of primary sources fomr Australia, Canada,
Great Britain, Hong Kong, and the United States is indeed
impressive. Of particular note, is the vast amount of hitherto
unknown or unused clinical analyses produced in the immediate
postwar period, which provide invaluable insights into the medical
side of POW lfe. Another useful source that Roland should be
congratulated on are the scores of interviews he has conducted with
ex-POWs and civilian internees over the past twenty-five years. For
these accounts provide a raw edge to a growing litany of horrifying
POW experiences.'' -- Geoffrey Gill, Liverpoool School of Tropical
Medicine -- Military History, Vol 66 No 2, April 2002, 200210
``Roland draws upon hundreds of interviews with former POWs, as
well as archival material from around the world to detail and
document the extreme conditions that the prisoners were compelled
by their captors to endure. Long Night's Journey into Day is an
essential, core title for any serious World War II studies
reference collection.'' -- Liverpoool School of Tropical Medicine
-- Wisconsin Bookwatch, October 2001, 200210
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