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South By Java Head
''South by Java Head'' is the third novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and was first published in 1958. MacLean's personal experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II provided part of the basis for the story. Plot introduction The story is set in February 1942, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Singapore. As the British stronghold of Singapore falls to the invading Imperial Japanese Army, a mixed collection of soldiers, nurses, fleeing civilians, a small boy, and at least one spy attempt to escape the burning city aboard the ''Kerry Dancer'', a battered freighter crewed by a disreputable captain and sailors. The ''Kerry Dancer'' is crippled by Japanese aircraft, and the refugees are rescued by the ''Viroma'', a tanker also fleeing Singapore; however, the ''Viroma'' is also sunk by the Japanese, and the survivors take to open boats on the open sea. Led by stalwart First Officer John Nicholson, they attempt to flee to safety across the South Chin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean (; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The Guns of Navarone'' (1957) and '' Ice Station Zebra'' (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film ''Where Eagles Dare'', which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. According to one obituary, MacLean "never lost his love for the sea, his talent for portraying good Brits against bad Germans, or his penchant for high melodrama. Critics deplored his cardboard characters and vapid females, but readers loved his combination of hot ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Singapore
The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South–East Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence strategy. The capture of Singapore resulted in the largest British surrender in history. Before the battle, Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita had advanced with approximately 30,000 men down the Malayan Peninsula in the Malayan campaign. The British erroneously considered the jungle terrain impassable, leading to a swift Japanese advance as Allied defences were quickly outflanked. The British Lieutenant-General, Arthur Percival, commanded 85,000 Allied troops at Singapore, although many units were under-strength and most units lacked experience. The British outnumbered the Japanese but mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiction Set In 1942
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with fact, history, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, fiction refers to written narratives in prose often specifically novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition and theory Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly expressed, so the audience expects a work of fiction to deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the real world, rather than presenting for instance only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood as not adhering to the real world, the them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novels Set During World War II
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and Publication, published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning 'new'. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek novel, Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval Chivalric romance, and the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel. Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, and John Cowper Powys, preferred the term Romance (literary fiction) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novels By Alistair MacLean
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning 'new'. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval Chivalric romance, and the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel. Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, and John Cowper Powys, preferred the term ''romance''. Such romances should not be confused with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1958 British Novels
Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles. ** Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls towards Earth from its orbit and burns up. * January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol. * January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the " Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C. February * February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic. * February 2 – The ''Falcons'' aerobatic team of the Pakistan Air Force led by Wg Cdr Mitty Masud set a world record performing a 16 aircraft diamond loop in F-86 Sabres. 30,000 people àre in attendance including Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Boehm
Sydney Boehm (April 4, 1908 – June 25, 1990) was an American screenwriter and producer. Boehm began his writing career as a newswriter for wire services and newspapers before moving on to screenwriting. His films include '' High Wall'' (1947), Anthony Mann-directed ''Side Street'' (1950), the sci-fi film ''When Worlds Collide'' (1951), and the crime drama ''The Big Heat'' (1953), for which Boehm won a 1954 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Boehm was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 4, 1908, and died in Woodland Hills, California on June 25, 1990, at age 82. Partial filmography * ''A Guy Named Joe'' (1944) * '' Knickerbocker Holiday'' (1944) * '' High Wall'' (1947) * ''Side Street'' (1950) * '' Mystery Street'' (1950) * '' Branded'' (1950) * ''Union Station'' (1950) * ''When Worlds Collide'' (1951) * ''The Atomic City'' (1952) * '' The Savage'' (1952) * ''The Big Heat'' (1953) * '' Second Chance'' (1953) * '' Secret of the Incas'' (1954) * '' Siege at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. In the BFI, British Film Institute listing of 1999 of BFI Top 100 British films, the 100 most important British films of the 20th century, he was the single most noted actor, represented across nine films — six in starring roles and three in supporting roles — including five directed by David Lean and four from Ealing Studios. He won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Golden Globe and a Tony Award. In 1959, he was Knight Bachelor, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980 and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 1989. Guinness began his stage career in 1934. Two years later, at the age of 22, he played the role of Characters in Hamlet#Osric, Osric in ''Haml ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Adler
E. Maurice "Buddy" Adler (June 22, 1906 – July 12, 1960) was an American film producer and production head for 20th Century Fox studios. In 1954, his production of '' From Here to Eternity'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture and in 1956, his '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' was nominated for best picture. Adler also produced the 1956 film ''Bus Stop'', starring Marilyn Monroe. Biography Adler was born in New York City in 1906 (some references have listed his birth year as 1908 or 1909) with "Buddy" as his childhood nickname. His family ran a small chain of department stores and Adler did advertising copy for the chain. He began writing short stories in his spare time and published them under the name "Bradley Allen". In 1936 he moved to Hollywood where he wrote the Pete Smith short features for MGM. He wrote the screenplay for the short documentary film '' Quicker'n a Wink'', which won an Oscar in 1940. He also owned a small string of movie showhouses, called the Hitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Fuchs
Daniel Fuchs (June 25, 1909 – July 26, 1993) was an American screenwriter, fiction writer, and essayist. Biography Daniel Fuchs was born to a Jewish family on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, but his family moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn while Fuchs was an infant. He wrote three early novels, published by the Vanguard Press — ''Summer in Williamsburg'' (1934), ''Homage to Blenholt'' (1936), and ''Low Company'' (1937). The earlier two of these depicted Jewish life in Williamsburg; the last focused on various ethnic types in Brighton Beach. A single-volume edition of these was published by Basic Books in 1965 under the title "Three Novels." Subsequent one-volume editions include ''The Brooklyn Novels,'' with an introduction by the novelist Jonathan Lethem, published in 2006 by Black Sparrow Books, an imprint of David R. Godine, Publisher. ''Homage to Blenholt'' concerns a well-meaning tenement ''schlemiel'' who hopes to escape poverty via various inventions and get-rich qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan Island, Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around . It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, the Java Sea via the Karimata Strait, Karimata and Bangka Straits and directly with Gulf of Thailand. The Gulf of Tonkin is part of the South China Sea. $3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion Maritime transport, maritime shipping passed through South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of world's commercial fishing in 2010. The South China Sea Islands, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during the Meiji period, fought in numerous conflicts including the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and World War II, and became a dominant force in Japanese politics. Initially formed from domain armies after the Meiji Restoration, it evolved into a powerful modern military influenced by French and German models. The IJA was responsible for several overseas military campaigns, including the invasion of Manchuria, involvement in the Boxer Rebellion, and fighting across the Asia-Pacific during the Pacific War. Notorious for committing widespread Japanese war crimes, war crimes, the army was dissolved after Japan's surrender in 1945, and its functions were succeeded by the Japan Ground Self-D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
