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TO END ALL WARS

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This account of how a young Scot, captured by the Japanese in April, 1942, managed to survive the brutal treatment accorded POWs under Japan's control has endured long after Ernest Gordon's imprisonment ended, and will continue to endure and influence readers for more years to come. This book, originally published over 40 years ago, was one of the sources for the highly popular movie of that era, "Bridge Over the River Kwai," and the more recent "To End All Wars."

Some parts of this book are very difficult to read as Gordon, a Captain in a Scottish regiment, spares no detail as he relates the physical trauma, the diseases, the wretched conditions imposed by their captors and the senseless, sometimes unbelievable treatment by the guards of their captives . How to survive this vertiable hell hole? As he notes, without some sort of discipline and some moral compass for guidance, many men gave up hope and died. But Gordon found within the prison camp two people who selflessly gave of themselves when Gordon was literally at death's door to help restore him to physical health, of people who washed his sores, encouraged, prodded, and inspired. Through the faith of these two, one a Methodist, the other a Roman Catholic, Gordon reinvestigated the New Testament and from that learned and acted out the commandment to "love others", even including the brutal Japanese guards, as he would love himself. Using these simple teachings of love, encouragement, and selfless help to your neighbor, Gordon and others in the various camps were able to overcome the horrific conditions under which they existed. The melding of the spiritual and the discipline of order, neatness, and cooperation saw the POWs triumph over the evil of the system under which they existed.

The first part of the book describing Gordon's efforts to escape--he and others bought a sailing vessel that managed to get them half way to Ceylon--is an exciting read in itself. The second half, the journey into hell and return, is thought provoking and inspiring. It is also difficult for those who served in the Pacific theater, as I did, as to how and if I would have survived if I had had to bail out over Japan and was imprisoned. A sobering thought that one does not want to revisit for long.

Gordon came home to Scotland, entered the ministry, and served for many years as Dean of the Chapel, Princeton University. May he Rest in Peace.

While Earnest Gordon's story contains enough description of the atrocities inflicted on him and his fellow POW's by the hands of the Japanese in Southeast Asia during WW2, this does not read like your typical POW story. By typical, I mean a blow-by-blow account (literally at times) of the grueling, horrific experience of Allied soldiers during the war. Though there are passages of such description that aptly set the stage for the story, this book is more about the way in which Gordon and his fellow prisoners of war created the Kingdom of God in the hell of mankind.

It is, then, a differently woven story than you might expect. But given the chance, it is a wonderful story of redemption, forgiveness, love and charity - despite overwhelming odds - and is a story that you can't put down. There were times during my reading, that I found myself asking, "Could this be true?" But it is, as Gordon relates his experience from beginning to end, and concludes with an epilogue that completes his life after the war and puts a dose of realism to balance any incredulity the reader may have amassed.

Gordon's story is not designed to heap more evidence of damnation on the Japanese for the cruelties they inflicted during the war. That is the job for others, as Gordon clearly points out. Gordon's story, rather, is one to demonstrate that love can conquer hate, that goodness can overcome evil, that to "end all wars" mankind must learn to forgive and to love, even our enemies.

A powerful book!

Formally published as "Miracle on the River Kwai" and renamed to coincide with a new movie. This book was written by Ernest Gordon a Scottish Army officer who served in the South Pacific During the war.

Back Story
During that time the Japanese advanced on Singapore, and Gordon and a few other officers try to escape on a chartered sailboat. After being captured at sea, he was incarcerated and sent to a work camp in Thailand, building the infamous railway of death, where nearly 80,000 prisoners lost their life in a little over a year. This railway and the Chungkai prison camp are the real back story to the Oscar winning film "Bridge On the River Kwai."

What the classic movie doesn't tell you is the horrific condition and constant death that the builders of the bridge met with on a daily basis.

The Book
The story is a recount of Ernest Gordon's experiences at the camp and his witness to that camps transformation from what he called "the worst that man could be" to the "best that man could be."

The book starts with Gordon laying in the hospital at Chungkai, called the "Death House" by the prisoners as there was very few he came back from the hospital. Gordon then flashes back to what led him here, and then continues from that point and tells of the camps transformation. Before Gordon wound up in the hospital the camp was very much "every man for himself" animal instinct and the law of the jungle dictated who lived and who died. During Gordon's stay at the hospital while he was suffering and near death with Beriberi, Tropical Ulcers, Malaria, and Amoebic Dysentery, he propped himself up, void of hope, and penned a last letter to his parents. That was his low point. He was nursed back to health by two other POW's Dinty Moore, and Dusty Miller. Both bartered for food and medicine, cleaned his ulcers, massaged his legs to reverse the atrophy and gave him encouragement to give him the hope he needed to recover. These two men became an inspiration to the rest of the camp, and like Ernest Gordon, many started to emulate their kindness willingness to help others. Dusty Miller a devote Christian also read the bible to Gordon which inspired him. Gordon then started to hold bible studies with other in the camp; they often shared bibles that men had smuggled in. This led to a spiritual revival of the camp, where men helped each other to survive. The camp changed from a group of individuals to a community that served each other with the same love that Christ had shown them in the bible. Many more survived the wrath of the Japanese as a result of the selfless acts of the camp members, in one part of the book one enlisted soldier, admits that he stole a shovel (which he didn't) just to save the lives of his co-prisoners, that soldier was immediately beaten to death, but his sacrifice as well as others, were what changed to mood of the camp.

The Legacy
This spiritual revival, not only led to many surviving the camp, but transcended into their life after the war. Gordon's epilogue was probably the best part of the book where he paints his perspective against the backdrop of the post-war error.

"We returned to a world divided by hatreds. We thought we had come home to a world at peace; instead we found a world already preparing for the next war. Having had as much reason to hate as anybody, we had overcome hatred."

"We had seen a vision of far horizons and caught a glimpse of the City of God in all its beauty and this vision seemed to be part of a different world."

Summary
Overall the book is very interesting, and is an intriguing story of suffering and hope. Gordon's style is very easy to read, almost like he's sitting next you telling the story. The descriptions of the people and the camp are genuine and I had no problem understanding and even "knowing" many of the characters in the book.

Editorial
It's one thing read about the word of God and the acts of Jesus, it's an entirely different think to witness it first hand as Gordon does and writes about with stunning detail. If found this to be an inspiring story of the grace of God that is given, by giving up selfishness. I have learned a lot about what true Christian's look like after reading this book. If you want my opinion, Christ looked a lot more like Dusty Miller and Ernest Gordon, than the face of modern evangelical minister today.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the how God's Grace can transform the most desperate situations

To End All Wars is the story of the author's time in a series of Japanese POW camps during World War II. I originally became interested in Ernest Gordon after viewing the movie by the same name. This is a story of courage, endurance, and resolve and the fact that Ernest Gordon and many of his fellow POW's were able to forgive their Japanese guards despite what they had lived through is a testament to the type of men they were. How many of us could do the same? This is a must read for all WWII buffs.

Ernest Gordon's first-hand account of being a POW in WWII. Gordon, a Scottish soldier and later Presbyterian minister and Chaplain of Princeton University, was captured by a Japanese warship and placed on the crew that built the bridge over the river Kwai. The account is well written and interesting from a historical perspective, but also engaging from a spiritual one as Gordon tells about his own transformation while imprisoned, as well as that of his fellow prisoners. If you are interested in history and biography told through the eyes of faith, then this makes an excellent read.

My wife and I had watched the movie a couple months ago (be warned: it is incredibly brutal) and been moved by the power of the story. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the book and the move are not the same story. In fact, other than the similarity of the major premise (a British officer in a Japanese POW camp during WW2), they had almost nothing in common.

However. . .

That was only disappointing insomuch as I kept waiting for certain events from the movie to show up. The movie had colored my expectations for the book, which meant I couldn't take the book on its own merits. Which is too bad, because, upon completing the book, I would say it is as powerful as the movie, perhaps even more so. But you have to let the book speak for itself. The story is truly miraculous, as this band of prisoners devolve into a wild bunch of animals at the hands of their captors, only to be transformed by the Spirit of Christ into a true Community of compassion and care. Somehow, in the midst of hell, these men found the power to love each other, to care for each other, to even forgive their Japanese tormentors. When people ask "Does Christianity work?", the story of this book says "absolutely!" And in a day and age of spiteful attacks, divisive language, polarized religions and selfish money-grubbing politicians and religious leaders, there is a real lesson here about what being a True Follower of Christ is all about.

This is a story of ultimate forgiveness told firsthand by Ernest Gordon. The things he and his fellow prisoners of war experienced are near incomprehensible. ...and out of such despair comes the forever life-changing love they experience through Christ, Who is the example they start to follow in showing similar self-sacrificing love and kindness to their neighbors - even to their enemies.

I saw the movie before watching the book which may have been best, as I would've been disappointed had it been the other way around (ie. The book, as many books do, goes into more detail and describes other people encountered by Ernest. For time and format reason, the movie can't cover all of this.)

Also, the book is proof that such a powerful story can be told without foul language (which is present in the movie version).

This is one of the best books I've read so far... Though it may appear repetitive at times (there's really little else the author could write about beside what's happening in the POW camps along the Kwai), the reflection on the human condition and the supreme virtue of self-sacrifice in the footsteps of Jesus Christ is written with much poignancy and profundity. The epilogue is a tour de force for its penetrating criticism of the 'civilised' society the author returned to after the war. The reverse culture shock he experienced is a haunting reminder of how that still small voice can be so easily drowned out in the cacophony of modern society.

It's a difficult, but true message. The author takes an unflinching look at the evil that men are capable of through his own personal experience in Japanese prison camps and carries you through the experience on to the brilliant hope on the other side of his own personal pain. The underlying truth you discover is the genuine potential to be found in one man's selfless, sacrificial care for another. It's an excellent read.

I am reading the book now, because of the movie which is one of my top three movies of all time. This real-life story portrays true hope and love in the midst of absolute suffering and cruelty. I think it is one of the greatest expressions of the Gospel in our day. This story reveals true Christianity- Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (to the point of the Cross). Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." There is nowhere more horrible than a prison camp and yet in this place of dog-eat-dog survival a true Christian laid down his life for others, as Jesus did.