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Julie Summers

The Colonel of Tamarkan Paperback – Import, January 1, 2006

by Julie Summers (Author)

4.5 113 ratings

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Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pocket Books
Publication date

January 1, 2006
Dimensions

5.12 x 1.14 x 7.76 inches
ISBN-10

9780743495738
ISBN-13

978-0743495738
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 074349573X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books; New Ed edition (January 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780743495738
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743495738
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 1.14 x 7.76 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,160,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20,070 in Asian History (Books)
- #20,653 in World War II History (Books)
- #206,889 in Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 113 ratings

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Julie Summers

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Julie Summers was born in Liverpool but grew up in Cheshire. Her first book, Fearless on Everest, published in 2000, was a biography of her great uncle, Sandy Irvine, who died on Everest with Mallory in 1924. Her grandfather, Philip Toosey, was the man behind the Bridge on the River Kwai and her biography of him appeared in 2005. Fascinated by how people cope with extreme situations, she has turned her attention on the effect of the Second World war on non-combatants - the women and children. Recently she published Fashion on the Ration, a book that looks at what we wore during the Second World War. Her book Jambusters, the story of the WI in wartime, has inspired ITV's brand new 2015 drama series HOME FIRES, featuring Samantha Bond, Francesca Annis and many others.

She describes herself as a biographer and historian but the most important thing for her is to be a story teller. www.juliesummers.co.uk

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

113 global ratings

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3 star		7%
2 star		4%
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Paul Schwartzmeyer

Not sure what this books adds to the story.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 3, 2022

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Vladimir Putiin once said that Dunkirk was "the first time in history an army ever claimed victory after running away from the enemy.

The British has 120,000 men in Singapore versus 20,000 for Japan. They had enough food for a year and were in a defensive position. Yet they surrendered.

The British, as on the Maginot line, refused to fight. Why? British soldiers are not cowards. But in Singapore they, including their leaders seemed to think they were on extended vacation. As in France they seemed to believe their meer presence would scare off the enemy. In several battles, Montgomery had to be forced by Eisenhower to engage the Germans. In fact, Eisenhower told Roosevelt that if Winston Churchill was involved in the attack on Germany, he was resigning.

THere is a part of the war concerning England that was never told. Stalin thought Churchill was a twerp. Roosevelt stole all the UK's Asian posessions aside from a swamp or two. The English seem intent on writing silly histories that have no basis in truth. The idea that the British beat the Germans is insulting. They make no such claim against the Japanese, who were once their ally. 10 years after the war ended the UK was broke and the US was supporting the Germans.

Perhaps the British tommy felt fighting yet again another war so they could suck up to a bunch of lazy worthless high borns wasn't worth the blood. In this, who could disagree?

The Bridge over the River Kwai was a silly movie, appropriately so.

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Cap'n Bob

Two Lifetimes of Leadership

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 19, 2010

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As a young man Philip Toosey quickly learned his own strengths and weaknesses. No expert at performing complicated mental tasks himself, he became a past master at convincing others to do his bidding -- and getting them to respect and love him as a leader. This knack made him moderately successful as a businessman, but he found his true niche in the Territorial Army (U.K. version of the National Guard). His ability to whip part-time soldiers into fighting form parlayed into command of a regiment when World War II started, but his unit arrived in Belgium just in time to participate in the Dunkirk evacuation. A second command fared little better -- assigned to Singapore, his artillery unit fought well but was caught up in the general collapse in the face of the Japanese onslaught. It was here that Toosey's managerial genius emerged. Faced with unimaginably horrifying conditions and viciously irrational captors, Toosey realized the only way to keep at least some of his men alive was to preserve their discipline and spirit throughout the coming years of captivity. The famed movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" retells a small part of Toosey's exploits, with glaring discrepancies from reality (as Summers recounts in detail). The entire odyssey, encompassing many different locations with conditions even worse than those at the bridge, is a vastly greater and more affecting tale.

This book deserves far wider exposure than it has achieved to date, if the single previous Amazon.com review generated in five years is any indication. It is thoroughly researched, straightforwardly organized, and competently written and edited. The author (Toosey's granddaughter) shares insights into the marital conflicts and other problems of readjustment to civilian life that only a family member would have access to. Most of all, the book dramatizes the life of a man born to lead. The men Toosey commanded in Thailand never forgot the wit and devotion of the individual who, more than any other, shepherded them through their personal hell while sharing their suffering. In later years Toosey became director of multiple banks and corporations, but his first love was always the care and support of his army comrades, many of whom suffered intense post-traumatic stress syndrome before it had a name. (As did Toosey, not surprisingly.) For many reasons, not the least of which is a graphic revisitation of atrocities committed by the Japanese military, this book is well worth reading.

3 people found this helpful

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Jeffrey P. Bledsoe

The story of an extraordinary man

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 19, 2008

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This is the real story of Philip Toosey, the British officer who saved hundreds of lives in Japanese WW II POW camps in Thailand. You must read this to understand the true story of "The Bridge on The River Kwai".

However, this is not just the story of what Philip Toosey did in Thailand; this is a cradle-to-grave story of an extraordinary man. The author's accounts of his childhood and early adult life provide hints of the influence that his parents, his teachers, and his mentors and business associates have on his philosophy of life, a philosophy that is essential to his leadership of men in the POW camps in Thailand.

Col. Toosey was a man who acted his conscience, stood up to the Japanese and Koreans (Korean guards in the POW camps) for his men, sometimes suffering beatings for them, and gained the respect of the Japanese camp leaders as a man who demanded, without compromise, that they abide by the international agreements on treatment of POWs. He was approachable by the lowest ranks and spent much time with his men who were dying of tropical and deficiency diseases and diseases caused by lack of hygiene, i.e., cholera and dysentery.

After the war, he served on veteran boards, helped secure funding for a Liverpool hospital specializing in tropical diseases, and was finally knighted towards the end of this life. His men from the camps stayed in contact with him and he often helped them through financial and personal struggles. His death was hastened by nutritional deprivations he suffered during his imprisonment in Thailand.

He even influenced one of the Japanese guards after the war. After Toosey gave the Japanese guard, Saito, a good report with the war crimes commission, Saito was freed without having to go through the tribunals. Saito changed his life philosophy, became a Christian, and communicated with Toosey in Toosey's later years.

Sir Philip Toosey was a man in full, a man anyone would be proud to call friend, father, or countryman. If you're interested in WW II history, conditions in Japanese POW camps, and how one life can influence so many other lives in a positive and enduring manner, you must read this book.

11 people found this helpful

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Mrs. TK Ellis

A great man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 5, 2011

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I finished this wonderful book this morning on the train and cannot praise it enough. Although not the best written biography I have ever read the subject of it compels you to read more and to want to know more about this moral, courageous and compassionate man.

I first came across the name Philip Toosey in the book "Surviving the Sword Prisoners of the Japanese 1942-1945" by Brian MacArthur (another fabulous book and highly recommended) and was determined to find out more about this remarkable man. I'm pleased I did.

The book is written by his grand-daughter. The only time she relates the story through her eyes is in the very last pages of the book, although there are one or two anecdotes that she mentions regarding her sister Stephanie, again towards the end of the book. And, although I have mentioned it is not the best written biography I have ever read it is one that drew me in from the beginning and kept me thoroughly engaged from beginning to end, and the reason - the character of Philip Toosey.

I will not go over every detail in the biography as Julie Summers has done a reasonable job of this, but I will say that after reading about his struggles with the Japanese and his continued fight, even after the war, to look after men who had been PoWs I found my self greatly endeared to this man. His compassion and understanding of the human condition are limitless. His courage in standing up to his captors to protect his men is incredible. The plain truth of the matter is that many men would have died in captivity if it had not been for the actions of Toosey and so many others like him.

I would urge everyone to read this book, and to realise what a fantastic human being Philip Toosey was. The term "hero" is always so readily used these days that it is wonderful to read about a man who truly was one. Please read it you won't be disappointed. God bless the Colonel of Tamarkan.

5 people found this helpful

Peter Ward

Tribute to an extraordinary Man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 15, 2009

Verified Purchase

This is the story of a very remarkable man. It continually made me reflect and think deeply. I plead some special interest, so that I am not emotionally detached, in that my parents knew the Tooseys in Willaston in the Wirral in the years immediately following the war and, as a small boy, I met "Toosey" and others of the family.

I can just remember a bit about the War at first hand so that all the way through the book I found myself asking the question, "How would I have conducted myself in the same circumstances?" I am just so full of admiration for the outstanding qualities of the man, that I know that I would have fallen so far short as effectively not to be on the same planet. So I hope it goes without saying that this is the most absorbing story of a man who gradually unfolded the most amazing strength of character. I freely admit that my critical faculties were not engaged with the literary standard of the writing but if the writing is to be judged by the ability of the author to make the reader turn the page over and read to the end and then to wish he or she had not finished the book, then this biography takes its place at the top table.

If one is interested in what makes a leader, what makes men look for guidance to someone, and,yes, what makes one human being love another human being, then read the book. It is perhaps a masculine book, political correctness is not within its cognisance, but when the chips are down - and they were indeed as low as it gets - the story told of the indomitable nature of the human spirit is quite simply inspiring - and very humbling. That Phillip Toosey's Japanese opponents recognised this fundamental truth as well tells us much about the elemental human condition.

3 people found this helpful

LisaChester

Excellent, well written- clear and engrossing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

At first I wondered if I had bought a book that was going to be a potted Toosey grows up, gets job, fights for... sort of trite story. What I got was a logical step through Toosey's life, in full and I was gratified that it was so well covered. It didn't just cover Toosey but others around him and all are followed through that awful time and beyond. I couldn't put it down and my heart is full of respect for all that endured this but particularly Col. Top set.

3 people found this helpful

ian mcquilliam

A Giant of a Man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 21, 2019

Verified Purchase

When people are asked if it was possible to meet someone from the past this man should be top of the list. Despite the brutality of his time as a POW, he never lost his dignity or his generosity to his fellow men. An outstanding book the best I’ve read in Years. Sir Philip Toosey you were a Giant of a Man.

2 people found this helpful

Anonymous

A challenging book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

I have not had time to read this yet but I became aware of this extraordinary man in the late 70's when I was privileged to have some contact with Far East Prisoners of War. FEPOWs. These guys were real heroes of the war but overshadowed by the success of more famous soldiers e.g the Desert Rats. Perhaps with the production of a film like the "Railway Man" it may be possible to realise something of the suffering British soldiers suffered at the hands of the Japanese. One in four sleepers of the Burma railway represent the life of an allied serviceman. I look forward to reading this book, which arrived in good time.

One person found this helpful

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