The Railway Man..

This wonderful book was a Christmas gift to me from my daughter Kirstine. It was first published in 1995, and is a very recently released film which I plan to go and see.

I only started reading the book late last night, but it has already profoundly touched me, and that is before I even finish it.

There is, albeit in a small way, a family connection to this true story. After my father's death, I found a Burma Star amongst his war medals. He had always said to me he had avoided direct fighting. He was therefore, and thankfully, not captured, nor tortured so awfully like Eric Lomax, the author. There, but for the grace of God….

The early part of the book is also close to home, as it relates to Eric Lomax's youth growing up in Edinburgh and developing his early passion for trains…although the railway he was to work on during the war was certainly nothing he could ever have envisaged.

For such a harrowing story, the book is beautifully written. I am so grateful for the gift, although why I did not seek out the book much earlier myself I do not know.

If you have never read this remarkable testimony, I do recommend it. Hopefully, the film will do justice to the man and his life.