The Railway Man

By: Eric Lomax

Narrated by: Bill Paterson

A naive young man, a railway enthusiast and radio buff, was caught up in the fall of the British Empire at Singapore in 1942. He was put to work on the 'Railway of Death' - the Japanese line from Thailand to Burma. Exhaustively and brutally tortured by the Japanese for making a crude radio, Lomax was emotionally ruined by his experiences. Almost 50 years after the war, however, his life was changed by the discovery that his interrogator, the Japanese interpreter, was still alive - their reconciliation is the culmination of this extraordinary story.

Critic reviews

What a great book. What a great man (Harry Ritchie)

Forget the grueling films, just read the brilliant books

This beautiful, awkward book tells the story of a fine and awkward man. Here, I think, is an account that rises above mere timeliness and comes near to being a classic of autobiography (Ian Jack)

When I turned to the book, the complexity of Lomax's emotions came alive and burned off the page

Of all the billions of words that have been written about the Second World War, with the exception of Churchill's Nobel Prize winning history, it is not an exaggeration to say there is no account of it more worth reading that this. Wistfully romantic, historically important, startling, horrifying and ultimately electrifyingly uplifting, The Railway Man is as indispensable as any book can be. (Tom Peck)

This is a harrowing but very honest and ultimately compassionate memoir

Now is the time to read the true life story of Scot Eric Lomax... A story of courage and survival

It made me cry, I felt angry at man’s inhumanity to man and yet uplifted by the way Eric finally came to terms with the suffering he’d endured and was able to forgive (Lesley Pearse)

A story worth preserving (Iain Campbell)

A powerful autobiography that shines a light on a difficult period in history (Sally Newall)

A Journey of Forgiveness

This is such a good testimony to the art is forgiveness. Very nicely recorded.

A good book for anyone who also enjoys history.

Amazing

First of all, the narrator has a gorgeous voice, a beautiful accent but crystal clear. I could listen to him all day. The story can be gruesome or depressing at times but the author weaves in so many beautiful moments of humanity, hope, and kindness.

Eloquent, detailed, a bit dry, but great ending

Eric Lomax must have been a serious ISTJ (in Myers-Briggs parlance). He loved trains and stamp collections and lists and clocks, etc. He did a good job of relating the details of his experiences, many of which were horrific, but his writing lacked a bit of the storyteller's touch and human insight. But that shouldn't take too much away from this excellent WWII autobiography. I especially appreciated the last part of this book when he meets up with his former 'torture interpreter'. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in the history of allied POWs in south-east Asia during WWII.

The narrator was perfect.

From hatred to forgiveness

The Railway Man, by Eric Lomax, is the story of an innocent young man who had a passion for everything trains. Lomax joined the Royal Signal Corp and was captured by the Japanese in 1942. After a detailed map he sketched and a crude radio he built were discovered and confiscated by his guards, Lomax was interrogated on suspicion of being a spy. The interrogation was brutal and seemed likely never to end The interpreter was as cold and cruel as the questioners and was the person Lomax hated most after the war. Lomax was physically and psychologically devastated after his ordeal. He had fantasies of killing the interpreter. But 50 years after it was over Eric Lomax learned the interpreter was still alive and was tormented by his complicity in the interrogation of a particular British POW. Although it seems impossible, Lomax was the very man who Nagase Takeshi must seek forgiveness from to ease his own suffering and guilt. Through a series of near misses and some misunderstanding the two meet. And with the grace and dignity that often only the elderly can display the two former enemies become comfortable together. In the end the two men also became friends. Both Lomax and Takeshi experience great happiness in their final few years through forgiveness and understanding. Do not miss this tale of the ultimate goodness of some men.

Incredible!

Everything about this Audio book, especially the books itself, is amazing. It’s an incredible story that I could not recommend more to anyone who is remotely interested in WW2 History, stories of forgiveness or even a simple human story.