A memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand Railway.Four and a half days after being transported out of Singapore in a steel goods train in October 1942, prisoner of war Denys Peek found himself in Siam, and a part of the labour force destined for the project that was later to be known as the Thai-Burma death railway.Together with his brother, Ron, and contingents from the Australian and British armies and Volunteer units, among others, Denys spent the duration of the war in over fifteen different work and 'hospital' camps on the railway where over 20,000 prisoners of war and uncounted slave labourers met their deaths. Told in the present tense, One Fourteenth of an Elephant is a haunting, evocative and deeply moving testimony to the suffering and the bravery of those who lived and died on the railway. Against a backdrop of inhumanity and brutality, the greatest examples of humanity and courage are thrown into stark relief, as the author takes us through a daily struggle for survival.Told with clarity, passion and an incredible eye for detail and description, this is an utterly enthralling story and a classic in the making.

“No one who loves elephants or how humans interact with wildlife should pass up Jacob Shell’s remarkable book.” —Dan Flores, author of Coyote America Giants of the Monsoon Forest journeys deep into the mountainous rainforests of Burma and India to explore the world of teak logging elephants and their intriguing alliance with humans. Jacob Shell’s narrative vividly depicts elephants’ extraordinary intelligence, and the complicated bond with individual human riders, a partnership that can last for decades. Giants of the Monsoon Forest reveals an unexpected relationship between evolution in the natural world and political struggles in the human one, while considering how Asia’s secret forest culture might offer a way to help protect the fragile spaces both elephants and humans need to survive.

Elephants have fought in human armies for more than three thousand years. This is the largely forgotten tale of the credit they deserve and the sacrifices they endured.

This study of warfare in Southeast Asia between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries examines the chief aspects of warfare in the region. It begins with an examination of the cultural features that made warfare in the region unique, followed by a discussion of the main weapons used, and the two major sites of fighting, sieges and naval contests. Three chapters examine the role played by animals such as elephants and horses. The final two chapters examine the shift from mercenary armies and masses of levies to smaller standing armies. The study closes with an examination of the tumultuous nineteenth century, in which European naval power won the coast and rivers, while Southeast Asians held the advantage further inland.