This important study does much to address feelings of neglect and sheds light on the family dynamics and legacies of those who survived the physical and mental challenges of the prisoner-of-war camps.

War in History

Terry Smyth's book is a deeply personal, yet scholarly, account of trauma, intergenerational memory, and the lasting effects of wartime captivity. The emotions expressed and experienced are raw and often overwhelming, but his message is hopeful: through empathy and imagination, recovery is possible.

Joanna Bourke, Professor, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

Captive Fathers, Captive Children is an extraordinary book. On the one hand it is a deeply researched and poignant account of the return and home lives of Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOWS), seen through the eyes of their children, of whom Terry is one. On the other, it investigates the historical pursuits of FEPOW children and why they are drawn to reconstruct the traumatic pasts of their fathers. It is at once a memoir, a social history of POWs, an ethnography of commemoration and an exploration of the subjectivity of descendants.

Michael Roper, Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Essex, UK