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The hundred days of Darien
222 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1974
41 people want to read
About the author
Russell Braddon
81 books22 followersRussell Reading Braddon was an Australian writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts. His chronicle of his four years as a prisoner of war, The Naked Island, sold more than a million copies.
Braddon was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of a barrister. He served in the Malayan campaign during World War II. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Pudu and Changi prisons and on the Thailand-Burma Railway between 1942 and 1945.
In 1949, Braddon moved to England. He described his writing career as "beginning by chance". The Naked Island, published in 1952, was one of the first accounts of a Japanese prisoner of war's experience.
Braddon went on to produce a wide range of works, including novels, biographies, histories, TV scripts and newspaper articles. He was also a broadcaster on radio and television.
Proud Australian Boy: A Biography of Russell Braddon by Nigel Starck was published in Australia in 2011.
Braddon was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of a barrister. He served in the Malayan campaign during World War II. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Pudu and Changi prisons and on the Thailand-Burma Railway between 1942 and 1945.
In 1949, Braddon moved to England. He described his writing career as "beginning by chance". The Naked Island, published in 1952, was one of the first accounts of a Japanese prisoner of war's experience.
Braddon went on to produce a wide range of works, including novels, biographies, histories, TV scripts and newspaper articles. He was also a broadcaster on radio and television.
Proud Australian Boy: A Biography of Russell Braddon by Nigel Starck was published in Australia in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2017
I first heard about this book from several Land Rover magazines. The incredible journey across the Darien gap with two range rovers.
The good
The undertaking was huge, just unbelievable. You get a sense of how much work it was and how much it took out of everyone.
The story is one of sheer stubbornness, like climbing a mountain for the first time. They refused to give up. The reason to get to the other side and no one has done it before.
Some amazing personalities that really came through
The bad
The book itself is hard to follow, especially in the beginning. It reads more like a collection of notes and reports rather than a story book.
Far too many names that it gets very hard to track who does what and what happened to them.
The book is like the cars, they got stuck and had issues in the beginning and feels like the book really focussed on that. But once they start moving, so does the book.
In summary
An amazing adventure that is really is the stuff of legends. Something that most people would surely give up on.
Due to the sheer amount of information, it can be hard to really get a grasp on everything going on.
You will not find lots of Land Rover specific stuff in here, more tough people doing a very tough task.
The good
The undertaking was huge, just unbelievable. You get a sense of how much work it was and how much it took out of everyone.
The story is one of sheer stubbornness, like climbing a mountain for the first time. They refused to give up. The reason to get to the other side and no one has done it before.
Some amazing personalities that really came through
The bad
The book itself is hard to follow, especially in the beginning. It reads more like a collection of notes and reports rather than a story book.
Far too many names that it gets very hard to track who does what and what happened to them.
The book is like the cars, they got stuck and had issues in the beginning and feels like the book really focussed on that. But once they start moving, so does the book.
In summary
An amazing adventure that is really is the stuff of legends. Something that most people would surely give up on.
Due to the sheer amount of information, it can be hard to really get a grasp on everything going on.
You will not find lots of Land Rover specific stuff in here, more tough people doing a very tough task.
June 20, 2021
From the Forward by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh (who happened to die during my first full day in the field working on the 2021 Census, thus affording all us enumerators a half day holiday.) RIP
'Yet who can deny that a Pan-Americas Highway through this area could bring valuable development to regions which so badly need it.'
I could for one, I believe that were such a road to be built, I would hang my head in shame for being part of the expedition that 'proved' that it was possible, with a vast amount of effort and expenditure in lives and treasure, to drive one Land Rover and two Range Rovers through the primary rain forest connecting North and South America.
How naive Prince Philip must have been when he wrote those words!
We have seen how 'development' has become a byword for detriment, disaster capitalism and dismal failure in so many cases, whether it is the Chinese economic takeover of parts of Africa (see Belt and Road) and the deliberate annihilation and/or coercion of Indigenous Peoples all over the world, usually pioneered by missionaries (See Norman Lewis, The Missionaries, 1988.)
'Yet who can deny that a Pan-Americas Highway through this area could bring valuable development to regions which so badly need it.'
I could for one, I believe that were such a road to be built, I would hang my head in shame for being part of the expedition that 'proved' that it was possible, with a vast amount of effort and expenditure in lives and treasure, to drive one Land Rover and two Range Rovers through the primary rain forest connecting North and South America.
How naive Prince Philip must have been when he wrote those words!
We have seen how 'development' has become a byword for detriment, disaster capitalism and dismal failure in so many cases, whether it is the Chinese economic takeover of parts of Africa (see Belt and Road) and the deliberate annihilation and/or coercion of Indigenous Peoples all over the world, usually pioneered by missionaries (See Norman Lewis, The Missionaries, 1988.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews