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Edward Thompson, an English poet and Wesleyan missionary--and, later, father of the eminent historian E. P. Thompson--first met Rabindranath Tagore on the day the poet learned he had won the Nobel Prize in 1913. He became closely involved with him and his circle during the preparation of Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Dramatist (OUP 1992), the first major English-language study of his writings. This volume of letters, ranging from 1913 until 1940, the year before Tagore's death, sheds new light on this remarkable and stormy friendship, and offers fresh insights into Anglo-Indian relations in the first quarter of the last century. ... Read more

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One of the most powerful books to emerge aboutVietnam—the unforgettable story of America's longest-heldprisoner-of-war, his family, and a country at war with itself.

He had dreamed of being a military man as a youngster during World WarII. Marrying shortly after high school, he was drafted by the Army in1956 and sent to a faraway land called Vietnam in 1963 at a time whenAmerica still seemed innocent. In fact, Floyd "Jim" Thompson mighthave led a perfectly ordinary life had he not been captured on March26, 1964, just three months after arriving in Vietnam, becoming one ofthe first Americans taken prisoner, and ultimately, the longest-heldprisoner-of-war in American history.

Now, for the first time, Thompson's epic story, and that of his familywho also paid dearly for his sacrifice, is brought to life in GloryDenied, a searing reconstruction of one man's tortuous journeythrough war and its aftermath. Weaving together scores of interviewswith Thompson and his family, comments from friends, fellow soldiers,former prisoners-of-war, and excerpts from service records, medicalreports, and intelligence briefings, Philpott delivers anexceptionally nuanced and moving portrait of a man, a family, and anation.

The first half of the saga follows Thompson from his youth through hismarriage and early days in the Army, to his harrowing survival inVietnam—nine years in jungle cages and dank prison cells,surviving torture, disease, and starvation. We see how, byhappenstance, a painful childhood honed a soldier's survival skillsamid unspeakable horrors. And most vividly we see Thompson's familystruggling with the consequences of his absence. Indeed, particularlyarresting is Philpott's ability to juxtapose Thompson's capture,torture, and multiple escape attempts with the trials of his youngwife Alyce, pregnant with their fourth child and devastated when herhusband was declared missing in action. The once dependent wife,unaware of her husband's survival and feeling trapped, would makechoices that forever would tie her own fate to the war shedespised. And the Army's compliance with those decisions turned thespotlight off Thompson and allowed another prisoner of war to beremembered in his place.

The final half of Glory Denied chronicles the journey of theThompsons in the decades following America's longest war. While woundsfrom the war, both physical and social, healed for most Americans, thenightmare of Vietnam only shifted into another stage for thefamily. What became so apparent was that Alyce had changed. Thechildren had changed. The nation's values had changed. But Thompson'svalues—and dreams—had not. He had missed an unprecedentedsocial revolution—a revolution that now mocked hissacrifice—and he had missed nine critical years of an Armycareer.

The final chapters of Glory Denied read like a classic tragedy,filled with stories of reconciliation, abandonment, and addiction. Itis a tale as absorbing as any Arthur Miller play, a relentlesslyheartrending story that tells us as much about our nation's history asit does about a family named Thompson. Glory Denied, which combinesthe historical detail of Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Liewith the pathos of a James Jones novel, is a masterly work of oralhistory, a project that has consumed its author for more than adecade. Neither the book nor its subject, Jim Thompson, will soon beforgotten.

16 pages of photosAmazon.com Review
Army officer Jim Thompson's horrific experience in a series ofNorth Vietnamese prisons was nasty and brutish--but definitely not short.He was held as a prisoner of war for nearly nine years, longer than anyother American POW. His treatment was torturous: "I was put into ahorizontal cage maybe two feet wide, two feet high, and five feet long.There I was kept for four months, chained hand and feet." And sometimes hewas just plain tortured: "I sat there with a pen in hand as they shouted atme to write," he recalls of a time his captors tried to make him issue astatement condemning the American war effort. "Periodically they hit mewith bamboo. Not hard enough to knock me unconscious or to break the skin.Just enough to hurt. They kept at it for eight, ten, twelve hours a day."(He eventually gave in, and signed a statement.)

The irony is that Thompson's life improved little upon his return to theUnited States. His wife had taken up with another man, his family fellapart, he drank to excess, and his son was convicted of murder. Readerswill be at once tempted and reluctant to call Thompson a hero--temptedbecause of how much he suffered for serving his country and for hisnumerous escape attempts, but reluctant because Thompson was himselfresponsible for much of the pain he brought on himself and his familyfollowing his return.

Military journalist Tom Philpott has produced an oddly fascinating bookabout Thompson's ordeal. Glory Denied is not a piece of narrativenonfiction, but an oral history. It tells Thompson's story through thewords of Thompson and those who knew him. Readers who want a more upliftingPOW story may want to try Faith of Our Fathers bySenator John McCain (who contributes a foreword to Glory Denied),yet Philpott's book may come closer to capturing the agony so manyAmericans continue to associate with Vietnam. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Good reading
Enjoyed the book very much.I would not recommend it to all as it is an oral history and jumped from family members to military, etc. and sometimes was a little harder to keep up with.But over all was a good read and gave me insite as to the POWs.

Heartbreaking !!!!
Reading this book will bring tears to your eyes.My heart goes out to Colonel Thompson and his family.A true Hero in every sense of the word, his story is heartbreaking.This book shows that not only does war profoundly affect the men who fought it, but also the families.God bless Colonel Thompson and may he find peace in Heaven.

not written conventionally
Attention: this is not a straightforward account.The author relies on statements from various people involved, so on the page it almost looks like the script to a play.This can be disorienting.I was hoping for a traditionally told story.Here's a sample of what I mean:

SAM DEACON:I felt empty when I heard.They called me at home, told me to come in.I was to be Alyce's survival assistance officer, the guy there to pick up the pieces after the chaplain leaves.Alyce was in shock.It was a big blur, like a dream.
ALYCE:Sam went all to pieces too, blaming himself, saying, "Maybe it would have been me in that plane instead of him."
SAM DEACON:I did blame myself.The anger I'd felt earlier turned into frustration at not being there to help look for Jim.There wasn't enough information to conclude he was dead.They couldn't even find the aircraft.I felt as if I'd have been there maybe I could have found it.
LEA HOFF:Alyce called crying to say Jim was missing.But she said she hadn't lost hope.She knew he was going to be found.
ALYCE:Mother took me to the hospital.It was Good Friday, and the day of the big Alaskan earthquake.While in labor I kept asking if the nurse had heard anything.About six o'clock that evening young Jim was born.

Anyhow, the entire book is like that, all 400 pages of it.

If you are looking for a straightforward account along these lines, I would recommend Terry Anderson's Den of Lions: A Startling Memoir of Survival and Triumph, or Lewis Burwell Puller, Jr.'s Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet, although that one, while it is about a Vietnam vet, it's not actually one who was a prisoner of war.

Almost Happy

I was under the impression that the book would be new, however it appeared to be used. It was in good shape, but used.

So I was a little disappointed.

Must read Glory Denied
Tom Philpott is an outstanding author.His format and organization provide a perfect setting for the telling of the powerful, tragic story of Jim Thompson.This book is a must read. ... Read more

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Table of Contents * Jingle Bells * Good King Wenceslas * Jolly Old Saint Nicholas * It Came Upon The Midnight Clear * O Little Town Of Bethlehem * O Come, All Ye Faithful * We Three Kings Of Orient Are * Away In A Manger * Hark, The Herald Angels Sing * The First Noel * Silent Night * Joy To The World * O Christmas Tree * Deck The Hall ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Great Read by Peter B. Waite
As usual, P.B. Waite has written another biography that reads like a good novel. Whether you are an avid Canadian Historian or you are new to it, this book will shine some light on the life of one of Canada's lesser knownleaders. From average Halifax boy to one of the most dramatic deaths in theworld. "The Man From Halifax" makes for a great round of nightlyreading. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Publisher: Toronto, United Publishing HousesPublication date: 1895Subjects: Thompson, John S. D. (John Sparrow David), Sir, 1844-1894Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

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General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1872Original Publisher: LippincottSubjects: American fictionLaw / GeneralLaw / Administrative Law ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more