Showing results for "The Prisoner" in History

Maps have a mysterious hold over us. Whether ancient, crumbling parchments or generated by Google, maps tell us things we want to know, not only about our current location or where we are going but about the world in general. And yet, when it comes to geo-politics, much of what we are told is generated by analysts and other experts who have neglected to refer to a map of the place in question.

Upendranath Brahmachari conjured a potent drug to vanquish the spectre of kala-azar, saving millions from the deadly disease. Ram Nath Chopra explored ancient ayurvedic knowledge, extracting a natural compound from sarpagandha to treat seizures and high blood pressure. Azizul Haque and Hem...

The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for eighteen months and whose release—which almost didn’t happen—became a part of the Iran nuclear deal. In July 2014, Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian was arrested by Iranian...

Traveling across India, interviewing Hindu zealots, armed insurgents, jailed dissidents, and politicians and thinkers from across the political spectrum, Siddhartha Deb reveals a country in which forces old and new have aligned to endanger democracy. The result is an absorbing—and disturbing—portrait. India has become a religious fundamentalist dystopia, one depicted here with a novelist's precise language and eye for detail.

The French painter Jean Hélion’s unique and deeply moving account of his experiences in Nazi prisoner-of-war camps prefigures the even darker stories that would emerge from the concentration camps. This serious adventure tale begins with Hélion’s infantry platoon fleeing from the German army and warplanes as they advanced through France in the early days of the war. The soldiers chant as they march and run, “They shall not have me!” but are quickly captured and sent to hard labor.

Where do "rights" come from? Professor Alan Dershowitz provides an entirely new resolution to this age-old dilemma: rights, he argues, do not come from God, nature, logic, or law alone, but from particular experiences with injustice, and from trial and error. He also touches on the rights of prisoners and the situation in the Middle East. His new book is Rights from Wrongs. Professor Dershowitz speaks with Jeffrey Toobin, CNN legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer.

This documentary series, first presented in 1985 by acclaimed producer and presenter Tim Bowden, is a harrowing account of the ordeals faced by Australian POWs in Japanese camps, at the height of World War II. Told through the first-hand accounts of survivors from the war, this series has been remastered and serves as an indispensable insight into the realities of the war in the Pacific.

Aiden Aslin joined the Ukrainian marines in 2018, compelled to defend his adopted homeland from the growing threat of Russian invasion. In February 2022, as Russia mounted a full-scale offensive, Aiden and his unit were stationed at the frontline at Mariupol. Pinned down at a Mariupol steelworks, after a month-long siege and running out of supplies, Aiden was part of the mass surrender of over a thousand Ukrainian troops, in April 2022. Then his real ordeal began.

Forever Prisoners offers the first broad history of immigrant detention in the United States. Elliott Young focuses on five stories, including Chinese detained off the coast of Washington in the late 1880s, an "insane" Russian-Brazilian Jew caught on a ship shuttling between New York and South America during World War I, Japanese Peruvians kidnapped and locked up in a Texas jail during World War II, a prison uprising by Mariel Cuban refugees in 1987, and a Salvadoran mother who grew up in the United States and has spent years incarcerated while fighting deportation. 

A Spectator Book of the Year 2020 A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020 A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2020 ‘Inspired … Lowe’s sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers’ MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES What happens when our...

George William Foote, a courageous British secularist, faced conviction and imprisonment for blasphemy after founding The Freethinker, a magazine that defied the constraints of the 19th Century British judicial system and continues to thrive today. In Prisoner for Blasphemy, Foote recounts the gripping saga of his trials and his eventual imprisonment in Holloway Gaol. While his case marked the last significant blasphemy trial in England, Footes vision of a future without blasphemy laws would not come to fruition until nearly a century after his passing, in 2008. (Summary by RobBoard)

On October 31, 1803, the frigate USS Philadelphia ran aground on a reef a few miles outside the harbor of Tripoli. After hours under fire, the Philadelphia, aground and defenseless, surrendered, and 307 American sailors and marines were captured. The bashaw ordered the crew moved into an old warehouse, and the officers were eventually moved to a dungeon beneath the Bashaw's castle. While the officers were treated as "gentlemen," although imprisoned, the sailors worked as enslaved laborers.

One of the most famous true stories from the last war, The Great Escape tells how more than 600 men in a German prisoner-of-war camp worked together to achieve an extraordinary break-out. Every night for a year, they dug tunnels, and those who weren't digging forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes to wear once they had escaped. All of this was conducted under the very noses of their prison guards. 

Prisoner exchanges have been a common practice in international politics for centuries, often serving as a pragmatic tool for resolving conflicts and maintaining diplomatic relations. These exchanges typically involve the swapping of prisoners of war, political detainees, or individuals captured in espionage activities between warring or adversarial nations. While the motivations and contexts for prisoner exchanges have varied over time, the fundamental purpose remains the same: to secure the release of one's own citizens or allies while often achieving broader political or strategic ...

In the midst of a relentless downpour, a mysterious stranger arrives at a desolate ranch house, setting off a chain of events that will leave you guessing until the very end. Who is responsible for the death of old Mr. Benton? Is it the enigmatic stranger, the rugged Gus, or the seemingly innocent Mrs. Zellar? And what lies behind Jack Montagne’s unexpectedly gentlemanly demeanor? Delve into this gripping 1921 pulp western by Max Brand, the pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust, an acclaimed American author celebrated for his profound and literary takes on the Western genre. - Summary by ...

American discussions of the Vietnam War tend to gloss over the period from 1972 to the final North Vietnamese offensive in 1975. But these were brutal times for America's South Vietnamese allies combined with a period of intense diplomatic negotiations conducted under the increasing reality that America had abandoned them.

Siberia’s story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies and unmarked graves. Yet there is another tale to tell. Dotted throughout this remote land are pianos - grand instruments created during the boom years of the 19th century and humble, Soviet-made uprights that found their way into equally modest homes. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood.

In Prison & Prisoners, Constance Lytton recounts her courageous journey alongside Emmeline Pankhurst in the fight for womens suffrage in England. Frustrated by the preferential treatment she received due to her social status, Lytton adopted the pseudonym Jane Wharton to expose the harsh realities faced by women in the movement. This gripping narrative details her arrest and the harrowing experiences she endured at Holloway Prison, a facility infamous for its mistreatment of female inmates. Join us as we explore Lyttons powerful story of resilience and activism. - Summary by KHand

The Sunday Times Bestseller 'Quite simply the most important book you will read this year' Hazel Gaynor 'An extraordinary read' Lorraine Kelly 'Deeply moving' Daily Mail 'Mama, it's me.' I held her hand in mine, hoping it would give her the strength to hold on. Finally, she spoke, her voice...

In 1940, Private Raymond Bailey, a 21 year old Vauxhall motors apprentice, serving with the 1st Kensington Regiment, was captured in Northern France, becoming a Nazi prisoner of war. But he wouldn't remain one for long... The Longest Walk Home is the incredible account of his daring 2,000 mile...