Small Hardcover in very good condition.
Changi started off as a military barracks, became a prison camp, a Royal Air Force Base, and finally an historic monument. First issued in the mid-1960s and reissued forty years later, Henry Probert's history of the barracks offers a comprehensive history of the base from its inception in the late Twenties to the present day. Perhaps the detail overwhelms the design somewhat - the accounts of the exact building of different areas of the barracks can seem somewhat prosaic - but the book is at its best when describing Changi's checkered history as a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp from 1942 to 1945. Many Allied troops died there; others had to improvise in order to survive, with the Japanese proving especially hard taskmasters. The fact that so many did survive is testament to their ingenuity. Now in print, thanks to the good offices of the University of Changi, Singapore, THE HISTORY OF CHANGI is a good read for anyone interested in Second World War history.