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South by Java Head

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South by Java Head
1st edition
AuthorAlistair MacLean
LanguageEnglish
GenreWorld War II Novel
PublisherCollins
Publication date
1958
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages254 pgs
ISBNNA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
Preceded byThe Guns of Navarone 
Followed byThe Last Frontier 

South by Java Head is a novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and was first published in 1958. MacLean's personal experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II provided part of the basis for the story.

Plot introduction

The shattered city of Singapore is surrendering to the advancing Japs. Picking their way through the smoking rubble towards the quay are a struggling party of refugees - soldiers, nurses and civilians. Dawn sees them far out to sea but with the first murderous dive bombers already aimed at their ship. Thus begins an ordeal few are to survive, a nightmare succession of disasters wrought by the hell-bent Japs, the unrelenting tropical sun and by the survivors themselves, whose hatred and bitterness divides them one against the other. - from back cover of 1961 Fontana edition