Alistair MacLean · 1958 · sea

Alistair MacLean's 1958 WWII thriller. As Singapore falls to the Japanese in February 1942, a ragged band of soldiers, nurses and refugees - each guarding a secret - flees the burning city aboard the last boat out. Bombed, shipwrecked and cast into open boats, they fight thirst, the tropical sun and the relentless enemy on a desperate voyage south across the sea toward Java.

1. 1
   Singapore

   As the fortress of Singapore burns and falls to the Japanese, a desperate group of soldiers, nurses and civilians - each hiding a secret - slips out of the harbour aboard the last boat to leave.

2. 2
   The Java Sea

   Their ship crippled by dive-bombers and sunk, the survivors take to open boats on the South China Sea - enduring thirst, the tropical sun and Japanese attack, as suspicion and hatred turn the castaways against one another.

3. 3
   Java Head

   Battered and dwindling, the little party steers ever southward for Java Head and the faint hope of safety beyond - a nightmare voyage that only the strongest and the luckiest of them can hope to survive.