Overview
A powerful account of one of the youngest-ever prisoners of war, by award-winning author Anthony Hill. Billy Young was a boy of fifteen when he joined the AIF in 1941. He was an orphan - hungry, broke, with nowhere to sleep - and the army offered him a feed, a blanket and five shillings a day. Then the army sent him to Malaya where he became a POW when Singapore fell to the Japanese. 'Billy the Kid' spent his remaining teenage years in Japanese prisons- he escaped from the notorious Sandakan and spent time in solitary in the barbaric Outram. Billy survived by a combination of luck, larrikin humour and cunning, learned as a market boy growing up in Sydney during the Depression. He has lasted into old age by virtue of his extraordinary spirit. A powerful account of one of the youngest-ever prisoners of war, by award-winning author Anthony Hill. Praise for The Story of Billy Young 'Hill writes beautifully . . . and the story, brutal in parts as it is, should never be lost.' Daily Telegraph 'A fascinating and historically significant read - one that deserves widespread acclaim.' Burnie Advocate 'The Story of Billy Young will bring tears to the eyes of many readers . . . an important first-hand account of a painful chapter in Australian history.' Ballarat Courier
Full Product Details
Author: Anthony Hill
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia
Dimensions:
Width: 12.90cm
, Height: 3.50cm
, Length: 19.80cm
Weight: 0.356kg
ISBN: 9780143569138
ISBN 10: 0143569139
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 23 July 2014
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Author Information
Anthony Hill is a multi-award-winning, bestselling author. His novel Soldier Boy, about Australia's youngest known Anzac, was winner of the 2002 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Books for Young Adults. More recently, his children's book, Captain Cook's Apprentice, won the 2009 NSW Premier's Young People's History Prize. Soldier Boy, Young Digger, Animal Heroes and For Love as Country follow as further testimony to his remarkable ability to extensively research historical material and, from wide-ranging sources, piece together a moving and exciting story. He is also the author of two novellas, the beautiful Shadow Dog, and the award-winning The Burnt Stick, illustrated by Mark Sofilas, as well as the picture book, Lucy's Cat and the Rainbow Birds, illustrated by Jane Tanner. After 40 years living in Canberra, Anthony and his wife, Gillian, have moved to the Mornington Peninsula. Their daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter, Emily, live in Melbourne.
