James Clavell- King Rat question

GM_Flash wrote:

> Hi all, I just finished Clavell's King Rat, I've read all his Asian
> saga except Whirlwind and I think King Rat is right up there with
> Shogun in quality.
>
> My question is, did Clavell ever say if the King was based on a real
> American POW in Changi, and if so what happened to him after the war?


Wikipedia says that Clavell later stated that he and an entire battalion of
prisoners at Changi were saved by an American prisoner who later served has his
model for King. Wikipedia does not clearly give the source of this information,
though it also mentions an Introduction to the book written by his daughter
Michaela. Presumably, this is an introduction to a later edition of the book.
That may be the source of the information.


Francis A. Miniter