Russell Braddon

Russell Reading Braddon (25 January 1921 – 20 March 1995) was an Australian writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts. His chronicle of his four years as a prisoner of war, The Naked Island, sold more than a million copies.^[1]

Braddon was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of a barrister. He served in the Malayan campaign during World War II. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Changi between 1942 and 1945. During this time he met Ronald Searle, who went on to illustrate The Naked Island.

In 1949, Braddon moved to England. He described his writing career as "beginning by chance". The Naked Island, published in 1952, was one of the first accounts of a Japanese prisoner of war's experience.

Braddon went on to produce a wide range of works, including novels, biographies, histories, TV scripts and newspaper articles. He was also a broadcaster on radio and television.

Works

Novels

• The Piddingtons (1950)
• Those in Peril (1954)
• Out of the Storm (1956)
• Gabriel Comes to 24 (1958)
• The Proud American Boy (1960)
• Roy Thompson of Fleet Street (1963)
• The Year of the Angry Rabbit (1964)
• Committal Chamber (1966)
• The Inseparables (1968)
• When the Enemy Is Tired (1968)
• Will You Walk a Little Faster? (1969)
• Prelude and Fugue for Lovers (1971)
• Progress of Private Lilyworth (1971)
• End Play (1972)
• The Thirteenth Trick (1973)
• The Finalists (1977)
• The Predator (1980)
• Funnelweb (1990)

Non-fiction

• The Naked Island (1952)
• Cheshire V.C: A Study of War and Peace (1954)
• Woman in Arms: The Story of Nancy Wake (1956)
• Nancy Wake: The Story of a Very Brave Woman (1956)
• End of a Hate (1958)
• Joan Sutherland (1962)
• The Siege (1969)
• Suez: The Splitting of a Nation (1973)
• Hundred Days of Darien (1974)
• All the Queen's Men (1977)
• Japan Against the World (1983)
• The Other Hundred Years War (1983)
• Australia Fair? (1984)
• Thomas Baines and the North Australian Expedition (1987)
• Prisoners of War with Hugh Clarke and Colin Burgess (1988)

References