The Boat is Walter Gibson's extraordinary account of survival after being lost at sea when the Dutch steamer Rooseboom was sunk by torpedo on 2 Mar 1942. Gibson survived 26 days afloat in a lifeboat with 135 others. Only 5 made it to shore. Three Javanese sailors were separated to uncertain fate. A fourth was Doris Lim, who after surviving the boat died tragically under Japanese interrogation before ever tasting freedom again.

When the story first broke in the news, the world was shocked by the tales of murder and cannibalism that Gibson witnessed aboard the lifeboat. It is perhaps made even more horrific by the stark, concise manner in which Gibson recounts The Boat (completed for the 10th anniversary of the Rooseboom's sinking).

Find it at the NLB