The book follows the authors personal journey of discovery, as he researches the last 7 generations of his Gray family history. It centres on how and why one family travelled from Leicestershire, England to Japan, onwards through the Orient via China and India, back to southern England before returning to Leicestershire some 150 years later. It explores the world events that dominated this shared timeline and speculates as to how such happenings steered these Gray ancestors along their incredible paths. It attempts to "close the circle" of circumstances that saw the earlier pioneers prosper alongside their Japanese hosts but also subsequent generations endure terrible suffering from the same hands. This was because seven members of the authors immediate family were prisoners of war, held in concentration camps in either Shanghai or Hong Kong. Continuing the circular family journey, it traces the resilience of this latter generation, attempting to achieve a recovery from the brink of disaster. Finally, it plots the end to the amazing round trip, as the author and his mother undertake the final legs of the journey. By way of a conclusion, the final chapter attempts to present the evidence for readers to answer the question posed by the books title for themselves.Key historical events covered include the Meiji Restoration (the transformation of Japan from feudalism to industrial superpower), the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the emergence of Shanghai as a megacity, the...

Binding: Paperback;502 pages; Publisher: Consilience Media; Classification: N/A; Weight: 1273.03 g; Dimensions: N/A

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