Innocent in a Revolution: Journeys Through the Middle East and Asia

by Forbes, Colin D.

• ISBN13: 9781857763089
• ISBN10: 1857763084
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Pubns

Summary

When Colin Forbes was sent to Iraq in 1958, little did he think he was soon to be caught up in the terror of a revolution. Still less did he imagine that his experiences would become the basis for this funny and fascinating book. Forbes is the 'Tubby' of this story, and we follow him through his journey to Iraq as an export rep, seeing what he sees and feeling what he feels. His natural gift for humour and anecdotage soon become unnecessary as events of international importance overtake poor Tubby, leaving him stranded amid the excitement and danger. Safety out of Iraq, Tubby is no sooner home than posted to the Far East, to land in Rangoon in October 1958 on the night General Ne Win seized power in Burma. Living in Singapore, and later Kuala Lumpur, Tubby travelled extensively through Ceylon, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak and the Federation of Malaya. Against a background of corporate life, we follow Tubby on his travels through one of the world's most fascinating regions.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Away to Baghdad	p. 1
The Hotel Khayam	p. 9
The Night Life	p. 15
Business in Baghdad	p. 19
Najaf - The Holy City	p. 26
Ancient Babylon	p. 33
Tubby gets a Car	p. 37
The 'Road' to the North	p. 42
Nineveh and the Walled City of Erbil	p. 48
The Desperate Drive Back	p. 57
The Queen's Birthday	p. 63
Brian Boru to the Rescue	p. 66
Revolution - The First Day	p. 74
Revolution - The Second Day	p. 82
Revolution - The Third Day	p. 90
The Gun-runners	p. 96
Departure Fever	p. 100
The Journey Home	p. 104
The Home-coming and The Turn About	p. 107
So This Is Singapore	p. 115
Signs of Things to Come from New York	p. 125
The Borneo Territories - The Raj Still Lives	p. 129
The New Team Starts to Come Together	p. 139
So This is The Federation	p. 146
At Last - An End to Six Months of Hotel Living	p. 161
Burma - The Enigma	p. 173
Bangkok - the Venice of the East	p. 195
The Pressures Build Up	p. 202
Ceylon - The Beautiful	p. 209
Life in Singapore Evolves	p. 234
Sarawak Revisited	p. 263
Brunei: Labuan Island; Borneo Pirates	p. 286
The VIP Visit	p. 307
New Beginnings	p. 331
Drive of a Lifetime Through Ambush Country	p. 353
July 14th Celebration - One Year On	p. 380
Adjusting to Life in Kuala Lumpur and The Federation	p. 398
The Second Coming	p. 419
Vietnam and Cambodia	p. 427
The Run-in to Home Leave	p. 453
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.