In 1941 Ronald Searle was made a prisoner of war by the Japanese, after 14 months in a POW camp he was sent to work on the Burma Railway until May 1944 when he was sent to the notorious Changi prison. Throughout his captivity Searle drew to record his experiences, hiding the drawings, and they have been become to be recognised as among the greatest, and most moving, record of WW2. Searle has described the book as "the grafitti of a condemned man... who found himself--to his surprise and delight -- among the reprieved."

In presenting the Photographic Sketch Book of the War to the attention of the public, it is designed that it shall speak for itself. The omission, therefore, of any remarks by way of preface might well be justified; and yet, perhaps, a few introductory words may not be amiss. As mementoes of the fearful struggle through which the country has just passed, it is confidently hoped that the following pages will possess an enduring interest. Localities that would scarcely have been known, and probably never remembered, save in their immediate vicinity, have become celebrated, and will ever be held sacred as memorable fields, where thousands of brave men yielded up their lives a willing sacrifice for the cause they had espoused. Verbal representations of such places, or scenes, may or may not have the merit of accuracy; but photographic presentments of them will be accepted by posterity with an undoubting faith. During the four years of the war, almost every point of importance has been photographed, and the collection from which these views have been selected amounts to nearly three thousand.

"I had a native ambition to rise from obscurity and make myself useful in the world, to shine and be distinguished." So said the Hon. Neil S. Brown, one of the 259 prominent 19th-century Tennesseans profiled in this extraordinary book. It is this kind of unique first-hand biographical information that makes this work unequaled in the canon of Tennessee genealogical literature. Not only did compiler William S. Speer have the unparalleled opportunity to interview a number of the featured Tennesseans himself, he also was able to garner--and include in this book--thousands and thousands of names of their family members, friends, and colleagues. The biographical sketches include numerous details about the lives of the subjects and their families. In addition, the compiler offers insight into the personal, professional, and sometimes even physical characteristics that made each of these men a success.