''The Line: a man's experience; a son's quest to understand'' is a memoir written by Arch and Martin Flanagan. It details Arch Flanagan's experiences as an Australian

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. ''The Line'' is broken up into different parts, with areas written by Martin italicised, whilst areas written by Arch are not. It is currently being studied by many VCE students across

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. For Victorians, it is one of the books which is studied in Encountering Conflict a theme which is presented in the end of year exams for VCE students (2008 -).

Summary

Cleveland 1914-1928

A short history of Arch's childhood growing up in rural Tasmania

The War Years 1940-1945 and Long Long Ago

Most of the memoir is composed of these sections which contain various situations that Arch remembers from his time in the war.

Tribute to Weary

A tribute written by Arch in memory of Edward (Weary) Dunlop.

Brother's Keeper

A short work of fiction written by Arch.

References

''The Line: a man's experience; a son's quest to understand'' - 2005 non-fiction books Australian memoirs World War II memoirs {{WWII-memoir-stub