A Town Like Alice (U.S. title: The Legacy) is a novel by the English author Nevil Shute. It was first published in 1950. The "Alice" in the title refers to Alice Springs, Australia. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate 50... Nevil Shute (London, January 17, 1899 – Melbourne, January 12, 1960) (full name Nevil Shute Norway) was one of the most popular novelists of the mid-20th century. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alice Springs on a large scale map Alice Springs is a large town in the Northern Territory of Australia located at 23°42′ S 133°52′ E. Its population of 28,178 (2001 Census) makes it the second-largest settlement in the Territory (the only other towns of...

It was made into a motion picture in 1956 starring Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch, directed by Jack Lee. This film was known as Rape of Malaya in U.S. cinemas, and by various other titles in non-English-speaking countries. For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... See also: 1955 in film 1956 1957 in film 1950s in film years in film film // Events November 15 - The film Love Me Tender starring Elvis Presley (his first film) opens. ... Virginia McKenna & Elsa (stand-in) Virginia McKenna O.B.E. (born June 7, 1931 in London, UK) is a British stage and screen actress. ... Peter Finch (September 28, 1912 – January 14, 1977) was an English-born actor with strong Australian connections. ... Jack Lee (27 January 1913–15 October 2002) was a film director, writer, editor and producer. ...

In 1981, A Town Like Alice was adapted into a popular television miniseries, starring Helen Morse and Bryan Brown. It was broadcast internationally; in the United States, it was shown as part of the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre. A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... Helen Morse (born 1948) is an Australian actress and costume designer who has appeared in films, on television, and on stage. ... Bryan Brown (born June 23, 1947 in Sydney) is an Australian actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Masterpiece Theatre is a long-running anthology television series produced by WGBH which premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. ...

Plot summary

A few years after World War II, a young woman, Jean Paget, who was working in Malaya when the Japanese invaded, tells her London lawyer the story of her time in Malaya during the war. She is one of a party of European women who were marched around Malaya by the Japanese, since no camp would take them in and the Japanese army would not take responsibility for them. Many of them die on the march, and the rest survive only by the charity of the local villagers. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Map of Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia (Malay: Semenanjung Malaysia) is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. ... Combatants British Army, Indian Army, Australian Army, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces Imperial Japanese Army Commanders Arthur Percival Tomoyuki Yamashita Strength 140,000 70,000 Casualties 5,000 killed, 50,000 prisoners of war no more than 34,000 The Battle of Malaya was a conflict between a Commonwealth army... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... A lawyer, according to Blacks Law Dictionary, is a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law. ... A European is primarily a person who was born into one of the countries within the continent of Europe. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

On their march from one village to another, she meets a young Australian soldier, Joe Harman, also a prisoner. He steals food and medicines to help them, and is severely punished by the Japanese authorities. The women are marched away and believe that the soldier died. medicines, see medication and pharmacology. ...

Jean survives the war and returns to London. A few years later, she unexpectedly inherits a substantial amount of money from a distant relative. She discusses the matter with her lawyer, Noel Strachan (played in the 1981 version by notable British actor Gordon Jackson), and decides to return to Malaya to attempt to help the people in a village who sheltered them. Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE (December 19, 1923 - January 15, 1990), was a prolific Scottish character actor, best known for his roles in the film The Great Escape, the spy thriller The Ipcress File, and the television series, Upstairs Downstairs (for which he won a best supporting actor Emmy Award) and...

When she arrives, she learns that Joe Harman survived his punishment and returned to Australia. She travels on to Australia and visits the town of Alice Springs, where Joe lived before the war. She then travels to the outback Queensland town of Willstown, where Joe has become manager of a cattle station. But in the meantime, Joe has learned that Jean survived the war and is unmarried, and so he has drawn down money he won in the state lottery in order to travel to Britain in search of her, but in vain. On her lawyer's advice, he returns to Queensland and they meet. Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of November 2006)  - Population  4,164,590 (3rd)  - Density  2. ...

They eventually decide to marry. Using her inheritance, Jean helps to build the small outback town of Willstown into a place where people would like to live — a town like Alice Springs.

Despite the title of the book, very little of the action actually takes place in Alice Springs. Jean stays there whilst searching for Joe and is much impressed with the quality of life there. Jean and Joe start several business enterprises in an attempt to convert the primitive outback Willstown into "a town like Alice". A tourism sign post Yalgoo, Western Australia The Dingo Fence near Coober Pedy Fitzgerald River National Park in Western Australia Outback refers to remote and arid areas of Australia, although the term colloquially can cover any lands outside of the main urban areas. ...

Historical accuracy

Jean Paget was based on Carry Geysel (a.k.a. Mrs J. G. Geysel-Vonck), whom Shute met while visiting Sumatra in 1949.^[1] Geysel had been one of a group of about 80 Dutch civilians taken prisoner by Japanese forces at Padang, in the Dutch East Indies in 1942, and forced to march around Sumatra for two-and-a-half years, covering 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles). Fewer than 30 people survived this march. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... Padang is the main capital of West Sumatra in Indonesia. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Shute based the character of Harman on Herbert James "Ringer" Edwards, an Australian veteran of the Malayan campaign, whom Shute met in 1948 at a station (ranch) in Queensland.^[2] Edwards had been crucified for 63 hours by Japanese soldiers on the Burma Railway. He had later escaped execution a second time, when his "last meal" of chicken and beer could not be obtained. Crucifixion (or Haritsuke) was a form of punishment or torture that the Japanese sometimes used against prisoners during the war. Herbert James Ringer Edwards (July 26, 1913 – June 2000), was an Australian soldier during World War II. As a prisoner of war (POW), he survived being crucified for 63 hours by Japanese soldiers on the Burma Railway. ... Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. ... The Bridge over the River Kwai Map of the Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known also as the Death Railway, the Thailand-Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during... The last meal is a traditional part of a condemned prisoners last day. ...

The fictional "Willstown" is reportedly based on Burketown, Queensland, which Shute also visited in 1948.^[3] (Burke and Wills were well-known explorers of Australia.) Burketown (population 235) is a town located in north-western Queensland, Australia, on the Burke River. ... Robert OHara Burke by William Strutt William John Wills In 1860-61 Robert OHara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around...

External links

• A Town Like Alice (1956) at the Internet Movie Database
• A Town Like Alice (1981) at the Internet Movie Database