Clavell, James. Asian saga

"Japanese POW camp Changi, Singapore: hell on earth for the soldiers contained within its barbed wire walls. Officers and enlisted men, all prisoners together--yet the old hierarchies and rivalries survive. An American corporal, known as the King, has used his personality and wiles to facilitate trading with guards and locals to get needed food, supplies, [and] even information into the camp. The imprisoned upper-class officers have never had to do things for themselves, and now they are reduced to wearing rags while the King's clean shirt, gained through guts and moxie, seems like luxury in comparison. In the camp, everything has its price and everything is for sale"--Back cover