Lot #155: 5 paperback books by James A Michener

1) Caravans, 438 pages, 1963. The story is set in Afghanistan immediately following World War II. The protagonist, Mark Miller, is stationed in Kabul at the American embassy and has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of Ellen Jasper, also from the United States, who had married an Afghan national thirteen months earlier. During his journey through Afghanistan, Miller comes to a deeper understanding of the complexities and nuances of contemporary Afghan life. His travels also reveal the similarities of human nature across cultural and social boundaries. 2) Iberia - Spanish Travels and Reflections, 960 pages, 1968. Details the author's exploration of Spain as it was in the decades leading up to the mid-1960s. In researching the book, Michener visited Spain numerous times over a period of 40 years, also referring to it as his "second home". 3) Poland - a Novel, 616 pages 1983. Details the times and tribulations of three interconnected Polish families (the Lubonski family, the Bukowski family, and the Buk family) across eight centuries, ending in the then-present day (1981). 4) The Bridges at Toko-Ri, 126 pages, 1953. The book details the experiences of United States Navy pilots in the Korean War as they undertake a mission to destroy heavily protected bridges in enemy territory. In 1951, Michener, a former United States Navy officer, was an embedded reporter with the Navy's Task Force 77. He was on the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Valley Forge (CV-45) offshore in Korea, and wrote for The Saturday Evening Post and Reader's Digest on the Korean air war. 5) Sayonara, 208 pages, 1954. Set during the early 1950s, it tells the story of Major Gruver, an American soldier stationed in Japan, who falls in love with Hana-ogi, a Japanese performer. The novel follows their cross-cultural Japanese romance and illuminates the racism of the post-World War II time period. Pickup category timeslot {A}