The untold story of one of WW2's most extraordinary and significant battles which marked the turning of the tide of the war in the jungles of Burma
James Holland is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning
historian, writer, and broadcaster. The author of a number of
best-selling histories including most recently The Savage Storm and
Cassino '44, he is also the author of ten works of fiction and a
dozen Ladybird Experts.
He is the co-founder of the annual Chalke Valley History Festival
which is now in its twelfth year, and he has presented - and
written - many television programmes and series for the BBC,
Channel 4, National Geographic and the History and Discovery
channels.
With Al Murray, he has a successful Second World War podcast, We
Have Ways of Making You Talk, which also has its own festival, and
is a research fellow at St Andrew's University and a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society. He can be found on Twitter as @James1940
and on Instagram as @jamesholland1940.
Holland is good on the mechanics of warfare and gives a thrilling
blow-by-blow account of the fighting, which will please military
buffs. There are also crisp vignettes of the commanders . . . But
it is the voices of the fighting men that lift this book above the
level of a simple battle narrative. Holland has a good ear.
*The Times*
Up there with Rorke’s Drift . . . in rescuing the Battle of the
Admin Box from oblivion, Holland has performed a signal service for
all the men who fought – and died – in its defence
*Telegraph*
In this superb account of an obscure but decisive battle fought in
almost indescribably difficult jungle terrain, the always excellent
James Holland tells a tale of heroism and grit to match any in the
annals of war
*The Mail on Sunday*
Vivid . . . military historian James Holland conjures the heroism
and horror of this gallant stand by a motley force of doctors,
clerks and other base troops against highly trained Japanese
infantry.
*Daily Mail*
A gripping account of one of the war’s lesser-known episodes
*Soldier*
Holland is excellent at conjuring up the sights, sounds and smells
of combat in the Arakan’s inhospitable terrain . . . Too many
histories of the Second World War revisit the same old battles:
Dunkirk, El Alamein, D-day and Arnhem. It is refreshing, therefore,
to be reminded of one of the lesser known yet still highly
significant engagements. Burma ’44 is a brilliant exploration of
how and why the British turned the tide in the East
*Literary Review*
This book not only reveals previously unknown facts, it also makes
one proud of the British achievement, both by the ‘clerks and
orderlies; and by senior commanders
*Country Life*
A smashing battle history . . . The fear and tension of jungle
combat are tangible in this pacey narrative of how British and
Indian troops won their first decisive victory over the
Japanese
*BBC History Magazine*
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