A visual record of all the armies involved in the Battle for Burma
during the Second World War from the British, American, Chinese, Indian,
Burmese Tribal forces as well as the Japanese Imperial Army.
The battle for Burma during the Second World War was of vital importance
to the Allies and the Japanese. The Allies fought to protect British
India and force the Japanese out of Burma; the Japanese fought to defend
the north-west flank of their newly conquered empire and aimed to strike
at India where anti-British feeling was growing stronger. Yet the
massive military efforts mounted by both sides during four years of war
are often overshadowed by the campaigns in Europe, North Africa, the
Pacific and China.
Philip Jowett, using over 200 wartime photographs, many of them not
published before, retells the story of the war in Burma in vivid detail,
illustrating each phase of the fighting and showing all the forces
involved - British, American, Chinese, Indian, Burmese as well as
Japanese. His book is a fascinating introduction to one of the most
extreme, but least reported, struggles of the entire war.
The narrative and the striking photographs carry the reader through each
of the major phases of the conflict, from the humiliation of the initial
British defeat in 1942 and retreat into India and their faltering
attempts to recover the initiative from 1943, to the famous Chindit
raids behind Japanese lines, the Japanese offensive of 1944 and their
disastrous retreat and ultimate defeat.
