Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945

"Wow... what a fantastic narrative. This is definitely one of the best narratives from WWII and certainly maybe the last word on the Burma Campaign. Here is where the Anglo-Indian army takes on the Japanese main force of 300,000 soldiers and over the span 4 years, including a decisive year-long campaign, destroys Japanese armed power in SE Asia. This book should be recommended to anyone with a taste for good historical narratives sheer adventure and a lesson on how to write good narratives. Allen was one of the few British authors who speaks and reads Japanese fluently and also who faught in the campaign. He has been the guest of numerous Japanese veterans organisations and over many drinks, late into the night he interviewed these soldiers as to their interpretation of crucial events of the campaign. His results are truly astounding -- Mutaguchi for example, did not know the extent or the purpose of the initial Chindit operation -- but it had the unintended effect of convincing him that Japanese forces could penetrate long distances in jungle with meagre to non-existent supply lines, thus prompting him to push the Imphal Campaign up the chain of command until he eventually got his way and ended up destroying more Japanese soldiers than in any other battle of WWII. Apparently the collapse of the Sittang River British isolating the better part of a British Division, was not known by the Japanese at the time or even after the war. This analysis from the Japanese side provides real human faces to both sides in this conflict and explains the motivations of both forces in a way rarely seen in most Far-east War and Pacific narratives. It is also an appreciation of the smartness and capability of the Japanese infantryman conveyed by a person who actually faught them. This stands in contrast to the appalling command the Japanese army put up with in this theatre. Mutaguchi was the bete noir of the piece, but the incompetence extended to staff and divisional commanders - who were either too passive in gaining their objectives, or truly fanatical to the point of gross negligence. There were of course a lot of exceptions and sympathetic commanders are named and usually sacked by Mutaguchi until he was mercifully released from command and sent back to teach in Japan. The politics of the region and the role of the Indian National Army is described. It's actions being rather tragically employed in the battle and destroyed rather easily, ironically by their Indian brothers in the Indo-British Army. Allan's Japanese translations are perfect and this book is as critical of the British as of the Japanese. It is a wonderful narrative or a very long and large campaign in horrific geographical dimensions that is now sadly... mostly "forgotten."

Louis Allen, who was there, has captured the completeness of the longest war, the three year non-stop struggle for Burma, magnificently. This largely forgotten war, which saved the Indian sub-continent from Japanese dominance, has been well described, mostly in fragments, based on their personal experiences, by several authors but none has undertaken a complete description that encompasses both the Allied and the Japanese perspectives and Allen's work does this brilliantly. Based on many interviews with both Allied and Japanese personnel this book captures the struggle from the initial defeat through the retreat into India to the final overthrow of the Japanese military in this large, often beautiful, and unfortunately, today mostly closed ,country. Fought over widely varied terrain and with a savagery akin to that of the German-Russian experience this book is a tribute to the bravery of military personnel from a wide variety of backgrounds. On the Allied side soldiers from Britain, China, America, India, Nepal ( Goorkas), East and West Africa and Burma were motivated by excellent leadership to stop and then defeat the Japanese. Interestingly it was to prove to be both the proudest moment and the swansong of the world's largest volunteer army---the British Indian Army. In the Burmese campaigns this army, with its mixture of races and religions form today's India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma truly came into its own only to be broken up two year later. One must not forget the part played by the logistics services. Both the Allied and the Japanese forces were low in priority for equipment and at the end of a long supply chain. Much of the Allied success was due to a superior supply capability, and in particular, the concept of aerial supply was perfected in the ejection of the Japanese army from Burma. This book is an excellent read for any student of military history if only to ensure that we never forget the Kohima Memorial inscription. "When you go home, Tell them of us and say. For your tomorrow We gave our today."

This excellent book is hard to put down but I am afraid that in going from a hardcover edition to a smaller paperback that the maps have become very hard to read. The letters are so small on some of the maps that they are nearly impossible to read. Hope the editors do something about it but I doubt it will happen. Minor flaw in a great read.

This is an outstanding book that must be considered the definitive single-volume account of the campaign in Burma in WWII. The author is a veteran of the campaign in the British Army where he was an intelligence officer. What is especially enjoyable about this book is that it includes many firsthand Japanese accounts in addition to Allied. The author speaks Japanese and drew upon official Japanese histories and personal interviews with participants. I have read several other books about this often forgotten Theater in WWII ( including Viscount Slim's "Defeat Into Victory" ), but this is the first book that includes Japanese sources. The author starts with the Japanese invasion of Burma and discusses the political situation in Burma prior to the invasion and how the Japanese used this to their favor. It includes the retreat of the British into India, their recovery, the British offensive in the Arakan, and Wingate and the birth of the Chindits. The author goes into great detail about Kohima-Imphal and this is where the Japanese perspective is so interesting. It follows with battles of North Burma and Stillwell, Mandalay/Meiktila and the race to Rangoon and the Japanese breakout of the 28th Army and then the surrender of Japanes forces. The book has good maps and it is not to difficult to follow forces on the battlefield. The most daunting task is trying to remember the Burmese and Indian names for places and trying to remember all the names of the Japanese sources and officers. But all this helps to add to the authenticity of the book. This book is a must read for anyone interested in WWII. It is well written, easy to read and very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.