Burma '44: The Battle That Turned Britain's War in the East

(Paperback)

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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 'A first-rate popular history of a fascinating and neglected battle . . . James Holland is a master of spinning narrative military history from accounts of men and women who were there and BURMA '44 is a veritable page-turner' BBC History In February 1944, a rag-tag collection of clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews managed to hold out against some of the finest infantry in the Japanese Army, and then defeat them in what was one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War. What became know as The Defence of the Admin Box, fought amongst the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a fifteen-day period, turned the battle for Burma. Not only was it the first decisive victory for British troops against the Japanese, more significantly, it demonstrated how the Japanese could be defeated. The lessons learned in this tiny and otherwise insignificant corner of the Far East, set up the campaign in Burma that would follow, as General Slim's Fourteenth Army finally turned defeat into victory. Burma '44 is a tale of incredible drama. As gripping as the story of Rorke's drift, as momentous as the battle for the Ardennes, the Admin Box was a triumph of human grit and heroism and remains one of the most significant yet undervalued conflicts of World War Two.

Reviews

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 Rorkes 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 wars lesser-known episodes * Soldier *

Author Bio

James Holland is a historian, writer and broadcaster. The author of a number of bestselling histories, including Battle of Britain, Dam Busters, Normandy '44 and, most recently, Brothers In Arms, he has also written nine works of historical fiction, including the Jack Tanner novels. He has presented - and written - a large number of television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, and the History and Discovery channels. A three-part documentary series based on his bestselling book Normandy '44 under the same title can be found on Amazon Prime. James is co-founder of the Chalke Valley History Festival and of WarGen.org, an online Second World War resource site, and presents the Chalke Valley History Hit podcast. He also presents We Have Ways of Making You Talk, a podcast with Al Murray in which they discuss the Second World War. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @James1940.