Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: From the Defence of Sumatra to the fall of Burma [Hardcover]

Christopher Shores (Author), Brian Cull (Author), Yasuho Izawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993

This is the story of the Allied air campaign across Australia, Sumatra, Java, the Philippines, Burma and Ceylon during World War II. It documents the Allied underestimation of Japanese ability, and ends with the Japanese at the extremities of their advance.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 494 pages
• Publisher: Grub Street Publishing; 1st edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0948817674
• ISBN-13: 978-0948817670
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > History > Asia > Sri Lanka

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars invaluable for the historian, December 28, 2002

By 

Daniel Ford (at danford dot net) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: From the Defence of Sumatra to the fall of Burma (Hardcover)

Christopher Shores is an international treasure, a man who has made it his task to suss out the truth about aerial combats in far corners of the globe, usually with the assistance of a fellow historian or two from the countries most involved. In this particular case, he is one of the few who have accessed Japanese records, and he compares them with Allied accounts on a day-by-day basis. This is great stuff, especially for those of us who already know something about the campaigns. My particular interest is the Flying Tigers of Burma, and I was delighted to have Shores's version, especially since he gives equal time to the RAF squadrons that fought alongside the AVG. But I confess that it took a great deal of concentration for me to slog through the Philippines campaign, about which I knew very little. So my conclusion is this: the more you know already, the more you will learn from this account. -- Dan Ford

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slightly Flawed But Excellent, July 5, 2005

By 

T. Womack (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: From the Defence of Sumatra to the fall of Burma (Hardcover)

Let me first say that both volumes in the Bloody Shambles series are excellent and far superior to ANY other text on the subject of air warfare in the first six months of the Pacific War that I've ever seen.

Nonetheless, having conducted extensive research into the role of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service (MLD) during the Japanese invasion of the former Netherlands East Indies (NEI), I can tell you that both volumes of Bloody Shambles contain some fairly substantial errors on the MLD. However, this can be overlooked somewhat given that the role of the MLD in the Pacific War is not particularly well covered in English and there is very little information available for the non-Dutch speaking historian. It is unlikely that I would have noticed the errors in question had I not spent 11 years researching my own manuscript on the naval air war in the NEI.

But from what I can tell though, the rest of the information detailing the air war in the Philippines, NEI, Singapore and Burma appears to be incredibly accurate. Having grown up hearing and reading stories about how the "invincible" Japanese blew through Allied air defenses with nary a loss, these texts go a long way in educating the reader that in many cases, the Allies gave just as much as they received from the Japanese.

All in all, a must read for anyone interested in learning more about the true nature of the air war in the first six months of the Pacific War.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christopher Shores/Brain Cull, March 8, 2002

By 

Jeff G (Round Rock, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: From the Defence of Sumatra to the fall of Burma (Hardcover)

This book, yet another in the wonderful series of air war accounts done by Christopher Shores and Brian Cull is a great review of the early air war in the Pacific Theater. Mr. Shores and Mr. Cull use interviews with the participants as well as the actual unit reports to bring an idea of the constant struggle that the air war represented. Rather than being dry, these books are easy to read and a great resource.