Burma: The Longest War, 1941-1945 [Hardcover]

Louis Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1985

Charting the whole Burma war, this book flows like a novel from the high command to the sharp end setting out a myriad of facts and considerations in a clear and coherent narrative. Ranging far beyond pure military history the story is multi-layered, combining objective analysis with a sensitive account of human reaction in the face of bitter, cruel warfare, disease and an inhospitable terrain. Military events are painstakingly detailed, and set in their political and cultural context. Equal attention is paid to both sides of the conflict and the insights made into Japanese plans and responses make the book uniquely informative, exciting and moving. 'If one had to select one book about the Burma War, this fine work is the best' Dekho, magazine of the Burma Star Association 'There will be few more thorough chronicles of World War Two's most dreaded front than Louis Allen's Burma: The Longest War' The Listener

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Himself a veteran of the Southeast Asia operations of WW II and a Japanese linguist, Allen (The End of the War in Asia, Singapore 194142) has written a formidable and impressive history of the Burma campaign. In 1942, Japan conquered the country in short order, driving the Allied forces into India. The Allies launched a counteroffensive that would take almost three years to succeed, the task made even more difficult because the "racialism, arrogance, aloofness and greed" of English rule had left the Burmese anti-British. Much of the Allied campaign was waged in the jungle, with its concomitants of malaria, typhus, amoebic dysentery, anemia and foot-rot, against a foe whom Allen presents as brave and tenacious. Indeed, one of the more remarkable features of the book is the picture of Japanese officers, free of the stereotypes of samurai sword-wielding sadists. The book will no doubt be controversial, however, because Allen implies that the U.S. contribution to victory in Burma was minor. Photos. October
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Allen's work deals primarily with the human elements of the forgotten war waged between the doomed empires of Great Britain and Japan in Southeast Asia between 1941 and 1945. The author's familiarity with Japanese sources enables him to strike a balance unusual in Western accounts. Allen's Japanese are as much prisoners of their culture as the British are of theirs. They are victims of incompetent command and inadequate logistics. They do not want to die, but their ready acceptance of death lends a special horror to Allen's descriptions of some of the century's most vicious fighting. This is recommended in conjunction with Raymond Callahan's Burma 1942-1945 (Univ. of Delaware Pr., 1979). Dennis E. Showalter, History Dept., Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 686 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (September 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312108583
• ISBN-13: 978-0312108588
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,794,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Account, February 18, 2001

By 

Gregory Peterson (Hawaii USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945 (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Burma Star, January 24, 2007

By 

Kenneth W. Farminer (Midland, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945 (Paperback)

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."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agree on all accounts but one., October 1, 2002

By 

Christopher J. Hodson (Hampstead, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945 (Paperback)

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.