Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II [Paperback]

George MacDonald Fraser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2007

George MacDonald Fraser—beloved for his series of Flashman historical novels—offers an action-packed memoir of his experiences in Burma during World War II.  Fraser was only 19 when he arrived there in the war’s final year, and he offers a first-hand glimpse at the camaraderie, danger, and satisfactions of service. A substantial Epilogue, occasioned by the 50th anniversary of VJ-Day in 1995, adds poignancy to a volume that eminent military historian John Keegan described as “one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author of the famous Flashman series and the Private McAuslan stories, George MacDonald Fraser worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he has also written numerous films, most notably The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and the James Bond film Octopussy. He is also the author of Quartered Safe Out Here about his World War II service in Burma, and The Steel Bonnets and The Candlemass Road about the Anglo-Scottish wars. He passed away at the age of eighty-two in 2008.

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing; 3RD PBK edition (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602391904
• ISBN-13: 978-1602391901
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > History > Asia > Myanmar
  • #60 in Books > History > Military > United States > Veterans

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Soildier's Up Close Story of The Jungle War in Burma During WWII:, February 13, 2008

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II (Paperback)

George MacDonald Fraser, who has written many successful fiction books based on well researched history quite often starring his very British Flashman character, writes a chronicle of his own personal experiences in the final stages of WWII fighting the Japanese as a 19 year old member of a rifle company that is composed of a handful of men run by a sergeant and a corporal. Fraser, who just recently passed away, writes of his first hand experiences in a very descriptive personal way, capturing the various English dialects of his fellow citizen soldiers expressing all their frustrations of life in harsh conditions in the jungle dealing with swamps, leaches, mosquitoes, questionable orders but generally good leadership although sometimes well questioned by the troops. Fraser gives you an excellent description of what it was like in the field, mixed with the real humor from the men who bonded close together, although having their differences with occasional culture clashes; they generally endure their punishment with a delightful sarcasm. And Fraser gives you the full flavor of the different troops in the field such as the courageous Gurkha soldiers, Indians and native tribesmen that fight with the British while also interacting with the tribes inhabiting the Burma jungles often caught between the two sides. Fraser does not write a political correct book and he is quite clear about that, which makes the book a realistic read, he echoes what the troops in the field really felt and he makes no bones how they felt about their enemy. An excellent picture of very young and veteran soldiers in the field that gives you the feel for the tremendous challenges and conditions they faced.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At War In Burma...., October 1, 2008

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II (Paperback)

2001's "Quartered Safe Out Here" is George MacDonald Fraser's superbly written and moving recollection of his service wtih the British 14th Army in the Burma Theater at the close of the Second World War.

Fraser was a 19 year-old private, fresh from a "public" school education and assigned to an infantry section full of seasoned veterans in one of the most dangerous combat zones of the war. A journalist and novelist later in life, Fraser didn't get around to writing about his wartime experiences until half a century after the fact. As a result, his narrative is admittedly episodic. Fraser makes an effort to place his often vivid recollections in context provided by the official history, but this account is in no way meant to be a unit or campaign history.

Fraser is that unfortunately rare type, an infantry private with real writing skills. His section mates become living, breathing characters to the reader. His impressions of the jungle, the heat, the monsoons, and combat with the Japanese are heartbreakingly real. The respect of the 14th Army for its commander, future Field Marshal Bill Slim, shines through. Fraser's portraits of British, Indian, and Gurkha soldiers are by turns funny and awe-inspiring in capturing their stoic professionalism under conditions of boredom and terror. His observations of the attitudes and expectations of his fellow soldiers provide some pungent perspective on just how much the world has changed since 1945.

"Quartered Safe Out Here" is very highly recommended as a superbly written and brutally honest account of a forgotten theater of World War II, a reading experience for the casual reader and the student of history alike.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars War in Burma, November 5, 2007

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Hedley M. F. Butterfield - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II (Paperback)

The author of the Flashman chronicles has produced a vivid account of what it was actually like to be a young soldier in Burma in the later stages of World War II. Refreshing & politically incorrect.