The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "THE JUNGLE WAS EVERYWHERE..." (more)
Key Phrases: first convoy, third battalion, base perimeter, Burma Road, Ledo Road, Chiang Kai-shek (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Mountainous and malarial, northern Burma is terrible terrain for war, but the Allies resolved to fight there to keep China in World War II. The effort's executant, American general Joseph Stilwell, occupies center stage of Webster's chronicle, which benefits from the author's visits to battle sites and remnants of a supply road. Applying concrete visualization of the mud, leeches, and heat of tropical combat, Webster renders the misery experienced by soldiers on both Japanese and Allied sides, blending them with the tactical details of the war's ebb and flood in Burma. These flow into Webster's accounts of Merrill's Marauders, Wingate's Chindits, Chennault's Flying Tigers, and other such colorful objects of Eric Sevareid's and Theodore White's reportage, all under Stilwell's nominal control, as was, on paper but infrequently in fact, the military of Chiang Kai-shek. Stilwell's headaches running such a sprawling theater, while previously researched by Barbara Tuchman (Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, 1970), are ably integrated by Webster into the infantryman's viewpoint: the result is a high-quality overview. Gilbert Taylor
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Review

"A high-quality overview." -- Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

"Brings a light hand and solid storytelling skills to his task." -- Kirkus Reviews

"In World War II, Japan sealed parts of China. Nothing could get in or out. Disaster loomed. In The Burma Road—a gripping recounting of those dark days—Donovan Webster tells us the harrowing and heroic story of how China survived."
–James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers

-- Review

"Thoroughly researched...Webster paints this tough, bizarre world vividly." -- Outside

"Webster tells the story in eyebrow-searing detail. Look for this to be the next Band of Brothers." -- Men's Health

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (October 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374117403
• ISBN-13: 978-0374117405
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #744,458 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new authentic voice, November 7, 2003

By	Kevin Green (Mankato, MN United States) - See all my reviews

Finally, a new authentic voice.

Ledo, Shaduzup, Shingbwiyang, Myitkyina, Bhamo...I knew these names by heart before I was 10.

Stilwell, Pick, Seagrave, .... legendary names circulating around our dinner table, their stories, great and small, told and retold. I grew up with their photographs looking down at me from on the sunroom wall. A penetrating statement by Stillwell became our family motto, hammered home, to my chagrin, again and again to me by my father over the years.

I can still clearly see myself as a child of seven sitting on General Pick's knee in our living room. There he would sit talking with my father, Col. Joe Green, the Road Engineer, Pick's right hand man. They visited often back then in the early 1950's, Pick and my father. Often, amidst the pressing concerns of the day and the Cold War, they talked of Burma and the Road and the men who built it, who fought and who died.

I grew up hearing a uniquely authentic and unvarnished story of the CBI, the very good, the very bad, the very funny and the very ugly. The stories and history came from men who were profoundly changed by that experience. These men were faced with almost insurmountable obstacles; the Burmese jungles, rivers and mountains and a deadly and implacable foe. Men, who in spite of every hardship, got the `Road That Couldn't Be Built' done in record time with a major pipeline, and a myriad of airstrips thrown in to boot.

None of the men from the CBI that I have known over the years considered themselves heroes. When I would ask my father how he felt about being the road engineer on one of the great engineering feats of any century, he would reply " It was just a job of work, son. We all just wanted to do our best, stay alive and get home as quickly as possible." He refused to consider the possibility of writing a book. With the passing of these modest, brave and dedicated builder/warriors the authentic voice has muted and faded, until now.

I bought the book by Donovan Webster primarily because in his Prologue he talked about walking the Road. Imagine, I said to myself, a writer who actually took the time to visit what he was writing about, I couldn't resist. Not expecting much I began to read. Suddenly I realized I was captivated. I was reading this history book like it was a novel. Then it stuck me, even though this was very much an overview of a theater of operations, this guy GOT IT. He had somehow managed to capture and retell the stories in that same authentic voice that I had heard over the years from the men who were there. All of this was the result of many interviews and hundreds of hours spent on the Road and off.

One thing I can assure any reader is that Webster has correctly assessed, at least the way I first heard it, Chang, (difficult and self-seeking) Stillwell, (a soldier's soldier) Slim, (reliable) Wingate,(gifted and mad) Sun, (the best of a bad lot) the tribal Nagas (ferocious) and Kachins,(delightful and terrifying), the Merrill's Marauders, (unequaled courage and skill) Raiders,(mad English with a real talent for mayhem) engineers, black and white, (the best men, 24/7 worked their hearts out) and the rest. All crafted to fit together in a coherent and highly readable book as the story of real people in a deadly situation.

It is a relief to hear the `voice' again from the men who were there. This book has the ring of truth, a palpable sense of the sweat, the smell, the bugs, rats, mud, monsoon, fear, tragedy, death and ultimate triumph. It is all there. It is true that there is much more to tell. It would be unfair to criticize this work for being superficial. Is an overview. The story is truly vast and this book could easily have been a thousand pages or more. The official (and dry) U.S. Army history is a multi-volume set.

One thing that really impressed me about this book was Webster's style and editorial judgment in dealing with the people and events. He didn't write it like it was a PhD thesis or a technical study. He managed to capture that "golden thread", the story, the theme of the conflict in this theater of war; viz, No matter what, Build the Road, Keep China in the war. He accomplishes this in a real time fashion by the use of narrative without playing the games of revisionist history. When the Road was built nobody knew about the atom bomb. In early 1945 the men in Burma, including my father, were looking at another 18 months of war, either on the Japanese home islands or fighting the bulk of the Japanese army in China. Their greatest fear was that the Imperial Army would fight to the last man as they had on Saipan. They had witnessed the savagery and slaughter of Myitkyina, Imphal and Kohima. Upon completion many looked to, as their reward, being transferred to the far Pacific to follow Stilwell to Okinawa. As far as they knew or believed convoys would be traveling the Road to China for months if not years to come.

Chang's threat to make a separate peace with Japan was taken very seriously. The Road had to be built. Mr. Webster captured the importance of Joe Stillwell in this scheme as the central driving force of the Burma Campaign. His will, example and leadership galvanized everybody and the entire effort. He kept the perspective that existed in 1944, the Road was the reason for everything in Burma. All was focused on one goal, build the Road, and keep China in the war.

If you don't read another book about the CBI read this one. It's the real deal. Dad would have loved it.

Kevin O'C. Green

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book, October 9, 2003

By	Weegee - See all my reviews

I feel so privledged to be the first to write a review. I some how ended up with a preview copy via a friend.

Being a WWII buff, I've spent most of my reading focus on the European theatre. Several months ago I entered the Pacific side of things by reading "Ghost Soldiers." I learned of the Japanese Bushido code, the inhumane and cruel tactics of Japanese soliders (even to their own troops), and their never say die approach to war. Not to mention the incredible will of the US soldier.

"The Burma Road" furthered my knowledge of the Japanese war machine, but more importantly introduced me to many new characters, battles, and "fun" little tales about the war (i.e. air dropping fried chicken on top of starving allied troops trapped defending a hill).

WWII buffs will find the book fascinating and general history buffs will walk away feeling enlightened as well. This book more than any other that I've read on war really touches upon the politics of war. It really is a perfect mix of politics, strategy, battlefied stories, characters and various foreign cultures.

After reading this book, I can't believe I didn't know more about this campaign. It truly is fascinating and there are many side stories to keep you entertained.

The writing is excellent. It begins with the author trying to visit the actual road and being stopped by a sentry. I was a little worried that the author would include himself in the story, but quickly after the intro, he focuses on the CBI campaign using very friendly historical narrative and not his bumbling adventures through the bush.

Add it to your must read list.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've got my machete and my gun..., March 21, 2004

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When most people think of World War II, they think of the fight against Nazism in Europe. Even if they do consider the fight against Japan, most think of the US Marines jumping from one bloody island to another on their long march north. Largely forgotten by many, there was a war in Asia as well. Japan invaded China in 1937, starting 8 years of combat ranging from mountains of China to the jungles of Burma and other southeast Asian countries. It wasn't a pretty campaign, but it was very important.

Donovan Webster has written a definitive account of this war from an American and British perspective. The Burma Road covers the war from the American entrance into the war until its Japan's final collapse. A large part of the book is focused on General Joseph Stillwell, or "Vinegar Joe" as his men called him, but Webster does cover almost every aspect of it. While the war in China is neglected for a long period of time, The Burma Road effectively shows us the blood, sweat and disease that dominated this campaign. It's a fascinating book.

There is a bit of a framing story around the book, with Webster trying to walk the full length of the Burma Road, a road from Burma to China that was supposed to supply the Chinese and keep them in the war. A large portion of northeast India is still restricted, especially from journalists, and Webster is unsuccessful in the beginning of his journey. He then segues into the beginning of Stillwell's story, giving a brief summary of his career up until he gets assigned to the Southeast Asian sector of the war. Notoriously under-supplied and undermanned, Stillwell is forced to make do with what he can to keep the Japanese out of India at all costs. While Japan successfully invades Thailand and Burma and Stillwell is forced to slog through the jungles to escape, he manages to keep them from their ultimate goal. He is less successful with the Chinese, however, forever clashing with China's leader, Chiang Kai-shek. After three years of fighting both the Japanese and his own allies, Stillwell is finally relieved of command, despite his many successes.

While a large portion of the book is told through Stillwell's point of view, other areas are not neglected. We hear a lot about the British army, especially the Chindit special forces (one whole chapter on their beginning plus numerous chapters when they are fighting alongside Stillwell's men) as well as the beginning of the world-famous "Flying Tigers," a group of American pilots who had resigned their commissions so they could fight for China before the United States entered the war. Their leader, Claire Chennault, later became a real thorn in Stillwell's side, siding with Kai-Shek in all of the battles between the two leaders.

The book follows a semi-chronological format, taking us from the beginning of Stillwell's involvement in the Asian theater of operations to the end of the war, but it does jump around a bit when it moves on to another subject. It gets to a certain point in Stillwell's career and then backtracks to tell the beginning of Chindit operations, for example. It also pauses to give brief biographies of major characters, such as the British General Orde Wingate. This back and forth style does make it confusing at times, and there was one time reference that I swore didn't add up until I realized that Webster was talking about something else. However, it does make the book feel even more comprehensive, as it seems to cover every conceivable angle of the war.

The one aspect of this where The Burma Road fails, however, regards China. The constant lend-lease supply of goods to the Chinese is covered, the Chinese contribution to Stillwell's campaign is documented beautifully, and Chennault's Flying Tigers are represented. On the other hand, other than a brief chapter near the end of the book and a few mentions in between, none of the fighting in China is actually discussed. Webster spends a brief time discussing the decision to finally bring the Chinese Communists into the war, and makes a few small references to their savagery in fighting the Japanese. Given the depth of the rest of the book, however, it feels very small.

That being said, though, The Burma Road is a very valuable resource for anybody wanting a general history of the Asian campaign in World War II. It corrects some myths that have been fostered about the war. One chapter takes special aim at the book and movie The Bridge Over the River Kwai. It calls the book fictional with the movie being even worse. Webster gives the real details behind the building of that bridge, and the railway in general. He tells us how the Japanese mistreated not only the prisoners, but also their own men.

That's where The Burma Road excels: the details. Webster doesn't pull any punches, telling us of the disease, leeches, poisoned water, the condition of the corpses, and other hardships that the valiant men who fought in this theater went through. He even interviewed some of the Japanese soldiers who managed to survive the conflict, showcasing the ordeals they had to go through. They were chronically under-supplied and often subsisted on nothing but small quantities of rice and bad water. Webster gives us so much detail that you may not want to read this book over lunch.

I haven't read a better book on this subject, and I'm very glad I picked this up. I couldn't put it down. If you're a military history fan, I don't think you'll be able to either. It's a book that the men who fought and died in the jungles deserve to have written about them. It especially does old Vinegar Joe justice.

David Roy