The Second World War in the CBI (China, Burma, and India) theater has been left out of the narrative for too long. James Holland has painted a wonderful picture of this theater in Burma and the deep complexities of the conflict at the time. I would highly recommend this to fellow World War 2 buffs and then encourage you to search out more to see the difficult work it took for James Holland to present this story.

I am a great fan of James Holland and regularly follow his (and Al Murray's) informative WW2 podcast 'We Have Ways of Making You Talk'. However, I am ashamed to say that I have never until now, read any of his books.
Burma '44 is an incredible book covering the bloody campaign to drive the Japanese out of Burma in 1944. It is wide-ranging, covering the high-level strategic decisions, through to the individual chilling stories of soldiers and airmen who fought on the front line.
Holland describes extremely well what it must have been like to fight the Japanese in Burma. Torrential rain, steep jungle-clad mountains, biting insects, leeches, relentless mud, disease, and the constant fear of being attacked by the ruthless battle-hardened Japanese.
The level of Japanese brutality is now hard to believe. One particularly horrific example described in the book was an allied hospital being overrun by the Japanese with all the hospital’s medical staff and critically ill patients being bayoneted.
The author describes Mountbatten’s brilliance in leading, planning, and executing the successful campaign. He was, without doubt, a first class leader and strategist, and not the lounge lizard commonly portrayed by the UK media. The concept and use of combined operations in Burma proved a battle-winning strategy. The arrival of new Spitfires and transport aircraft for resupply, and the use of tanks helped the troops turn the tide.
I am pleased that Holland acknowledged the vital role in the conflict undertaken by troops from other nations, particularly from India. Having lived in Africa for a number of years, my only small niggle is that the contribution of soldiers from the West African Rifles was barely mentioned. The truly forgotten participants of the 'Forgotten Army'. Hopefully, the African Rifles will be the subject of a future James Holland book!

James Holland has written an excellent popular history of an obscure but pivotal Second World War battle. The author uses primary source material to weave a story of extraordinary courage in the face of superior Japanese force and brutal jungle conditions by British and Indian troops, in what became a turning point battle in the South East Asia land campaign. Anecdotes focus on the British troops, as that is where Holland could find source material, so the Indian soldiers get shorter shrift. The book would have benefited from maps throughout the text, rather than up front. I would have also liked to have read more about what happened to the individuals we follow after the battle. Still, well worth the read.

Holland is slowly but surely covering every year of the Second World War, and these books have worked perfectly as a way to read year by year, the major events, and minor events, of the conflict. His latest is informative and often focuses on the overlooked elements. I look forward to what he writes for 1945, and hope that he continues writing such informative books.