The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942-45

by Frank McLynn

This book, in essence a quadruple biography, tells the story of the four larger-than-life Allied commanders whose lives collided in the Burma campaign, one of the most punishing and protracted military adventures of World War II. Ranging from 1942, when the British suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the Empire, through the crucial battles of Imphal and Kohima ("the Stalingrad of the East"), and on to ultimate victory in 1945, this account is vivid, brutal, and enthralling.

Frank McLynn opens a new window on the Burma Campaign, focusing on the interactions and antagonisms of its principal players: William Slim, the brilliant general commanding the British 14th Army; Orde Wingate, the ambitious and idiosyncratic commander of the Chindits, a British force of irregulars; Louis Mountbatten, one of Churchill's favorites, overpromoted to the position of Supreme Commander, S.E. Asia; and Joseph Stilwell ("Vinegar Joe"), a hard-line U.S. general, also a martinet and Anglophobe. McLynn draws careful portraits of each of these men, neglecting neither strengths nor flaws, and shows with new clarity how the plans, designs, and strategies of generals and politicians were translated into a hideous reality for soldiers on the ground.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, War

532 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2010

About the author

Frank McLynn is an English author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley.

McLynn was educated at Wadham College, Oxford and the University of London. He was Alistair Horne Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford (1987–88) and was visiting professor in the Department of Literature at the University of Strathclyde (1996–2001) and professorial fellow at Goldsmiths College London (2000 - 2002) before becoming a full-time writer.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I have to assign 1 Star to this one. I was not all that excited about reading the histories of four commanders without also reading about their forces and battles in some detail. You get almost nothing about the forces they command. After about 100 pages, the author's style grated. Opinionated is fine but "Wingate was a war criminal", Alexander was Churchill's pet" and other disdainful commentary put me off the book.

[Marco Etheridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burma, 1942-1945: A part of World War Two that is often referred to as the Forgotten Theater. The notion of these brutal campaigns being forgotten is reinforced by the dearth of histories written about them. Frank McLynn's "The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph 1942-45" is one of the few comprehensive histories of this theater of World War Two.

I read the book on a recent trip to Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. I was traveling the same terrain as the soldiers that suffered through the miseries of that horrific war. Being on the same land lent a vividness to the horrible struggles I was reading about. Yes, but what about the book itself?

This is not a traditional history of a military campaign. It is essentially a biography of the four most important Allied commanders. The Author moves back and forth between the British commanders William Slim, Orde Wingate, Louis Mountbatten, and the lone American, Joe Stilwell. McLynn tells the stories of these commanders, their conflicts with each other, and their individual battles to fight back against the seemingly invincible Japanese wave. The stories of these individuals become the portraits on a larger canvas. As their stories play out, so to do the stories of the war in Burma.

The Author begins the book with the disastrous Allied retreat in 1942. Japanese forces overrun Burma and set themselves up as the rulers of the region. The British and Americans are forced back into India. What follows is the story of rebuilding a functional army, teaching that army that the Japanese are not invincible, and then finally putting that lesson to the test.

As the Allies try to regain the offensive, there are the first incursion into Japanese territories by the British Chindits and the American Merrill's Marauders. These jungle fighters suffered as much from disease as Japanese bullets, and the author does an excellent job of detailing the struggles of jungle combat.

The history continues through the eyes of the commanders as the tide turns with the crucial battles of Imphal and Kohima. These crucial Allied victories mark the end of Japanese advances towards India. The Allied forces are finally able to field well-trained and well-supplied armies. The campaign to regain Burma is protracted, hard-fought, and brutal, yet by 1945 the ultimate victory is achieved.

I found McLynn's work to be engaging and insightful. There are a few caveats. This is not an unbiased history. The Author has his opinions and he is not shy about writing those opinions down. Readers who are expecting a strictly chronological history may be disappointed by the Author's approach. The idea of using four biographies to tell a greater story worked for me as a reader, but may not work for others. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about one of the most brutal, and little known chapters of World War Two history.

[John Allgood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a remarkably readable book about Burma during the Second World War. McLynn focuses on 4 major Allied leaders: Slim, Stilwell, Mountbatten, and Wingate. Of the four, Orde Wingate is portrayed the least sympathetically while Mountbatten comes, not surprisingly, close. While it may be surprising to include Stilwell in the four, it allows the reader to understand the importance of China (and the American interests there) to the Pacific in general. Stilwell remains a fascinating character full of opinion and character, not always helpful in dealing with Chiang Kai-shek. The book is long on the political feuding among the British and American military. If you want a book on the intricate details of the campaign, this isn't it. You will get a good sense of what was important and why it was important in Burma and how it fit in to the rest of the war. There are a number of editing errors in the book ("a three day journey took three days") which distract from the narrative but overall it was worth the read.

[Anthony Kinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview

This is a good strategic and operational coverage of the Burma Campaign. The coverage of the important military and civilian figures was thorough. A good read if you want to learn about this lesser known campaign.

[Bob Mobley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank McLynn has written one of the best surveys of the South Asian Campaign during the second World War. It is a fascinating study in leadership and the influence of individuals upon decisions, and through their decisions, upon the course of outcomes. McLynn's style of writing is both compelling and engaging, and makes the story he is telling about the most difficult campaign of WWII interesting and meaningful. As a study in leadership, Frank McLynn brings to life the strengths and weaknesses of names we have heard about, but may not have understood who they really are as people. Woven into his story are revealing insights into Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Chiang Kai-shek, Madame Chiang, George C. Marshall, Louis Mount Batten, General Joseph Stiwell, Ord Wingate, General George Stratemeyer, Douglas McArthur, and perhaps the best military commander on the Allied side of the second World War, William Slim. How these "leaders" interact, react and challenge each other is the fascinating story that lies within the book. One cannot help but take away from this engrossing account of the Burma Campaign the realization that in this most difficult and demanding geography, topography and climate, the aggressive foreign policies of Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, complemented by the equally aggressive policies of General To Jo and Prince Konoye, produced a kind of irrestible force versus immovable object scenario. Leadership is important, and it is vital that leaders be both ethical as well as honest. This is a revealing study in the consequences of misguided and unchecked leadership.

[Anthony Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written, well-told account of the Allied push to retake Burma during World War II. Its an exciting read, full of well-paced battle scenes and great details.

It suffers, however, from the author's extreme hyperbole and fixation on the flaws of most individuals portrayed. Everyone other than Slim and Stillwell is portrayed negatively, and often extroardinarily so.

Here's a sample from just one page- General Irwin is referred to as, "lacking in moral courage, aggresive, outspoken, dictatorial, inflexible, unimaginative, conservative, and reactionary. With a penchant for acerbity, he inspired neither loyalty, nor affection. A sycophant to those above him and a bully to those below...blimpish...to add to his other faults, Irwin was a micromanaging control freak... by nature a meddler". This is just one man on one page, but this kind of tone is taken over and over again with regards to real people.

The racial overtones are particularly unfortunate- Chiang Kai Sheck is called "oily" and "cunning", while Aung San is reduced to being merely viewed as a "quisling", a profound misunderstanding of his status in Burmese culture.

A fun read, but you may well get sick of the tone.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the positive side the book is very readable and covers a part of World War II that doesn't always receive the attention it deserves. On the other hand, the author spends most of his time detailing the bureaucratic intrigues within the Allied command which becomes tiresome after a point. What was most missing was more information on the Japanese side of the war and events occurring within Burma itself during the occupation. Also, the book suffers from a severe dearth of maps to contextualize the battles and campaigns described.

[Carina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disapointed in this book I won't lie. The quote on the cover says "EPIC ... a comprehensive and engrossing account" which made me think this would be on a parr with books like The Green Berets, or Band of Brothers, or even Vietcong Memoir or Last Man Out, but instead I was bored out of my mind. The only reason this was not a DNF is because this is a book of my Dad's and I was determined to read the entire thing. I wonder now if the elipses is covering "fail, definitely not" because that would be a neat way to summarise my review.

I will throw out a positive point - I really enjoyed the last 50 pages of the book (ignoring the notes and references) so I think I would like to read more about Slim and his operation EXTENDED CAPITAL.

Negatives then... the author seems to hate literally everyone involved in Burma, but will throw in what feels like very random elements of praise. Perhaps this is down to me reading some literary comparisons of how media portrays different factions in war (e.g. died v killed), but it really stood out to me that the author uses a lot of negative stereotypical language yet mixes it with a positive - this isn't a quote because I cannot be arsed to find one but it's like saying the heoric limeys, or the heoric orientals. (Whilst not a quote those exact words ARE used in this book). It made reading this a weird experience especially as rather than telling me about the Burma Campaign I was instead treated (hah) to 400 pages on quibbling adults.

If you were to ask me now, having finished this book mere minutes ago, for anything about the war in Burma I'd have to say... I don't know anything about it. There were apparently heated battles (though not really evidenced in this book), some atrocities (talked about as such but not described so I suppose you can avoid that element of a trigger warning) and a lot of hot air from various men. Ask me again in a few days and I doubt I'd remember Slim or Mountbatten (I already forgot Wingate and Stilwell) as being major people in this.

Whilst the authors negativity did seem to tarr everyone equally for the most part, I found the repeated references to Mountbattens supposed adultery to be out of place. Earlyish in the book the author makes a negative reference to the LGBTQIA+ community which also stuck out as being incredibly unnecessary. So whilst, as I said above I'd like to read more about EXTENDED CAPITAL I will not be picking up any other books by this author.

[Ann Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

McLynn writes of the WW2 Burma campaign from the British perspective. He tells the story through research focused on four leaders of the campaign-Brits Louis Mountbatten, Orde Wingate, William Slim, and American Joseph Stilwell. The many who served under them are also included in the details surrounding the complex and challenging political, communications and military relationships of many stakeholders related to China, Burma, India, the United States and the British empire fighting Japan in Asia. McLynn's accounts are different from many other sources on the campaign. He tends to focus on the negative behaviors and personalities of most historical characters including Churchill and Roosevelt. McLynn includes many rumors about individuals and situations which don't appear necessary and result in more than the usual assumptions for a nonfiction work of this type. If you are interested in this period of history and the China-Burma-India theater, it is wise to read other accounts as well for a balanced picture. (I've reviewed several others.) But the book is interesting.

He admits in the Epilogue that those in the Burma campaign had little to work with and did the best they could under the circumstances. The Allies were always focused on Europe and the Pacific, not Asia. The fact that Britain was primarily concerned with maintaining its Asian holdings, primarily India, and that America wanted to protect its Chinese interests left Burma in an untenable tug-of-war.

[andy noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book

This excellent book deals with politics of war. 4 generals, leaders who were personally so different. Yet the politics, intrigue, backstabbing, egos and politicians who couldn't at times be trusted. A riveting account of the Burma campaign. Stillwell was a cantankerous guy who was anti british. Yet I felt sorry for him as undermined by FOR and others. Slim the epitome of a professional soldier. Wingate of the Richter scale and probably psychological insane. And Mountbatten vain, jealous and charming but ultimately seeking glory for himself. This book tells the tale of the successful allies campaign to defeat the Japanese in Burma and the role these 4 men played in this successful endeavour.

[Zach Dooley · Rating 2 out of 5]

ive read textbooks in class less dry then this. Loved his book On Genghis Khan, this was nothing like that, so boring. most of his sources are biased and he lets his personal bias seep into the book. No idea what happens in burma because he talks about the people, not the actual campaign (s). also an obsession with using excessively fancy words for no reason, top three being Chimerical, Uxorious, amour pompre. I had to have a french to english tab open on my phone to translate the many french sayings because I don't speak french, which on top of the dictionary searches used a lot of time I'd rather spend reading.

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! Well researched and well-written. Delighted to find George McDonald Fraser’s Quartered Safe Out There quoted from. I must agree, from what I have previously read, with his character analysis of McArthur, Stillwell, Mountbatten, Lord Slim and many of the other people involved. Slim has always been terribly under-rated, while Wingate has been consistently over-rated. Nice to see the balance rectified for once.

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the worst history books I’ve read in a long time. While I was hoping for a high-level biographical view of the Burma campaign, instead this turned into little more than a British tabloid writers book, long on gossip and opinions, but short on facts. With multiple basic errors and a lack of maps, makes even the few chapters with combat are less than useful. And what is it with chapters with only numbers and no idea what they cover?

[Hickory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this book only if one has read other military histories on Burma and East Asia, as it primes them to approach McLynn’s somewhat biased biographies, and provides context to the otherwise exclusively Western perspective. The book is a fascinating read, if a bit dry. It certainly taught me several French turns of phrase.

As a point of quality, the Yale Library edition of this book (if there are any others) is littered with typos.

[John Bedford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of the book focuses on four personalities in the Allied Burma campaign (Slim, Mountbatten, Stilwell, Wingate) The military history becomes more prominent with Imphal/Kohima 44 and continues until the end of the war, giving a good overview without lots of detail, and maintaining focus on those four; well mainly three.

[Emilyjmj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was not a fan. I bought this because my grandad fought in Burma but this tells you next to nothing about life on the ground. Its all political wrangling and military power struggles. I finished the book out of stubbornness but was bored stiff. I have just started Target Tokyo about the Doolittle raids and its already infinitely more gripping and readable.

[Ben Small · Rating 2 out of 5]

A terrible boring book that focuses on how rich, powerful people dithered and doted on Burma without actually touching on the people the war affected: the soldiers and those in Burma. The detailed political wranglings are really not very interesting. I gave up half way through, and reading other reviews it seems I made a good decision.

[Hunter Marston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really detailed account of the Allies' reversal of fortunes in Burma during World War II, from tragedy to triumph, drawing on sophisticated analysis of four important generals, their personalities, and leadership styles. McLynn does not pull his punches and lets you know whom he likes and whom he would prefer to see the historical record treat with more contempt or - at least - scrutiny.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. This well researched book tells the story of the CBI theater from a geo-political perspective. It concentrates on 4 key leaders: Stilwell, Slim, Mountbatten, and Wingate and their opposing strategies.

[Raunak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, albeit scattered biography of the four musketeers of the World War II Burma campaign. Decidedly not a neutral or unbiased account, but extremely detailed. I didn't like how he jumped through time and characters while talking about a campaign. Made it hard to follow.

[Cody Lennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book could be half as long and you'd get just as much out of it. The author goes through long winded diatribes about the main actors relationship that are simply sleep inducing. the author also very clearly discloses his personal opinions which makes for a muddied history lesson

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at a frequently forgotten corner of WWII. The character study is excellent.

[Nicholas Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank McLynn's excellent history of the Burma campaign is a highly enjoyable exploration if the key players in the often forgotten part of WW2. The narrative combines biographical depictions of the military leaders with the logistical challenges and political complications of this tortuous campaign. While it does not hone in on the individual stories of human beings subjected to such horrors readers exploring this part of WW2 for the first time will benefit a great deal.

[William Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this book I now believe that General Wavell UK was largely ineffective; General Wingate UK was deranged; Admiral Mountbatten was little more than a figurehead; General Stilwell was mostly a pain in the tuchas to his superiors but an effective trainer and leader of soldiers in battle. He was probably promoted beyond his real ability; Chiang Kai-shek was nothing more than a corrupt dictator; Field Marshall Slim was the best military leader strategic and tactical in the China-Burma Theater! Although there is a lot about the battles fought in the theater, this book is essentially about the effectiveness of the leadership of Admiral Mountbatten, General Wingate, Field Marshall Slim and General Stilwell. The author has written a very informative book about the leadership of the China Burma Theater. The fighting was difficult. Disease and weather were battled as well as the Japanese. Chiang made it very difficult to employ his forces using his leverage with President Roosevelt and the American Christian Missionaries to get more Lend-Lease assistance that he stockpiled for his eventual fight against the Communists. Stilwell was his own worst enemy. He hated the British, Chiang and disliked Roosevelt and made it difficult for people to like and assist him. Wingate wanted to fight but lacked any real concept of strategy and truly in my opinion wasted the lives of many of his Chindits. Wavell provided little real leadership either strategically or diplomatically. Mountbatten was more concerned about being considered a Commander-in-Chief than he was at leading the theater. Slim is the only one who comes out of this book relatively unscathed. He had a real grasp of the realities of the fight he had to make and how he had to make it both strategically and tactically. This is a very revealing book with insight into how the major leaders in this area of the war interacted and contributed to the war effort.

[Eunice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after visiting Burma when I visited the WW2 Commonwealth Cemetery outside Rangoon. I realised that I know next to nothing about this part of the War. This is a gripping read. The author focuses on 4 major personalities, General Slim, Mountbatten, the American General Vinegar Joe Stilwell and the Chindit leader, Orde Wingate. The author is certainly has strong views, backed by evidence, about who was the real hero and who were the prima donnas, Mountbatten and Wingate, the latter of whom seems to have been certifiably insane.

The story of Stilwell's attempts to work with Chiang Kai-she and the huge amount of American resources which were tied up in supporting his Kuo Min Tang despite his blatant double dealing is worth a book on its own. While Stilwell was an abrasive character he has to be given absolutely full marks for tenacity despite constant undermining by FDR who does not emerge well from this account.

There is enough material here for any number of management textbooks about leadership, organisational structures, the importance of communications and much else. The miracle is that we emerged victorious, mainly it seems because Slim had the good sense to get on with what he thought was right in spite of the various strategies being dreamed up elsewhere. In those days of course it was easier to keep what one was really up to out of sight of distant management.

I would like now to read another account to see if there are other ways of interpreting what happened in this less well known corner of the war.

[Stephen Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

In focusing on the biographies of four figures from the campaign, McLynn steps away from understanding the campaign as a campaign. The focus turns to military matters only on occasion, and so events are skipped that might prove important to a complete understanding of the actual campaign. Nor does this give us any particular insight into the individuals concerned - one would still be better served by individual biographies. The choice of Wingate as one of the focii is perhaps understandable because of his eccentricity and notoriety but it means that much of the book is focused on what is essentially a sideshow. At the same time, the book doesn't work as a study of command as there is too much focus on Mountbatten's showy side and not enough on his relations with his subordinate commanders other than Stilwell, Slim and Wingate.

Ultimately, it might have been better to focus either upon Stilwell and the relations with China, which one gains the sense is what McLynn is truly interested in, or upon the upper reaches of SEA Command.

The book is poorly edited, with numerous errors that should have been caught by copy editors or even by the author. I also have the impression that McLynn really knows little about World War Two or modern military matters in general. None of this increases confidence in what the book does tell you.

[Reynolds S · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book detailing the major players in the China-Burma-India Theater of WWII. There is "Vinegar" Joe Stillwell, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Chiang Kai-Shek all fighting for their piece of the pie and trying to get the attention of the Allied leaders. The back-room machinations and political back-stabbing that occurs is staggering to the mind. It presents a different perspective on how wars are fought. You have all of the preparation, staging, waiting for battle, and then having to change course in the middle of the battle. The author does a superb job of researching the theater and then using the fruits of his work to describe the battles, movements of troops, and the outcomes. I would highly recommend this book to any WWII buff to get a good history about an often overlooked theater of WWII.

[Joe Donohue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, if depressing, of the back scene politics involved Burma campaign of World War II. William Slim and Joe Stillwell come in for praise. Wingate gets cut down in size. Mountbatten comes in for scorn. And Chiang Kai-shek is revealed to be the most malevolent human being -- despite the recent fad to rehabilitate his reputation. FDR and Churchill also have their reputations tarnished.

Overall an excellent overview of the personalities and politics involved. I wish it had better detailed maps -- it is a bit frustrating to read about battles and not know where they are.

[Susan Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional retelling of the campaigns in Burma - a theatre as unknown in the US as the Eastern Front. McLynn's portraits of Slim, Stillwell, Wingate, and Mountbatten are to the point; he pulls no punches with his opinions. Only misses five stars due to need for a final proofreading. Highly recommended; McLynn's recent biography of Marcus Aurelius is also well worth reading.

[Beatté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is supposed to be an excellent book and recommend read but I am having difficulty with remembering what the writer is trying to say. I hope that by reading "Descent Into Hell" by Peter Brune will enable me to return to this book with a greater understanding of all the detailed technical data throughout what I have read so far