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The Battle For Singapore: The true story of the greatest catastrophe of World War II
The Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 is a military disaster of enduring fascination. For the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the island, Peter Thompson tells the explosive story of the Malayan campaign, the siege of Singapore, the ignominious surrender to a much smaller Japanese force, and the Japanese occupation through the eyes of those who were there - the soldiers of all nationalities and members of Singapore's beleaguered population. An enthralling and perceptive account, which never loses sight of the human cost of the tragedy - Yorkshire Evening Post. An insightful and dramatic analysis - The Good Book Guide
686 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
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274 people want to read
About the author
Peter Thompson
222 books8 followersPeter Thompson is Sydney Mayer Lecturer in Early American History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. Cross College.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 26, 2013
This book is an attempt to explain why the "impregnable fortress" of Singapore fell to the Japanese even while the Commonwealth forces hugely out-numbered the Japanese.
The book covers a lot of ground; the author, Peter Thompson, started by introducing the main characters, the defence situation in Malaya and Singapore, and the command structure. He then went briefly into the psyche of the different parties charged with the defence, particularly how they viewed the Japanese, carefully laying the groundwork for the later part of the story. When the fighting proper began he described the progress of each battle in sufficient details for one to get a good picture of the terrain and environment, the arms that were used on each side, and the mistakes that were made along the way.
The author wrote in a engaging manner, moving the book along very well thereby making the book an easy one to read. There were also many interviews with both military and civilian survivors adding richness to the account, and highlighting well the very human side to the tragedy. For someone like me who is just starting to explore the history of this event, this book provides a very good overall description helping to define the different dimensions when exploring this history.
To his credit, the author did not claim this to be a scholarly work despite citing references throughout. However there were a few things that disturbed me in regard to citations. There were times when information was presented which would benefit from citations but were not referenced. One example was when he said that "Japanese sources" claimed a certain number of troops had landed in Singapore without clarifying what these sources were (pg. 424). A related problem I have is with the many instances when the author quoted other sources verbatim. To be sure, sometimes this adds to the narrative, but too much of it gives the reader the impression that he is reading a collection of works already published. The author was occasionally not careful about being precise with facts. The Zero fighter was so named because it entered service in 2600 according to Japan's Imperial Year, not because of the big zeros painted on the fuselage as written in the main text. Although it was clarified in the notes at the end of the book, for readers who do not refer to the notes, this would be what they thought was the reason the plane was so named. The author's credibility is also eroded by the occasional dramatisation of the events such as the description "Sir Robert Brooke-Popham's proclamation flapped in the wind..." (pg. 236).
The title of the book is true to its contents, where the first portion was devoted to setting the scene followed by the bulk of which on the battles, if not solely in Singapore. Unfortunately the last hundred pages or so (out of 600) were wasted on an overly brief treatment of life in Singapore under the Japanese occupation. I would prefer that it be taken up in a separate volume in more detail. I also wished that there was more coverage on what was happening on the Japanese side, from the Japanese perspective. I counted but one instance of this (pg 418).
So in the end did the author fulfilled his aim as spelled out in the last question in his first chapter - "The unanswered question was: how had it happened?" One can read this in different ways. One of which is to interpret from the book that there is a complicity of reasons, including poor leadership, inferior weapons, raw recruits, Britain's engagement in multiple theatres, or under-estimation of the enemies. The other is to say that the author was vague and so it became hard to tell what he was attributing "how had it happened" to. Either way I did not get the impression that the author wanted to state clearly his position, perhaps preferring to let his readers make their own judgement.
Overall this is a very readable book which gives a good introduction to this part of history, including the main characters, the armies, and the location of the battle. The description of the pain and sufferings that soldiers and civilians underwent is also vivid. For a person making my first foray into this area, I have certainly benefitted from reading the book.
The book covers a lot of ground; the author, Peter Thompson, started by introducing the main characters, the defence situation in Malaya and Singapore, and the command structure. He then went briefly into the psyche of the different parties charged with the defence, particularly how they viewed the Japanese, carefully laying the groundwork for the later part of the story. When the fighting proper began he described the progress of each battle in sufficient details for one to get a good picture of the terrain and environment, the arms that were used on each side, and the mistakes that were made along the way.
The author wrote in a engaging manner, moving the book along very well thereby making the book an easy one to read. There were also many interviews with both military and civilian survivors adding richness to the account, and highlighting well the very human side to the tragedy. For someone like me who is just starting to explore the history of this event, this book provides a very good overall description helping to define the different dimensions when exploring this history.
To his credit, the author did not claim this to be a scholarly work despite citing references throughout. However there were a few things that disturbed me in regard to citations. There were times when information was presented which would benefit from citations but were not referenced. One example was when he said that "Japanese sources" claimed a certain number of troops had landed in Singapore without clarifying what these sources were (pg. 424). A related problem I have is with the many instances when the author quoted other sources verbatim. To be sure, sometimes this adds to the narrative, but too much of it gives the reader the impression that he is reading a collection of works already published. The author was occasionally not careful about being precise with facts. The Zero fighter was so named because it entered service in 2600 according to Japan's Imperial Year, not because of the big zeros painted on the fuselage as written in the main text. Although it was clarified in the notes at the end of the book, for readers who do not refer to the notes, this would be what they thought was the reason the plane was so named. The author's credibility is also eroded by the occasional dramatisation of the events such as the description "Sir Robert Brooke-Popham's proclamation flapped in the wind..." (pg. 236).
The title of the book is true to its contents, where the first portion was devoted to setting the scene followed by the bulk of which on the battles, if not solely in Singapore. Unfortunately the last hundred pages or so (out of 600) were wasted on an overly brief treatment of life in Singapore under the Japanese occupation. I would prefer that it be taken up in a separate volume in more detail. I also wished that there was more coverage on what was happening on the Japanese side, from the Japanese perspective. I counted but one instance of this (pg 418).
So in the end did the author fulfilled his aim as spelled out in the last question in his first chapter - "The unanswered question was: how had it happened?" One can read this in different ways. One of which is to interpret from the book that there is a complicity of reasons, including poor leadership, inferior weapons, raw recruits, Britain's engagement in multiple theatres, or under-estimation of the enemies. The other is to say that the author was vague and so it became hard to tell what he was attributing "how had it happened" to. Either way I did not get the impression that the author wanted to state clearly his position, perhaps preferring to let his readers make their own judgement.
Overall this is a very readable book which gives a good introduction to this part of history, including the main characters, the armies, and the location of the battle. The description of the pain and sufferings that soldiers and civilians underwent is also vivid. For a person making my first foray into this area, I have certainly benefitted from reading the book.
March 29, 2020
"Firstly I would like to dedicate this read to my late Grandfather who fought in the war and was a part of the reclaiming of Singapore and the defence of Darwin, Australia.
The byline to this title is ""The true story of the greatest catastrophe of World War II"" which shows from the start that this is written from an allies point of view as I dare say the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could mount a reasonable challenge to what was the greatest catastrophe.
The history surrounding Singapore is that it was a British colony at the foot of the Malaya Strait and not only a strategic far Eastern fortress but also the gateway to the South Pacific. The catastrophe was that the British lost Singapore to the Japanese i
n such a comprehensive fashion. The Japanese were ferocious fighters and never gave up so in war terms, kudos to them but this book shows you that the battle was over before it began.
The Japanese had been fighting the Chinese for some time before their attack on Malaya and then Singapore. The Allies lived in denial, saying the attack would never happen. First and possibly biggest error.
When it became apparent that Singapore was the eventual target, Churchill could not send ships and aircraft to help as he was in the middle of the European battles with the Nazis. A BIG problem. As it turns out the Japanese had armoured cars, tanks, watercraft and aircraft and continually pushed the allied forces southward down the Malayan Peninsula until they were forced to retreat to Singapore, which they ultimately lost in a matter of days. Standing up to the invaders were Australians, British, Scottish, Indian and Chinese soldiers, a lot were only in their teens, some h
ad never held a gun in their life, most had never seen a tank and some of the Australians had only been plucked off the streets of Sydney days before. These forces put up a tremendous effort for what they were.
So to say the Japanese simply outnumbered them and had more craft and therefore were naturally victorious would make sense. Like I said before the battle was lost before it began. The British could not commit troops, planes or ships, the best fighters were taken to fight in the middle east and Singapore itself was not the fortress that was imagined. Strong defences were built on the south of the island to ward off the seaside attack but the north was almost defenceless and that was where the attack came from.
The Australian Government thought little of Churchill's defensive tactics and they fought with each other. The military in charge were either not up to the task or just could not make decisions. When decisions were made often they were completel
y wrong or too late. The commanders quarrelled and did not respect each other so the catastrophe was of the allies making. Then to be attacked by a drilled ferocious force left them no hope.
Ironically when the Japanese first landed on Malaya to begin their victorious trek South, it was also the day that lost them the war. While their landing and subsequent battles were successful they also used this day to attack Pearl Harbour, thus bringing the Americans into the war.
The use of Changi prison and the forced labour to build the Burma railway were results of the Japanese 'win'. They used civilian and military men to build the railway and conditions at both locations were deplorable. To a point, I admired the tenacity of the Japanese to fight and win against the allies but any admiration was destroyed when you read of the treatment of the POWs, a lot of which went against the Geneva convention. Nurses were walked into the ocean and shot and torture was commo
nplace. Sometimes we need to understand that far too many lives are lost FIGHTING a war, and there are thousands more lost when the battles are ""over"".
A great and eye-opening book. My Grandfather never spoke of the war until two years before his death and it is easy to see why.
"
The byline to this title is ""The true story of the greatest catastrophe of World War II"" which shows from the start that this is written from an allies point of view as I dare say the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could mount a reasonable challenge to what was the greatest catastrophe.
The history surrounding Singapore is that it was a British colony at the foot of the Malaya Strait and not only a strategic far Eastern fortress but also the gateway to the South Pacific. The catastrophe was that the British lost Singapore to the Japanese i
n such a comprehensive fashion. The Japanese were ferocious fighters and never gave up so in war terms, kudos to them but this book shows you that the battle was over before it began.
The Japanese had been fighting the Chinese for some time before their attack on Malaya and then Singapore. The Allies lived in denial, saying the attack would never happen. First and possibly biggest error.
When it became apparent that Singapore was the eventual target, Churchill could not send ships and aircraft to help as he was in the middle of the European battles with the Nazis. A BIG problem. As it turns out the Japanese had armoured cars, tanks, watercraft and aircraft and continually pushed the allied forces southward down the Malayan Peninsula until they were forced to retreat to Singapore, which they ultimately lost in a matter of days. Standing up to the invaders were Australians, British, Scottish, Indian and Chinese soldiers, a lot were only in their teens, some h
ad never held a gun in their life, most had never seen a tank and some of the Australians had only been plucked off the streets of Sydney days before. These forces put up a tremendous effort for what they were.
So to say the Japanese simply outnumbered them and had more craft and therefore were naturally victorious would make sense. Like I said before the battle was lost before it began. The British could not commit troops, planes or ships, the best fighters were taken to fight in the middle east and Singapore itself was not the fortress that was imagined. Strong defences were built on the south of the island to ward off the seaside attack but the north was almost defenceless and that was where the attack came from.
The Australian Government thought little of Churchill's defensive tactics and they fought with each other. The military in charge were either not up to the task or just could not make decisions. When decisions were made often they were completel
y wrong or too late. The commanders quarrelled and did not respect each other so the catastrophe was of the allies making. Then to be attacked by a drilled ferocious force left them no hope.
Ironically when the Japanese first landed on Malaya to begin their victorious trek South, it was also the day that lost them the war. While their landing and subsequent battles were successful they also used this day to attack Pearl Harbour, thus bringing the Americans into the war.
The use of Changi prison and the forced labour to build the Burma railway were results of the Japanese 'win'. They used civilian and military men to build the railway and conditions at both locations were deplorable. To a point, I admired the tenacity of the Japanese to fight and win against the allies but any admiration was destroyed when you read of the treatment of the POWs, a lot of which went against the Geneva convention. Nurses were walked into the ocean and shot and torture was commo
nplace. Sometimes we need to understand that far too many lives are lost FIGHTING a war, and there are thousands more lost when the battles are ""over"".
A great and eye-opening book. My Grandfather never spoke of the war until two years before his death and it is easy to see why.
"
November 16, 2020
November 2020: considering that I have been living in Asia (Brunei, on the island of Borneo) since July 2018, it’s about time I started reading about World War II in the Pacific Theatre, something I have not done yet, having concentrated mostly on the European and Mediterranean fronts.
The Battle for Singapore is an extensive history and narrative about not only how Imperial Japanese forces took Singapore but also a history of the whole Malayan campaign, and what happened to the survivors, civilian and military, during the occupation. The book has 678 pages (though Goodreads says 470), of which 608 are narrative and the rest index, sources, etc.
You need a pretty strong stomach to read about the atrocities committed by the Japanese, who shot (or bayoneted or beheaded) thousands of Chinese and Indian civilians simply because they had either worked for or assisted the British, or donated money to Chang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Chinese army (which was fighting the Japanese forces in China) or just for being perceived as ‘anti-Japanese’. These were in addition to the torture, mistreatment and shooting out-of-hand of prisoners of war (PoWs), including using them as slave labour to build the Burma Railway from Thailand to Burma (now Myanmar) to assist them in their attempt to invade India (see the film Bridge on the River Kwai and visit the excellent Australian-run museum in Kanchanaburi, Thailand).
The author conducted a great deal of research, as evidenced by the copious notes/sources quoted, and has woven a narrative that flows well, being easy to read and follow. There are three maps and I feel that the book would benefit from a few more with greater detail because some of the action describes village/town names that do not appear on the maps in the book. There are several photographs of prominent people mentioned in the book, which are a good addition and add flavour to the narrative.
The handling of the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the loss of both it and Singapore, are quite painful reading for a Brit. This was the worst military disaster in British military history and the fault lay with many: Churchill, the Colonial Office, the Governor of Malaya and the generals on the ground, both British and Australian (though mostly British). The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force did what they could with the assets they had but were woefully under-resourced. The main overarching reason for the failures was British arrogance, racism and a complete failure to consider Japanese forces as worthy opponents; the Japanese were considered ‘little, slanty-eyed monkeys who could not fight’. This was not only offensive (to us but not at the time to many) but ignorant and stupid because the Imperial Japanese forces were in many cases battle-hardened veterans led by able generals, admirals and air commanders who knew about Blitzkrieg tactics as well as how to fight in the jungle. They also had modern weapons and knew how to use them effectively.
By contrast, the Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore had too few men (except until two weeks before the surrender, when shiploads more arrived just in time to go into captivity), no tanks at all and very few, out of date aircraft that could not compete with those of Japan. The Royal Navy, therefore, had a fleet that was sailing in seas far away from the UK with precious little air cover at a time when enormous, hugely expensive capital ships were becoming obsolete because aircraft carriers and land-based aircraft could sink them at very little cost. The Royal Navy lost two major ships, HMS Repulse (a battlecruiser) and HMS Prince of Wales (a battleship) in the South China Sea in the same action on 10 December 1941, which was not only a major blow to the Royal Navy (The Prince of Wales was our newest battleship and had taken Churchill to the USA to meet with FDR) but left Malaya and Singapore with almost no naval protection. These forces were inadequate to fight the Japanese who had a huge fleet, hundreds of modern aircraft and a few hundred tanks. The British and Australians fought bravely but many of the reinforcements sent were new recruits, some of whom had been sent before they had ever fired a rifle, so stood little chance.
Nevertheless, those in authority on the ground could have done more with what they had, and squandered the advantages they had at various times. The book does not hold back on pointing the failure at both the military and the civilian authorities. It goes into a lot of detail, and to my mind it gives a very rounded picture of events that make me feel I now have a good understanding of the conflict. It draws on diaries, first-hand interviews and other books to provide a wealth of evidence for the assertions made. Lessons were learned but at huge cost to the soldiers and civilians who lived through it.
The Battle for Singapore is an extensive history and narrative about not only how Imperial Japanese forces took Singapore but also a history of the whole Malayan campaign, and what happened to the survivors, civilian and military, during the occupation. The book has 678 pages (though Goodreads says 470), of which 608 are narrative and the rest index, sources, etc.
You need a pretty strong stomach to read about the atrocities committed by the Japanese, who shot (or bayoneted or beheaded) thousands of Chinese and Indian civilians simply because they had either worked for or assisted the British, or donated money to Chang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Chinese army (which was fighting the Japanese forces in China) or just for being perceived as ‘anti-Japanese’. These were in addition to the torture, mistreatment and shooting out-of-hand of prisoners of war (PoWs), including using them as slave labour to build the Burma Railway from Thailand to Burma (now Myanmar) to assist them in their attempt to invade India (see the film Bridge on the River Kwai and visit the excellent Australian-run museum in Kanchanaburi, Thailand).
The author conducted a great deal of research, as evidenced by the copious notes/sources quoted, and has woven a narrative that flows well, being easy to read and follow. There are three maps and I feel that the book would benefit from a few more with greater detail because some of the action describes village/town names that do not appear on the maps in the book. There are several photographs of prominent people mentioned in the book, which are a good addition and add flavour to the narrative.
The handling of the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the loss of both it and Singapore, are quite painful reading for a Brit. This was the worst military disaster in British military history and the fault lay with many: Churchill, the Colonial Office, the Governor of Malaya and the generals on the ground, both British and Australian (though mostly British). The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force did what they could with the assets they had but were woefully under-resourced. The main overarching reason for the failures was British arrogance, racism and a complete failure to consider Japanese forces as worthy opponents; the Japanese were considered ‘little, slanty-eyed monkeys who could not fight’. This was not only offensive (to us but not at the time to many) but ignorant and stupid because the Imperial Japanese forces were in many cases battle-hardened veterans led by able generals, admirals and air commanders who knew about Blitzkrieg tactics as well as how to fight in the jungle. They also had modern weapons and knew how to use them effectively.
By contrast, the Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore had too few men (except until two weeks before the surrender, when shiploads more arrived just in time to go into captivity), no tanks at all and very few, out of date aircraft that could not compete with those of Japan. The Royal Navy, therefore, had a fleet that was sailing in seas far away from the UK with precious little air cover at a time when enormous, hugely expensive capital ships were becoming obsolete because aircraft carriers and land-based aircraft could sink them at very little cost. The Royal Navy lost two major ships, HMS Repulse (a battlecruiser) and HMS Prince of Wales (a battleship) in the South China Sea in the same action on 10 December 1941, which was not only a major blow to the Royal Navy (The Prince of Wales was our newest battleship and had taken Churchill to the USA to meet with FDR) but left Malaya and Singapore with almost no naval protection. These forces were inadequate to fight the Japanese who had a huge fleet, hundreds of modern aircraft and a few hundred tanks. The British and Australians fought bravely but many of the reinforcements sent were new recruits, some of whom had been sent before they had ever fired a rifle, so stood little chance.
Nevertheless, those in authority on the ground could have done more with what they had, and squandered the advantages they had at various times. The book does not hold back on pointing the failure at both the military and the civilian authorities. It goes into a lot of detail, and to my mind it gives a very rounded picture of events that make me feel I now have a good understanding of the conflict. It draws on diaries, first-hand interviews and other books to provide a wealth of evidence for the assertions made. Lessons were learned but at huge cost to the soldiers and civilians who lived through it.
December 5, 2011
Good paced, but Euro-centric, book about the fall of Malaya and Singapore, outlining the underestimation of the enemy and the strategic errors and complacencies that led to insufficient air and naval forces and defences being invested before hostilities broke out. This, together with the infighting between and within the weak civil and military leadership, ensured the fall of Singapore. The book highlights the various battles and decisions of importance, but I was disappointed that it had less emphasis on the actual battles that took place on Singapore Island. Instead, it relied heavily on Brit/ Oz sources, which may explain the omission of pitched battles betw the local volunteers and the Japanese on Singapore mainland. The last few chapters of the book concentrates on life under the Japanese- as experienced by the European PoWs. It was disappointing that other than a few scant mentions of atrocities, there are no accounts of 4 years of civilian life under Japanese rule.
January 11, 2022
As a military history book this work failed: even when published in 2005 (60 year after the war ended) it provides mainly Allied-centered view, where the Japanese side goes only to the level of divisions where Allied side goes to the levels of companies and even individuals. Another drawback (and second star lost) is because the lack of maps of the battles/engagements described in the book. There are just a few maps about general Japanese advance through the Malaya and a map of Singapore Island and Singapore City (just a map of the city, no defensive positions nor directions of attack highlighted).
The spotlight of this book is on the Allied side individuals - soldiers and civilians (but only the Caucasian civilians - no Malaya or Chinese included).
The strong side is the description of life of the PoWs and interned civilians under Japanese occupation.
The spotlight of this book is on the Allied side individuals - soldiers and civilians (but only the Caucasian civilians - no Malaya or Chinese included).
The strong side is the description of life of the PoWs and interned civilians under Japanese occupation.
March 20, 2020
A surprising page turner. The story begins with biographies of all the main characters: COC Percival, Governor Thomas, General Tomoyuki Yamashita and the rest. All get well deserved scathing, least of which perhaps, Yamashita. The greatest catastrophe of World War II said Winston Churchill, and he had a part in that too.
But the book is far more than an account of the campaigns and the failures and the losses. It is full of personal stories of the men and women who lived in Singapore before and during the war, and afterwards. It is the story of racism, and arrogance and gross misjudgment, but also of heroism, and stoicism and enormous grit. There are times, especially in the last section about the Occupation, that the horrors recounted are almost unreadable.
We have forgiven the Japanese a lot. But they still have a lot to be accountable for.
But the book is far more than an account of the campaigns and the failures and the losses. It is full of personal stories of the men and women who lived in Singapore before and during the war, and afterwards. It is the story of racism, and arrogance and gross misjudgment, but also of heroism, and stoicism and enormous grit. There are times, especially in the last section about the Occupation, that the horrors recounted are almost unreadable.
We have forgiven the Japanese a lot. But they still have a lot to be accountable for.
May 3, 2019
Not the greatest catastrophe, but this is till a very good book that describes in painful how the British authorities fouled up the defence of Malaya and what the Japanese did after the conquest. It is not a pleasant read, but a necessary one for students of WW2.
Read
March 2, 2021A very readable history of the fall of Singapore. Well varied between detailed battle accounts and personnel stories. History of an awful series of blunders. Would have liked some more maps when discussing the retreat down through Malaya.
January 5, 2026
Great Research
This book was very well researched and had tons of great information that I never knew about. The only critique for me is that it tended to ramble and move between events and characters very quickly.
This book was very well researched and had tons of great information that I never knew about. The only critique for me is that it tended to ramble and move between events and characters very quickly.
January 12, 2026
Excellent book. One thing I hadn't realised was as there was no British Battle fleet Singapore's loss was more of an impact on the Empires reputation than anything else but of course a huge disaster the people.
June 10, 2017
Read this book after visiting the various museums and the Battle Box in Singapore. Does a great job of describing the battle and the complete incompetence of British political leadership.
October 6, 2024
very detailed decription of the fall of Singapore including events leading up to it and conditions there during the occupation.
June 21, 2009
A fantastic book, a real blow-by-blow account of the Malaya campaign filled with interviews, diary extracts, personal letters and other on-the-ground information which really brings you to the action.
More maps would have been nice, particularly topographic maps of the crucial battles. I also found the chapters on the POW camps after the massacre a little short on detail, although I guess that's really outside the scope of the book. I'd rate it 4/5, unless you have a particular interest in the Malaya campaign or want a good introduction to it, in which case this is completely 5/5.
More maps would have been nice, particularly topographic maps of the crucial battles. I also found the chapters on the POW camps after the massacre a little short on detail, although I guess that's really outside the scope of the book. I'd rate it 4/5, unless you have a particular interest in the Malaya campaign or want a good introduction to it, in which case this is completely 5/5.
September 5, 2010
Peter Thompson gives an in-depth look at the battle for and the fall of, Singapore.
Singapore was one of Britain's supposedly impregnable fortresses of WWII, however it had been starved of resources of resources and men, both before the war and later as the Middle East and helping the Russians took priority.
The situation was not helped by some poor generalship, underestimating the Japanese Army, and pure bad luck.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Britain's war in the Far East.
Singapore was one of Britain's supposedly impregnable fortresses of WWII, however it had been starved of resources of resources and men, both before the war and later as the Middle East and helping the Russians took priority.
The situation was not helped by some poor generalship, underestimating the Japanese Army, and pure bad luck.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Britain's war in the Far East.
October 29, 2014
This book is 600 pages long but it moves nicely and is even a page-turner. That said, it's written solely from the British point of view: a sad story of incompetence, disaster, and despair. The Japanese are ruthless and repeatedly violate the rules of war, killing hundreds, even thousands, of prisoners and civilians in cold blood. This is the second history I've read on this part of World War Two, both by British writers, and both telling relentless tales of the British Empire at its worst. Both books are written with gusto and are not dry or academic. I recommend this book.
July 12, 2010
This is a general history of the Singapore campaign from the perspective of the British and their allies. It is not a detailed study of the military aspects of the campaign, although the military aspects are covered along with the political aspects and the general situation at all levels, both military and civilian.
My rating is reflective of my having been looking for a more detailed military study, and does not reflect the overall quality of the book.
My rating is reflective of my having been looking for a more detailed military study, and does not reflect the overall quality of the book.
January 1, 2015
I really enjoyed the first half of this book but for some reason I could never finish it. It has great anecdotes and plenty of historical meat. It sat beside my bed for two years, occasionally I'd pick it up when I had nothing better to read. Getting a kindle sealed its fate. I'd still recommend it to history buffs.
October 23, 2007
Never underestimate your enemy, that's all I'm saying.
September 9, 2021
Okay, not truly exciting as I thought it would be. Somewhat confusing
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews