The Battle At Sangshak: Prelude to Kohima

by Harry Seaman

This book tells the story of a small, yet significant, battle that was a precursor to the better known battles for Imphal and Kohima.

207 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 1989

Reviews

[JD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book after reading 'Road of Bones' by Fergal Keane as the battle of Sangshak is named as a big contribution to the eventual success to the Allied defense during the campaign. This book gives good detail on the background to events, units and soldiers that took part during the battle. The battle itself is not greatly covered and is written in a day-by-day account by the author where some days only has a few pages written about it, this was one of the disappointments I had with this book, the other one is that the author goes to great lengths to justify why he blames different people for the blunders made during the early days of the Japanese offensive, which though I agree that simple blunders were made that cost brave men their lives, it becomes a bit of a crusade that takes the attention of the actual battle and the men fighting it.

[Henry Barnard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a reader of war `stories' (not even sure what this genre is: it is non-fiction but seems a little too focused on one particular battle to call it `history'). And I have a personal interest in this particular story because the Chief Medical Officer involved in the battle was my uncle who won a DSO for his role in the battle. All that said, it was a tightly told story which brought the realities of the experiences of the soldiers involved to life. \