Burma '44

The Battle That Turned World War II in the East

By: James Holland

Narrated by: Al Murray

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Celebrated historian of World War II James Holland chronicles the astonishing Allied victory at the Battle of the Admin Box in Burma (now Myanmar), a turning point of the war in the Far East.

In February 1944, in one of the most astonishing battles of World War II, a ragtag collection of British clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews, managed to defeat a much larger and sophisticated contingent of some of the finest infantry in the Japanese army on their march toward India.

What became known as the Battle of the Admin Box, fought among the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a 15-day period, turned the battle for Burma. Not only was it the first decisive victory for Allied troops against the Japanese, more significantly, it demonstrated how the Japanese could be defeated. Lessons learned in this otherwise insignificant corner of the Far East set up the campaign in Burma that would follow, as General William Slim’s Fourteenth Army finally turned the tide of the war in the East.

In Burma ’44, acclaimed World War II historian James Holland offers a dramatic tale of victory against incredible odds. As momentous as the Battle of the Bulge 10 months later, the Admin Box was a triumph of human grit and heroism and remains one of the most significant yet underappreciated conflicts of the entire war. In Holland’s hands, it is finally given its proper place in the history of World War II.

©2016 Griffon Merlin Ltd. Recorded by arrangement with Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Fills in gaps

This book fills in a good gap on what occurred in Burma, a forgotten area of World War II. Well researched, as most of Mr. Holland‘s books are the courage and outstanding fighting abilities of the Allied troops involved in this battle were well documented. I could have done without the last chapter involving the conversation between Mr. Holland and the narrator, but it did not detract from the overall excellence of this book.

Forgotten Army gets the credit it deserves

Great overview of an oft overlooked campaign in the most inhospitable terrain. Quality as always from James holland