George MacDonald Fraser — beloved for his series of Flashman historical novels — offers an action-packed memoir of his experiences in Burma during World War II. Fraser was only 19 when he arrived there in the war’s final year, and he offers a first-hand glimpse at the camaraderie, danger, and satisfactions of service. A substantial Epilogue, occasioned by the 50th anniversary of VJ-Day in 1995, … 1995, adds poignancy to a volume that eminent military historian John Keegan described as “one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War.”
more
This book tells the story of a little known part of world war ll. The author does a great job of describing his fellow squad mates. A good read.
I rank this work alongside Eugene Sledge, Guy Sajer, Charles MacDonald, and Bob Leckie as one of the all-time top five World War II memoirs by infantry soldiers describing their daily experiences as they descended into what Sledge referred to as “the abyss.” Fraser, the author of the delightful Flashman series of books, has a delivery and style …
Brought back memories of the Viet Nam era.
Great account of a rather unknown theater of WWII.
I appreciate that the author wanted us to appreciate the Cumbrian speech and delivery, unfortunately I was only able to catch every third word. I think it would have been a great book on the topic if I could have waded through the dialect. The author has a wonderfully dry sense of delivery when not sure n dialect. Especially liked the part where …
My favorite of all his books, which is saying a lot.
A first-hand look at the British campaign in Burma in WWII.
A grunts eye view of one of the last land campaigns of WWII, fought primarily by the British and little known to most Americans.
George McDonald is a terrific writer of historical fiction ( the Flashman books and several short story collections that are semi-autobiographical) and also a good writer of non-fiction, whose point of view (that of a mid 20th century white man from the UK) will rankle many at this point. I would give this set of recollections of his time in the …
Too much time complaining about how the world has gone to hell
An unvarnished recounting of one man’s time in a part of WW II that most Americans don’t really know or think about. A great story teller with a humble sense of self and keen eye for people and perspectives, this is a foot soldier’s view of the war in Burma that will keep you reading and get you thinking.
Although I’ve followed a lot of WWII history, this memoir from a young foot soldier in the jungle of Burma was informative on so many levels. I wondered if the 19-year-old soldier/author experienced the same kinds of things that our Vietnam-era soldiers did. Lucky for us that the author also had a lifetime of good writing experience before he …
In the vein of other books about Burma and WWII.
This could have been a great book. It was terribly hard to read as the author insisted on making all dialogue in accented English (cockney) form. One either had to read very slowly to figure out the various accents or just skip over it. I am sure the author thought he was being “cute”. I didn’t! Too bad because I think the subject was good and …
George MacDonald Fraser was a great writer. His memoir of his WWII days is a worthy read.
One of the best five or six memoirs of WWII. Fraser is great.
One of the great soldier memoirs of WW2
War in Burma realistically presented.
A very good book about George MacDonald Fraser’s experiences as an young English soldier fighting in the South Pacific during WWII.
Great memoir of WWII. Must read in the war literature genre.