From December 1943 to August 1944, Allied and Japanese forces fought the decisive battles of World War II in Southeast Asia. Fighting centered around North Burma, Imphal, Kohima and the Arakan, involving troops from all over the world along a battlefront the combined size of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The campaigns brought nations into collision for the highest stakes: British and Indian troops fighting for Empire, the Indo-Japanese forces seeking a prestige victory with an invasion of India and the Americans and Chinese focused on helping China and reopening the Burma Road. Events turned on the decisions of the principal commanders - Admiral Louis Mountbatten and Generals Joseph Stilwell, William Slim, Orde Wingate, Mutaguchi Renya, among many others. The impact of the fighting was felt in London, Tokyo and Washington, among other places far away from the battlefront, with effects that presaged postwar political relationships. This was also the first U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, and Stilwell's operations in some ways foreshadowed battles in Vietnam two decades later.

The Burma and India battles of 1944 offer dramatic and compelling stories of people fighting in difficult conditions against high odds, with far-reaching results. They also proved important to the postwar future of the participant nations and Asia as a whole, with effects that still reverberate decades after the war.

About the Author
Christopher L. Kolakowski is a historian in Madison, Wisconsin. He has spent his career interpreting and preserving military history from 1775 to the present and is the author of six books and numerous publications on the American Civil War and World War II. He is a scholar with Emerging Civil War, the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers, and the Air Force Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs.

Reviews
Kolakowski reminds us of the high stakes at risk for both Allies and Axis powers in Burma, as well as the heroism and willpower of all the combatants concerned. The book is highly recommended to students of World War II, Southeast Asia, and to those who simply want to broaden their understanding of this lesser-known theater of war. * Military Review 07/12/2022 *
Kolakowski's descriptions of the Allied counter-offensive are laid out with enough specificity to satisfy grognards, with plentiful battle maps to follow the maneuver...a fine tactical and operational summary of the late Burma Campaign. * NYMAS Review 02/11/2022 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781636240961
Author Christopher L. Kolakowski
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Casemate Publishers
Publisher Casemate Publishers