I liked this book, even though it can’t quite tell the story as fully as I thought necessary. Maybe the book I was looking for would have to be a Thousand pages, which these guys gave out at 464. Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper are British Academics interested in the Empire, Colonialism, and the South and South East Asian areas. They take on the whole breadth of the British South and Southeast Asian Empire’s battle with the Japanese Empire, the fall of Malaya, Singapore, and Burma, the Battle for India, and the re-conquest in 1944 and 45. Among the Forgotten Armies are the Armies of Collaborators the Japanese created in all their new possessions, some of whom would go on to fight the original Colonial regime, and those auxiliary forces the British raised to protect the Raj’s last bastion. The authors are also able to take the time and set the stage for the debacle and return, explaining the state of Nationalist/Anti-Colonialist/Pro-Independence movements in each region before the war began. I found the book very informative and well worth the time to read. I honestly think both experienced Military History readers and the more general audience will find this an engaging read. The Japanese lacked the amazingly lighter touch of the Nazis in raising Local Forces and were more successful in Burma than in Malaya and Singapore. It largely depended on whether the locals were paying attention to the decimation of almost all Overseas Chinese communities in the region- and how they felt about that. The Japanese were more successful with the Overseas South Asian Communities, raising the Indian National Army from volunteers among Raj POWs and local Anti-British Imperialist youth. The tell was that all these forces only ever dealt with the Japanese Army and Army Intelligence and were never really accorded National status and handled by Diplomats. Allied troops had little respect for “puppet forces” , and all locals lost any love for the Japanese over the passage of the war. By the time the Allies were coming back- everyone seemed to want to help the expulsion. It was fascinating to hear a lot about the Independence movements all over Asia and how they mingled and tried to work with each other. This book is full of adult themes, and rape and torture abound in its pages, so this is best read by the Junior Reader over 14/15 Year with a historical bent. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast think of this book as a better smorgasbord than a guide. The Gamer gets to look at all the conflicts of the region, not just the British Indian Army V Japanese. Do you want to fight long-range penetration games with Chindits, or short-range patrols with the Lushan Levies? Armored Columns from the 14th Army- or Us Trained Chinese working with Kachin Insurgents. The modeler will get build and diorama ideas- but still need a lot of other sources, particularly color ones. It is the Military enthusiast who is the big winner getting even more depth on how the Pacific War was fought on landmasses. A strong rec from this reviewer.
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