Product Description

General W. J. Slim achieved something no one believed possible. Appointed to lead what was soon to become the famous 'forgotten' 14th Army in 1943, at a time when British units in the Far East were defeated and demoralised, within six months he had dealt the first death blow to the Japanese Army. This - the battle of Kohima and Imphal - was the largest single defeat of the Japanese on land in the Second World War and led to their complete destruction in Burma by August 1945. So, how did he do it? And why is he not better known? Slim did not fit the British military mould. Like Patton he was a manoeuvrist: he fought differently, seeking victory by cunning and guile, starkly different from how the British Army fought its wars at the time. Like the legendary soldier T. E. Lawrence, Slim was an exponent - long before it became fashionable - of mission command, giving his subordinates their head and encouraging initiative and imagination at the lowest levels of command. But above all Slim was a soldier's general - it wasn't just his men who revered him, but his equals too: Mountbatten, with whom he bonded in a way unparalleled in South East Asia Command, and Stilwell, another maverick, who would serve under no other British commander but him. They were not wrong; he was a singular man, a supreme commander, who remains worthy of our respect.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12095 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Dr Richard Holmes, Cranfield University
'This is a first-rate book, and without doubt the best account of Bill Slim's conduct of the Burma Campaign.'

Max Hastings, The Sunday Telegraph, 25 January 2004
Robert Lyman, himself an ex-soldier ... asserts that Slim was the outstanding British general of the war. He is surely right.

Andrew Lycett, The Sunday Times, 25 January 2004
Lyman is good on strategy... (and) astute on what it took to fight the war on the ground.

Customer Reviews

Bill Slim - the Forgotton Hero
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was extremely well written and researched. I knew very little about Bill Slim but after finishing this book I, at least, am convinced that he was one of the most skillful, yet curiously unknown commanders in Modern British History. The scale of his achievements are simply astonishing when you take into account the tenacity of his opponents, the appalling conditions he faced and the woeful leadership in some sections of the British Army at that time. His ability to adapt to changing circumstances and to learn from his mistakes were surely a decisive factor in the battles for South East Asia.

This book is a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in World War II. It reminded me also of the tremendous sacrifices that many thousands of British and Commonwealth troops made in that war, many of whom were thousands of miles from home.

I agree with the previous reviewer that some of the maps are very difficult to read, especially for non-experts like myself.

Masterful
Robert Lyman has produced a brilliant history of Slim's victory in Burma and convinces the reader that he was the outstanding British commander of the Second World War. Slim, although relatively unknown now, transformed a defeated and dejected force into the Army that would defeat the seemingly invincible Japanese Army -that had mastered the terrain in 1942- just two years after its crushing defeat in 1942.

Robert Lyman's thoroughly researched book lucidly displays his mastery of the subject with ample maps and quotes from Slim and the other commanders in the Burma chain of command. It should be read by anyone with an interest in military strategy, the Second World War or indeed the battle for Burma.

Sound piece of military history, enjoyable read
Military biographers often have a very human tendency to describe "their" general as more farsighted, more daring, more beloved of their men, etc., etc., than all other commanders around. In point of fact, the standard of British generalship in WW II was generally not high, probably because some 80% (or more) of those who in the normal course of events would have risen to commanded divisions, corps and armies in 1939-45 had been killed off in WW I. In the case of Slim, however, the above claims seem to be very largely justified.
Robert Lyman provides an interesting account of how Slim managed to turn a desperate situation around, paying due attention - as we might expect from a professional soldier - to the logistical aspects, which were all-important in this inaccessible theatre.
The claims concerning Slim's influence on modern military thinking (manoeuvre warfare) seem a bit exaggerated; I believe that the German/Russian experiences on the Eastern Front, for instance, must have carried more weight in this respect.
An enjoyable read, in spite of a few small mistakes (the AVG was the American Volunteer Group, not "Guard") and of the maps, some of which are very hard to understand and also in one or two cases carry the wrong dates (?).