In 1941 and 1942 the British and Indian Armies were brutally defeated and Japan reigned supreme in their newly conquered territories throughout Asia. But change was coming. New commanders were appointed, significant training together with restructuring took place, and new tactics were developed. A War of Empires by acclaimed historian Robert Lyman expertly retells these coordinated efforts and describes how a new volunteer Indian Army, rising from the ashes of defeat, would ferociously fight to turn the tide of war. But victory did not come immediately. It wasn't until March 1944, when the Japanese staged their famed 'March on Delhi', that the years of rebuilding reaped their reward and after bitter fighting, the Japanese were finally defeated at Kohima and Imphal. This was followed by a series of extraordinary victories culminating in Mandalay in May 1945 and the collapse of all Japanese forces in Burma. The Indian Army's contribution has been consistently forgotten and ignored by many Western historians, Robert Lyman expertly proves how vital this hard-fought campaign was in securing Allied victory in the east, defeating Japanese militarism and ultimately redrawing the map of the region with an independent India, free from the shackles of empire, all but guaranteed.
A War of Empires
Robert Lyman
A sweeping saga of the longest and possibly most brutal campaign of World War II. Renowned historian Robert Lyman traces this so-called 'Forgotten War', revealing it to be a ferocious clash of competing visions of empire, which would irrevocably change the future of both Britain and the Indian subcontinent forever.Book Details
Imprint: Osprey Publishing
Publication Date: 11-11-2021
Format: Hardback | 234 x 153mm | 488 pagesAbout the Author
Robert Lyman is widely regarded as one of Britain's most talented military historians, with fifteen best-selling works of history published to date and numerous appearances on television as far afield as the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are' and a range of documentaries including two in the 'Great Escapes' series, on Tobruk (1941) and Kohima (1944). He was the military consultant to the BBC for the Victory over Japan memorial celebrations in the UK in 2015 and for the 70th anniversary in 2020. He was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into the Light Infantry in 1982 and spent 20 years in the British Army. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and in 2010 he helped General Sir Richard Dannatt write his autobiography, Leading from the Front.Rights Sold
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