ePub The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II download

by Donovan Webster

Author:

Donovan Webster

ISBN13:

978-0374117405

ISBN:

0374117403

Language:

English

Publisher:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1 edition (October 13, 2003)

Category:

Other

Subcategory:

Humanities

ePub file:

1651 kb

Fb2 file:

1285 kb

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Rating:

4.8

Votes:

425

Donovan Webster Humanities English

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China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters

China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including US forces) in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China

Originally published: New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003. Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-354) and index.

Originally published: New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003. From the Publisher: As the Imperial Japanese Army swept across China and South Asia at World War II's outset, closing all of China's seaports, more than 200,000 Chinese laborers embarked on a seemingly impossible task: to cut a 700-mile overland route- the Burma Road-from the southwest Chinese city of Kunming to Lashio, Burma. But when Burma fell in 1942, the Burma Road was severed.

Mountainous and malarial, northern Burma is terrible terrain for war, but the Allies resolved to fight there to keep China in World War I. My Dad spent over 4 years in the jungles of Burma all along the Burma Road during WWII.

Mountainous and malarial, northern Burma is terrible terrain for war, but the Allies resolved to fight there to keep China in World War II. The effort's executant, American general Joseph Stilwell, occupies center stage of Webster's chronicle, which benefits from the author's visits to battle sites and remnants of a supply road. The photos are some of the best that I have seen, albeit from Life Magazine. The story captures the movement of the US and British forces that were stationed there during the war.

But when Burma fell in 1942, the Burma Road was severed. As the first step of the Allied offensive toward Japan, American general Joseph Stilwell reopened it, while, at the same time, keeping China supplied by air-lift from India and simultaneously driving the Japanese out of Burma. When most people think of World War II, they think of the fight against Nazism in Europe. Even if they do consider the fight against Japan, most think of the US Marines jumping from one bloody island to another on their long march north. Largely forgotten by many, there was a war in Asia as well.

The Burma Road is the story of the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater in. .Joseph Stilwell's march out of Burma.

The Burma Road is the story of the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater in World War II. The author, Donovan Webster, is a gifted storyteller who has written a compelling narrative that engages and educates the reader. This book includes anecdotes from infantrymen on both sides, memories of conversations among generals and soldiers, letters to family members and daily journal entries. The remainder describes his mission to rebuild the Burma Road and retake the lost ground by deploying several units: Merrill's Marauders, Wingate's Chindits, the American-trained Chinese X Force and the Chinese Y Force, among others.

The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II. (2003) 370 pp. Yu, Maochun. The Dragon's War: Allied Operations and the Fate of China, 1937–1947 (2006). Theaters of War, World War II:332. 2 Records of Headquarters . Army Forces, China-Burma-India (HQ USAF CBI). United States Army Center of Military History.

The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War I.

The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II. by Donovan Webster. frustrated near my limit in the morning’s rising heat, I break into a smile. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 2003. OSS 101 Association (includes 101 roster list). Category:World War II memoirs Category:Burma in World War II Category:South-East Asian theatre of World War II. Wood, Percy (September 15, 1963). They Made the Jungle Too Hot for Japanese, Chicago Tribune.

The harrowing story of one of the greatest chapters of World War II---the building and defense of the Burma RoadThe Burma Road tells the extraordinary story of the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II. As the Imperial Japanese Army swept across China and South Asia at the war's outset--closing all of China's seaports--more than 200,000 Chinese laborers embarked on a seemingly impossible task: to cut a seven-hundred-mile overland route--which would be called the Burma Road--from the southwest Chinese city of Kunming to Lashio, Burma. But with the fall of Burma in early 1942, the Burma Road was severed, and it became the task of the newly arrived American General Stilwell to re-open it, while, at the same time, keeping China supplied by air-lift from India and simultaneously driving the Japanese out of Burma as the first step of the Allied offensive toward Japan.In gripping prose, Donovan Webster follows the breathtaking adventures of the American "Hump" pilots who flew hair-raising missions over the Himalayas to make food-drops in China; tells the true story of the mission that inspired the famous film The Bridge on the River Kwai; and recounts the grueling jungle operations of Merrill's Marauders and the British Chindit Brigades. Interspersed with vivid portraits of the American General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, the exceedingly eccentric British General Orde Wingate, and the mercurial Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, The Burma Road vividly re-creates the sprawling, sometimes hilarious, often harrowing, and still largely unknown stories of one of the greatest chapters of World War II.

Ironrunner

My 96 yr old WWII Vet dad kind of grumbled when I got him this book, saying he wasn't interested, but now I've read it to him 2/3 through and he loves it. He's not really able to pick up any new information in this life at this point, but he's certainly learning a lot from this book. He keeps forgetting I'm the one reading it to him, and loves to tell me about what's going on in this story. He's totally blind and feeble, and this reading to him about WWII is about the only thing left that brings him joy.

Lianeni

This book should be about half as long as it is.

This man, Donovan Webster, must have a near-genius IQ, maybe higher, to be able to recover the details he has presented in this book.

This book could easily, EASILY be a five-star book if he had simply pared it down. One comes away from reading this book feeling as though he himself has done as the characters in the book had to do -- cut through the jungle with a machete.

I get the impression that this writer appraised the problem correctly, but he didn't provide the correct solution. The problem is that you can wade through the Tuchman, Romanus and Sunderland volumes, and feel as though you have read WAR AND PEACE, only to come out wondering, "How am I going to master this material?" The solution that Webster has found is to confine the scope of the book to the Burma Road as much as possible, but to pour into that composition so many details that you are STILL obligated to read WAR AND PEACE, as it were, to get through this thing.

For example, he could have given us the QUADRANT CONFERENCE to hang our hat on, with the information that this was brought Mountbatten to Burma-India and set up the Southeast Asia Command (SEAC). He could have even said that what led up to this was the successful "special forces" exploits of Wingate and his troops behind the Japanese lines in Burma. But he chose instead to tell us seemingly every patrol that took place in the two months or so of the campaign.

How many bridge blowups do we need to be told about? Couldn't you just say, "They blew up several bridges?" Instead of raising the reader's excitement, you have loaded so much comprehension upon him that he feels that he is a native bearer, a job that doesn't lend itself to being inspired by the machismo and success accomplished by Wingate's troops.

I personally wish that the author had stuck to his outline here, with its neat chronological guideposts, nailing the hat-hanging events with a reasonable amount of information, and sparing us this blessing he seems to want for remembering and presenting such minutiae. This could have been a great book; he had the material down. It is the writing of it that is lacking, the refusal to exercise a little extra decision-making that would have cut this down to size. Had he done this, this very well might be THE BOOK for all time from which the average WW II enthusiast could learn about the CBI Theater in World War II.

lubov

My Dad spent over 4 years in the jungles of Burma all along the Burma Road during WWII. The photos are some of the best that I have seen, albeit from Life Magazine. The story captures the movement of the US and British forces that were stationed there during the war. It was a difficult time for my Dad who hailed from a small town, son of a dairy farmer in Chester County, PA, but was quick to make long lasting friendships among his fellow soldiers. He shared many a story with us over the years, being stuck in waist deep mud, having a huge python curled up in his tent, his personal young Indian charge who insisted that the 'Old Spce' Toilet Water be poured into the latrine, and choosing to forget the atrocities that war brings. A spry 97 years young, I ordered this book for him, not to relieve the horrors of war, but rather to give him the sense of pride of serving with the CBI and for our country!
His daughter,
Barbara

Steel_Blade

Well worth reading. This campaign was not nearly so important as the Guadalcanal invasion, but was equally trying of human endurance. There is much to ponder here about Stillwell, who was an interesting figure. I wonder how he would have done against the Germans instead of Patton. Probably better because we was a master at getting the most affect from the fewest resources. The many excellent maps are especially nice.

Qumenalu

This is a wonderful book for people interested in World War II history. It gives detailed information about our involvement in the CBI, the China Burma India Theater of war where we were attempting to help the Chinese repel Japanese invaders. General Joseph Stilwell was given a job to do but not the authority he needed. He was aware of the corruption in the Chinese government and did what he could to combat it. However, he also had to cope with the English Lord Louis Mountbatten, a real prima donna. Chiang Kai Shek, the Chinese leader and general, had General Stilwell recalled and relieved of his command. He had the power to do this because we were afraid he would make a seperate peace with the Japanese and we would then be at war with China as well as the Japanese. The U.S. and allies did not rank the CBI as high as they did the war in the Pacific and Europe so that General Stilwell was always short of supplies and much needed troops. He did a magnificient job with what he had and in spite of the Chinese he was attempting to rescue from the Japanese. With all of the infighting among top military brass, it is amazing that the Allies won the war. This is basically a history of our American General Joseph Stilwell and his tour of duty in the CBI. He was a soldier's soldier and admired and respected by the troops who called him "Vinegar Joe." I don't know if a movie was ever made of the CBI and General Stilwell. A fascinating British officer was Lt. General Orde Wingate who headed a Special Forces group called Chindits who operated behind Japanese lines. General Wingate died in a plane crash in Burma in 1944. The plane was American and the 9 crew members, all American, also died. They were originally buried on the mountain in Burma but in 1950 all the remains, including those of General Wingate, were interred in our Arlington National Cemetery in a common grave, Section 12, No. 288. His life, and that of General Stilwell, would make a fascinating movie but I don't know who could portray them. It would require a John Wayne type and Hollywood today does not seem to have that super masculine actor.

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