Burma Road - A Magnificent Epic of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II

Author: (American) Donovan Webster
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: In southwestern China, since modern times, what is the most tragic event? — It is the construction of the Burma Road. What is the most magnificent event? — It is the construction of the Burma Road. What is the most heroic sacrifice? — It is the construction of the Burma Road. What is the greatest contribution? — It is the construction of the Burma Road. It is all for the sake of this bloodline of the Anti-Japanese War. "No Hollywood producer would dare to make a film to depict the mad, frustrating, and bizarre scenes of the China-Burma-India battlefield. It is full of wonders — princelings of tribal states, dance girls, warlords, headhunting savages, jungles, deserts, con artists, secret police." This book tells the chaotic, frenzied, sometimes exhilarating, but more often tragic and still largely unknown epic of war on the "China-Burma-India" battlefield during World War II. Based on field research and extensive interviews with participants, Donovan Webster, a contributing writer for National Geographic, vividly recreates military plans and adventures that took place on the China-Burma-India battlefield. He follows the hair-raising journey of the Hump flyers; tells the real story adapted into the famous film The Bridge on the River Kwai; describes the fierce battles against Japanese forces in the terrifying jungle. This is a remarkable historical account of the "China-Burma-India battlefield" during World War II. When Japanese forces swept across China and Southeast Asia in the early stages of the war and blocked China's ports, over two million Chinese laborers embarked on a seemingly impossible mission: to build a 700-mile land transportation line between the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming and the Burmese rail hub of Lashio on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. This road later became known as the "Burma Road." They completed this project in less than two years. However, with Burma falling into enemy hands in early 1942, the Burma Road was quickly cut off by Japanese forces. The newly appointed American general Joseph Stilwell was ordered to reopen the Burma Road, while simultaneously supplying China with via air transport from India and driving Japanese forces out of Burma, as part of the Allies' strategic steps to attack Japan. In this book, Donovan Webster vividly recreates the military plans and adventures that took place on the Burma-India battlefield. He follows the hair-raising journey of the Hump flyers; tells the real story adapted into the famous film The Bridge on the River Kwai; describes the heroic deeds of the Chinese forces, Merrill's Marauders, and the British Chindits operating in the terrifying jungle; and also recounts the bloody history of the elite fighter pilots of the Flying Tigers. Interwoven are vivid portrayals of the unconventional American general "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell and the eccentric British general Orde Wingate. This book tells the chaotic, frenzied, sometimes exhilarating, but more often tragic and still largely unknown epic of war on a crucial battlefield during World War II.