The Collapse of British Rule in Burma - by Michael D Leigh (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In May 1942 colonial Burma was in a state of military, economic and constitutional collapse. Japanese forces controlled almost the whole country and thousands of evacuees were trapped in a huge area of no-man's-land in the north. They made their way to India through the so-called 'jungles of death', attempting to trek out of Burma amidst perilous conditions. Drawing on diverse and previously unpublished accounts, Michael D. Leigh analyses the experiences of evacuees in both Burma and India and critically examines the impact of evacuation on colonial and Burmese politics in the lead-up to independence in 1948. This study will be of particular interest to students and scholars of Burmese history, 20th-century imperialism and the global reach of the Second World War.

Review Quotes

Leigh has pulled together an impressive array of sources, both official and personal (including numerous recollections and images still in private possession), which he has sifted through with great diligence and skill ... [Leigh] has produced a ?ne work, rich in detail and persuasive in its presentation, to illustrate where and how the tragedy of the evacuation unfolded. This makes the book a valuable contribution to the study of the Second World War in the East.

The tormenting and breathtaking adventures of the thousands of people from British Burma recreated by Michael Leigh is truly an extraordinary story of the India-Burma-China theater of World War II, largely unknown to the current world.

This is a compelling account of the destruction of British rule in Burma at the hands of the Japanese in the first months of 1942, of the evacuation of hundreds of thousands, Indians as well as Europeans, back to India in the wake of the collapse, and of the ultimately failed British attempt to re-establish effective control over Burma following the return of the colonial administration in mid-1945. Due weight is given to the politics of these events. But Michael Leigh's main focus is on the experience of individuals, from the highest levels of the colonial government, down through the middle ranks, to the vast numbers of the poorest Indians who had once found work in Burma. Meticulously researched and vividly written, this often harrowing account returns to history events and individuals far too long ignored or unknown.

About the Author

Michael D. Leigh is Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, UK. He is the author of The Evacuation of Civilians from Burma: Analysing the 1942 Colonial Disaster (2014).