Robert Lyman has developed an almost Turnbullesque quality of re-purposing his materiel about Bill Slim and the Burma campaign into a plethora of books. This Osprey Command title offers a short but fine introduction to the general who led Britain's largest WWII army to victory (albeit in a secondary theater). Lyman over-promotes Slim's generalship. While certainly a fine leader of men, he owed his successes to the overwhelming Allied air superiority and mother Nature in the both benign and terrifying form of the Monsoon. The Monsoon season would have ended the Japanese advance in the Burma campaign even if Slim's slim divisions had been completely wiped out in their retreat.

Bill Slim's own outstanding book "Defeat into Victory" highlights the importance of air superiority. The stupid linear British airfield disposition (after Pearl Harbor!) quickly allowed the Japanese to establish total air control despite the heroic fight shown by the American (and British) pilots. The retreat out of Burma was managed competently by Slim. The Arakan, Imphal and Kohima campaigns ended in British victory mostly due to the weakness of the Japanese forces. The counterstrike to Meiktila, which cut the Japanese line of supply, was masterful, although the tide of war had already turned starkly against the Japanese in 1945.

Overall, Slim and the campaigns he fought deserve to be better known. This command title does a good job of introducing Slim to a wider audience. ( )