The sheer size and influence of the British Indian Army, and its major role in the Allied War effort between 1939 and 1945 on behalf of a country from which it was seeking independence, maintains its fascination as a subject for a wide variety of historians. This volume presents a range of papers examining the Indian Army experience from the outbreak of world war in 1939 to the partition of India in 1947. With contributions from many of those at the forefront of the study of the Indian Army and Commonwealth history, the book focuses upon a period of Indian Army history not well covered by modern scholarship. As such it makes a substantial contribution across a range of subject areas, presenting a compendium of chapters examining Indian Army participation in the Second World War from North Africa to Burma, plus a variety of other topics including the evolution of wartime training, frontier operations, Churchill and the Indian Army, the Army's role in the development of post-war British counterinsurgency practice, and of particular note, several chapters examining aspects of the partition in 1947. As such, the book offers a fascinating insight into one of the most important yet least understood military forces of the twentieth century. It will be of interest not only to those seeking a fuller understanding of past campaigns, but also to those wishing to better understand the development and ethos of the present day military forces of the Indian subcontinent.

Because of the enormity of World War II and the numerous geographic areas and belligerents involved, this study has been divided into two volumes. The first examines the war between Japan and the Allied powers. It covers the conflict in Asia beginning with the Japanese seizure of Manchuria in September 1931 to Japanese's surrender in September 1945 and the immediate post-war years in Asia and the Pacific. The second volume addresses the war against Germany and Italy.

Focusing exclusively on the war in the Pacific and Asia, military historian Wells traces the conflict from the Japanese seizure of Chinese territory in 1931, through the onset of war with the western allies in 1941, to the use of atomic bombs by the US in 1945. She also includes material relating to the aftermath, including the formation of the United Nations and the US occupation of Japan. The encyclopedia-style entries are supported with an introduction overviewing the course of the war, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, code names, selected statistics, a bibliographic essay, and many entry-specific maps. The cross- referencing is extensive. There is no index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR