Defeat into Victory

Defeat into Victory
Defeat into Victory  
Author(s) Field Marshal Sir William Slim
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Military history/memoir
Publisher Cassell and Company Ltd
Publication date 1956
Pages 576 including 21 maps.

Defeat into Victory is an account of the retaking of Burma by Allied forces during the Second World War by the British Field Marshal William Slim and published in the UK by Cassell in 1956. It was published in the United States as Defeat into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945 by David McKay of New York in 1961. Slim was the commander of the British 14th Army which, in concert with American and Chinese forces, defeated the Imperial Japanese Army during the Burma Campaign. Defeat into Victory is widely regarded as a classic memoir of high command.

Critical and popular reception

Defeat into Victory received positive reviews on its publications, being praised for its insight and the quality of writing. In a review in Military Affairs Frank Trager describes it as 'extraordinary' and making 'a most valuable contribution to our understanding'[1] and thought it instructive in the light of contemporary American involvement in Vietnam. Louis Morton, writing in The Journal of Modern History considered it a work of 'wisdom, modesty, grace, and deep understanding', and 'an outstanding example of the best of British military memoirs'.[2] In the New York Times, the writer John Masters called it 'a dramatic story with one principal character and several hundred subordinate characters,' and said that it showed that Field Marshal Slim was "an expert soldier and an expert writer."[3] Defeat into Victory was also a considerable commercial success with the first edition of 20,000 selling out almost immediately, being quickly followed by a second run. The book has been reissued several times since.[4]

Structure

In the original 1956 edition,[5] Slim divided his work chronologically into six 'books' entitled:

  • Defeat
  • Forging the Weapon
  • The Weapon is Tested
  • The Tide Turns
  • The Decisive Battle
  • Victory

This structure, examining the Allied victory in terms of the resurrection of the British and Indian Armies' fighting prowess, has proved influential in the historiography of the Burma campaign.

References

  1. ^ Trager, Frank Military Affairs Vol. 26, No. 2 (Summer, 1962) pp. 76-77 (Society for Military History)[1]
  2. ^ Morton, Louis The Journal of Modern History Vol. 35, No. 2 (Jun., 1963), pp. 217-218
  3. ^ Masters, John (November 19, 1961), "Command Performance on the Road to Rangoon and Mandalay; DEFEAT INTO VICTORY.", The New York Times, Book Review: BR3, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50814F9355912738DDDA00994D9415B818AF1D3&scp=1&sq=William%20Slim%20Defeat%20into%20victory&st=cse 
  4. ^ Lewin, Ronald (1999) Slim: The Standardbearer (Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions) pp. 294
  5. ^ Slim, William (1956) Defeat into Victory (Cassell: London) pp. ix-x



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Somme - From Defeat to Victory — Infobox Television Film bgcolour = name = nowrap beginThe Somme wrap From Defeat to Victorynowrap end caption = BBC DVD Cover format = Docudrama creator = director = Detlef Siebert producer = nowrap beginMatthew Barrett·wrap David Higginson·wrap… …   Wikipedia

  • victory — 01. The team celebrated their [victory] with beer and pizza at a local restaurant. 02. He was a member of the [victorious] soccer team that won the Gold Cup in 1999. 03. The Allied forces scored a major [victory] on D Day, ultimately leading to… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • defeat — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun ADJECTIVE ▪ complete, comprehensive (esp. BrE), decisive, heavy, major, overwhelming, resounding, serious, stunning, total …   Collocations dictionary

  • Victory disease — afflicts military commanders and armies who, after victories, become weak and susceptible to defeat [http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume1/september 2003/9 03 5.html] .ignsThe signs are: * arrogance, * overconfidence, * , * use… …   Wikipedia

  • Victory in Europe Day — (V E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler s Third Reich. On April 30, Hitler committed… …   Wikipedia

  • Defeat in detail — is a military phrase referring to the tactic of bringing a large portion of one s own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once. This exposes one s own units to a small risk, yet… …   Wikipedia

  • Victory at Sea — Infobox Television Film name = Victory at Sea caption = Victory at Sea title card format = War documentary director = producer = Henry Salomon writer = starring = Leonard Graves (Narrator) music = Richard Rodgers Robert Russell Bennett NBC… …   Wikipedia

  • Victory title — A victory title is an honorific title adopted by a successful military commander to commemorate his defeat of an enemy nation. This practice was first used by Ancient Rome and is still most commonly associated with the Romans, but it has also… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Victory Series — The Southern Victory Series or Timeline 191 are both fan names given to a series of Harry Turtledove alternate history novels, including How Few Remain as well as the Great War, American Empire, and Settling Accounts series. The name is derived… …   Wikipedia

  • Fictional characters in the Southern Victory Series — The Southern Victory Series is a series of alternate history novels written by Harry Turtledove. The point of divergence involves Confederate States of America winning the American Civil War and becoming an independent nation. The series covers… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”