The War in Malaya

London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1949. First edition. Hard cover in original cloth. Published London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1949, first printing. 8vo., x+336pp., illustrated with maps. Green cloth with gilt spine titles. Minor, light dust foxing on edges, offset toning to fly leaves, else very good plus, clean, bright, attractive. Front flap of dust jacket laid in. "The fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, was a great and unexpected blow both to Britain and to her Allies, a blow all the more unlooked-for because the defences of the island fortress had been generally believed to be impregnable. As a result, accusations against the military and civil leadership were immediately made, the greater part of them based on an almost total lack of detailed information. In this book, Lieutenant-General A. E. Percival, who was General Officer Commanding in Malaya from 1941 to 1942, has at last been able to present an authoritative account of the fighting in Malaya and of the events immediately leading up to it. He has given the reasons for the heart-breaking decisions he was forced to take and explained the hitherto unrevealed factors which influenced them. With access to such official records as have been recovered, and after a great deal of research, he has produced a record of the fighting which will go a long way to putting in correct perspective a campaign where British arms, although worn down by an enemy prepared for aggression and skilled in ruthlessness, acquitted itself with honour and — as the case proved — the most enduring courage. The War in Malaya, besides making an essential contribution to an understanding of the war in the Far East, is an outstanding study of human fortitude under adversity.". 1st. Hard. Very Good Plus/No Jacket. 8vo.