Author:Tim Harper,Christopher Bayly
The vast crescent of British-ruled territories from India down to Singapore appeared in the early stages of the Second World War a massive asset in the war with Germany, providing huge quantities of soldiers and raw materials and key part of an impregnable global network denied to the Nazis. Within a few weeks in 1941-2 a Japanese invasion had destroyed all this, almost effortlessly taking the 'impregnable fortress' of Singapore with its 80,000 strong garrison, and sweeping through South and Southeast Asia to the frontier of India itself. This revolutionary, absolutely gripping book brings to life the entire experience of South and Southeast Asia in this extraordinary period, telling the story from an Indian, Burmese, Chinese or Malay perspective as much as from that of the British or Japanese. Effectively it is the story of the birth of modern South and Southeast Asia and the hopes and fears of the dozens of 'forgotten armies' marching through the jungle battlefields, so many dying for causes swept away by the reality that emerged in 1945. Even as the British successfully fought back in the bloodiest battles in South and Southeast Asia's history, there was no going back to colonial rule.
A searing story . . . both meticulous military history and a deeply moving testimony to the extraordinary personal bravery of individual soldiers
—— Tim Gardam , The TimesSebag-Montefiore tells [the story] with gusto, a remarkable attention to detail and an inexhaustible appetite for tracking down the evidence
—— Richard Ovary , TelegraphRichard Overy is writing at the height of his powers... The result is often startling, never less than fascinating
—— Adam Sisman , ObserverA thought provoking reappraisal of the war - deeply researched, complex and yet beautifully lucid
—— Correlli Barnett , Times Literary SupplementWe cannot know what Anne Darquier would have thought of Callil's book, but my guess is that she would have been as moved, astonished and impressed as any other reader
—— Ruth Scurr , The TimesExtraordinary...touching... a masterpiece of lacerating satire
—— Peter Conrad , ObserverIn providing such a detailed picture of one of the functionaries of the Nazi empire, Callil has brilliantly shown how such a system could encourage and promote nonentities who were prepared to mouth the necessary phrases, and to ignore the call of humanity
—— Richard Griffiths , New StatesmanBad Faith represents eight years of astonishing research...a remarkable book
—— Antony Beevor , Sunday TelegraphA meticulous work of scholarship... [an] astonishing biography
—— Adam Thorpe , GuardianImpeccably researched, Bad Faith is a work of great power and originality; Callil is to be congratulated on her achieivement
—— Sunday Times