Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II | 
| Author: George Macdonald Fraser
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 31850
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 358
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 1602391904
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.542591092
EAN: 9781602391901
ASIN: 1602391904
Publication Date: October 2007
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Product Description
George MacDonald Fraser—beloved for his series of Flashman historical novels—offers an action-packed memoir of his experiences in Burma during World War II. Fraser was only 19 when he arrived there in the war’s final year, and he offers a first-hand glimpse at the camaraderie, danger, and satisfactions of service. A substantial Epilogue, occasioned by the 50th anniversary of VJ-Day in 1995, adds poignancy to a volume that eminent military historian John Keegan described as “one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War.”
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Quartered safe out here July 24, 2008
A superb book which is not just a personal account of the 2nd World War in Burma, but also an attack on nannyism in Britain today. At times it reads along the 'it wasn't like that in my day' lines, but I found I totally agreed with all sections of this sort. It is, as you'd expect, full of hunour as well.
I fully recommend it
Roger Hunt
Unexpected Reading Pleasure in an Out of the Way Theater of War July 19, 2008
I happened by chance to come across this book when searching for the Flashman series, which I'm reading now. I have read many non-fiction accounts of war, from WWI to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The WWII European theater of operations usually trumps the Pacific, and only in the last few years have I started to delve into this area. Recommended books are "Rising Sun" and "The Rape of Nanking".
The Burma campaign is not as well documented, and this is a welcome book to the canon.
This book, although not perhaps a classic, is incredibly diverse and true to life. The one overriding issue for me was the writing in the vernacular of the British soldiers, including Scots. For an American, it is difficult to translate what's written into coherent meaning, at times. For the most part, I was able to do so; however, there were some passages that I simply read over, not knowing exactly was said, even in context.
This, perhaps, is a minor drawback; but it does make it more real.
I highly recommend this book, particularly for lovers of true war stories.
Quartered Safe Out Here July 4, 2008
A frank and totally absorbing account of Britain's WWII Burma campaign from the perspective of a buck private (and later, lance corporal). Although this was essentially a side show to the war, the fear, the terror, the privations, the ferocity of fighting were as great here as in any theater--and are very convincingly described.
Fraser's skill as a writer (he is the author of the Flashman series and a serious history of the Scotch/English border strife) is abundantly on display; this book is a real page turner. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I immediately ordered those Fraser books I don't already own.
one of the great memoirs of WW II June 27, 2008
Fraser has a superb facility with words: his Flashman series (including The American, with Flashman in his still-lecherous dotage) is certainly one of the greatest set of historical military fiction. Quartered Safe Out Here shares the same fine qualities as the Flashman books--drama, humor, and heroism (which in Flashman's case was almost invariably accidental or at least reluctantly unintended). This is a very personal account: you're not going to get great battles and sweeping victories. His section was 10 men, including himself as a 19-year-old private, albeit a private who had several times been promoted then demoted back to private. The section is mostly Cumbrian (Fraser, from across the Scottish border, is a bit of an alien). The heavy Cumbrian accent takes getting used to, but Fraser translates with numerous footnotes, and the accent actually becomes delightfully endearing.
The Burma Campaign is seen through Fraser's eyes. He does, writing many years after the events, have the Official History, and he tries to reconcile his memory of things with the Official History. At times he's right and the OH is wrong. So you get a sharply narrow view of what's going on, unlike, say, Field Marshall Slim's account Defeat Into Victory, where the larger view is at hand. Fraser's world is his section, with his wonderfully-drawn mates Grandarse (not his real name) and others. Fraser describes his own feelings and uncertainties. Contact with the Japanese was usually sparse, but at times took on a frighteningly close immediacy, confronting enemy soldiers just a few feet away. Contact with allies was less sparse, but there was never the "big picture": everything was very local. Privates followed orders, and didn't need to see the larger view, unlike officers. Lieutenants and up (even sergeants, for that matter) needed to be aware of other platoons, companies, divisions. It's an effective view, and very poignant.
If you want a history of the Burma Campaign, try Slim, or a similar book. But if you want a very personal, very up-front account, you will appreciate this superb memoir.
Wonderful Book June 19, 2008
If I could I would like to praise this book in the only way how; by saying that it reads like a book written by a real person not a war hero. Fraser's observations about the Japanese willingness to fight also need to be taken into account.
Overall-You will read it in one sitting that is how engaging it is.
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