The era when the men of Bill Slim's Fourteenth Army could justifiably call themselves 'The Forgotten Army' is long passed. Happily their outstanding achievements have been deservedly well-recorded by historians. Quality memoirs of those who fought and defeated the formidable and resourceful Japanese have always been sought after but, inevitably, fresh ones are becoming increasingly rare. John Hudson's Sunset In The East is well-worth reading for its vivid description of the brutal and sustained fighting through the siege of Imphal on the central Burma front, yet it offers much else besides. After the invasion of Malaya was aborted due to the surrender of Japan, but not before he had taken part in a curiously inept expeditionary foray, Hudson found himself in Java. Here a vicious anti-colonial war had erupted giving the hard-pressed authorities no option but to enlist the support of their erstwhile occupiers. So it was that the Author and his comrades found themselves fighting alongside their former bitter enemies. This unlikely and totally unforeseen scenario has scarcely been recorded and makes for exceptionally interesting reading.
Thus Sunset In The East is much more than just a thoroughly well-written and exciting fighting man's account of front-line action; it is an important contribution to military history.