"'Riveting' - The New York Times
THE LITTLE-KNOWN STORY OF THE ALLIES' FIGHT IN WWII'S CHAOTIC AND LETHAL CHINA BURMA-INDIA THEATER.
In April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army captured Burma, closing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies now had to be flown over the foothills of the treacherous Himalayas, on the most dangerous air route in the world.
Delving into memoirs, diaries, and official records, Caroline Alexander tells the story of the airmen who braved this perilous journey, flying unreliable aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, with primitive navigation tools. The result is a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival.
Highlighting the efforts of units like the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, and examining the political tensions between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek, this book also exposes the fractures between the Allies and the impact of their decisions on post-war relations."
"With richly evocative images and wonderfully entertaining anecdotes, Caroline Alexander transports you to the dense interior of equatorial Gabon. In One Dry Season, she chronicles her adventures as she makes her way alone through dangerously primitive territory. When she first read of Victorian explorer Mary Kingsley's travels in the French colony of Gabon, Alexander knew she had to experience the present-day nation for herself. Soon she is retracing Kingsley's route-struggling through tangled vines in humid rain forests, chugging up the churning OgoouE River in a packed steamer, and fending off gigantic cockroaches. The country she discovers is a challenging mixture of Africa's exotic past and its practical present. A splendid storyteller, Caroline Alexander introduces you to the colorful new friends she made along the trail including a shy mission nun, a half-mad French woman, and a village chief who treated her as an errant teenaged daughter. Lisette Lecat's expert narration brings out all the excitement of today's Africa."
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