Quartered Safe Out Here
‘There is no doubt that [Quartered Safe Out Here] is one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War’ John Keegan
Life and death in Nine Section, a small group of hard-bitten and (to modern eyes) possibly eccentric Cumbrian borderers with whom the author, then nineteen, served in the last great land campaign of World War II, when the 17th Black Cat Division captured a vital strongpoint deep in Japanese territory, held it against counter-attack and spearheaded the final assault in which the Japanese armies were, to quote General Slim, “torn apart”.
‘The sense of front-line danger is palpable and the smell of action is remarkable. His descriptions of the sudden violent actions are breathtaking. This is battle as it is done’Melvyn Bragg, Evening Standard -
‘Fraser’s is quite the most vividly realistic account of the sharp end of the war in Burma that I have read… If you have enjoyed Fraser’s Flashman books you will enjoy the racy, pacy, utterly authentic account of far away long ago soldiering’John Mellors, London Magazine -
‘This is a book as good as anything Fraser has written… A moving and penetrating contribution to the literature of the Burma campaign’Max Hastings, Daily Telegraph -
‘A brilliantly entertaining read, with all the narrative power, gift for dialogue and surprising twists and turns that would be expected of Flashman’s creator’Gary Mead, Financial Times -