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.

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.

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.

In "Quartered Save Out Here," author George MacDonald Fraser earns the reputation as a world-class storyteller. Taking us back more than sixty years to the Burma Campaign at the end of World War II, he provides an exceptional account of his experiences in a rifle company, and the men who served at his side (1943-1945).

This book is more than an interesting first-person account of the Burma Campaign; Fraser also provides insight to the attitudes among those of his generation. We have all heard World War II veterans referred to as "the greatest generation"; Fraser helps us to understand why this is so. He provides an excellent contrast between his generation and contemporary society - a people who have never suffered, who have sacrificed nothing for a cause greater than themselves, and who are more than likely the product of absentee parents and Ritalin. In one passage, Fraser wrote, "Fortunately for the world, my generation didn't suffer from spiritual hypochondria -- but then, we couldn't afford it. By modern standards, I'm sure we, like the whole population who endured the war, were ripe for counseling, but we were lucky; there were no counselors. I can regret, though, that there were no modern television "journalists", transported back in time, to ask [Private} Grandarse; `How did you feel when you saw Corporal Little shot dead?' I would have liked to hear the reply."

Several of Fraser's works allow us to experience the British Indian Army, an organization that no longer exists. "Quartered Safe Out Here" is an excellent chronicle for those who enjoy reading unrevised history, who want to understand the fabric of average men who stood in defiance of the Imperial Japanese Army, and readers who dare to imagine what our fathers and grandfathers endured in a great undertaking.

I've never read any of Fraser's Flashman books, but being a fan of wartime memoirs I thought I'd try this one. Fraser has an awesome ear for dialogue - and dialect - that will have you reading these down-in-the-trenches conversations aloud, just trying to get a sense of them. And when you do, you'll often laugh out loud; I guarantee it. A very self-effacing and modest man about his wartime efforts in Burma, Fraser's thoughtful narrative about his 9 Section's hijinks just shines! And after making you laugh and giggle through his story, he'll finally make you cry when your read his epilogue added on the 50th anniversary of VJ-Day. I wish I could have known this man, a born storyteller, who died in January 2008. I salute you, Lance-Corporal Fraser. Thank you for your story. - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA

George MacDonald Fraser, who has written many successful fiction books based on well researched history quite often starring his very British Flashman character, writes a chronicle of his own personal experiences in the final stages of WWII fighting the Japanese as a 19 year old member of a rifle company that is composed of a handful of men run by a sergeant and a corporal. Fraser, who just recently passed away, writes of his first hand experiences in a very descriptive personal way, capturing the various English dialects of his fellow citizen soldiers expressing all their frustrations of life in harsh conditions in the jungle dealing with swamps, leaches, mosquitoes, questionable orders but generally good leadership although sometimes well questioned by the troops. Fraser gives you an excellent description of what it was like in the field, mixed with the real humor from the men who bonded close together, although having their differences with occasional culture clashes; they generally endure their punishment with a delightful sarcasm. And Fraser gives you the full flavor of the different troops in the field such as the courageous Gurkha soldiers, Indians and native tribesmen that fight with the British while also interacting with the tribes inhabiting the Burma jungles often caught between the two sides. Fraser does not write a political correct book and he is quite clear about that, which makes the book a realistic read, he echoes what the troops in the field really felt and he makes no bones how they felt about their enemy. An excellent picture of very young and veteran soldiers in the field that gives you the feel for the tremendous challenges and conditions they faced.

Well-written account of fighting in Burma. There is a lot of honesty about war in this book - he doesn't sugarcoat either side. An honest book about a tough fight in a brutal war.

My father was a Ranger ( Mars Task Force), who fought alongside the British and Chinese in this forgotten part of WW2. He is presently reading this book. He did enjoy the introduction and called it true to life. I will supply a more in depth review after he finishes the book. It will be a while as he is caring for my mother.

This is an outstanding true story of the Burma war, with none of the malarky that passes for reporting these days. The author does not excuse or whitewash "Jap", as he calls him, and does not engage in soul-searching about tactics used to defeat a brutal enemy. When compared to the all-out determination of the entire British (and American) nation to win, the near-treasonous undercutting of their own country since the end of WW II by Liberals of all stripes becomes even more despicable. This is a fine story of the bravery and confusion of war from the foot soldier's point of view.

The author of the Flashman chronicles has produced a vivid account of what it was actually like to be a young soldier in Burma in the later stages of World War II. Refreshing & politically incorrect.