Slim's book is now over 40 years old, but it is still one of the more readable first-hand accounts of the second World War by a top-level soldier. His theatre of war was Burma, where he first suffered humiliating defeat, then rallied to cross the Irrawaddy and win the crucial battle of Imphal-Kohima against the Japanese. A man who rose from the ranks, Slim had the reputation of being a soldier's soldier, though he was also tough with his men and demanded much from them. In retrospect, his campaign had more to do with (temporarily) saving the British Empire than with winning the war, but it was nevertheless a heavy defeat for Japan, which hastened its eventual collapse and surrender.