The India-Burma Sector, though largely unheralded, was where the tide actually turned against Japan in the Second World War. After the woeful embarrassment at Singapore, here was an opportunity for the Allies to redeem themselves, in some of the toughest terrain where battles could be fought.

Brig. CE Lucas Phillips' book follows a special unit by the name of "V Force" who specialised in local intelligence accumulation and hit-and-run raids which, while not necessarily on the same scale as those mounted by the Green Berets or the Royal Marines - were effective jabs to cause the enemy some level of distress.

Most of the narrative, in fact all but a couple of pages of it, revolve around Maj. Denis Holmes, one of the Indian Army officers seconded to this little outfit. Brig. Phillips traces Holmes' entire journey with his largely indigenous force as they harassed the Japanese in the forests and villages of Burma.

Action-packed in a manner reminiscent of Commando Comics, the book is easily accessible with its simple writing and effective story-telling. It conveys the sense of the whole war rather well, and is particularly good in nailing down the intricacies of fighting in Burma.

But it is still popular history, so anyone wanting a more detailed understanding of the V Force would probably have to look elsewhere. It's a great starting point, no doubt, but there are definitely parts of it that betray Phillips' naivety as regards the politics of the time, which sometimes veers towards being tremendously problematic even.