RETREAT WITH STILWELL

This is good but its salability depends more on the vitality of the text than on the interest in the subject -- the fall of Burma and the spectacular retreat into India, which should still in live news but which, unfortunately never caught the imagination of the public, quickly was it past history. Belden is the Time Magazine Far Eastern correspondent. He has a dual gift: he sees shrewdly behind the events, can appraise causes, analyses military strategy, etc; and he can paint a vivid, dramatic picture and tell a fast paced story. All of these are elements in this story. He came into the picture when Chiang Kal Shek'n forces reached Rangoon; he was there through the difficult adjustment period of Stilwell's assuming command; he shared the , adventures, tragedies, nightmares of collapse, escape, etc. And he has told it as it should be told.