Unflinching look at the Malaya Campaign of 1941-1942, which resulted in the surrender of Singapore, the largest surrender in the history of the British Army. Barber pulls few, if any, punches in assigning blame, and the commanding general, Arthur Percival, comes in for a rather deserved drubbing. However, there's also a lot of blame to be applied to the grossly malfunctioning working arrangement not only between civil and military authorities, but within those branches as well. Simply put, Barber's thesis was that the entire campaign was grossly mismanaged, not only in Singapore but in London, and it's hard to disagree with him. There are some heroes in the book to relieve the dread, even some soldiers. But quite a few villains. ( )