Includes 20 illustrations. Arthur “Art” Gerald Donahue, a native of Minnesota, bravely entered the fray of the Second World War as volunteer pilot in the Royal Air Force by falsely claiming to be a Canadian in 1940. He was already an experienced pilot before he took off in his Spitfire in 64 Squadron based at RAF Kenley, and then 71 Squadron. His experiences and victories during the Battle of Britain are recounted in his first book “Yankee In A Spitfire” but suffice it to say he flew with great skill and courage as one of the “Few”. After a period of brief leave in America he was transferred to the Far East with 258 Squadron, a part of the belated effort to reinforce Singapore. In this book he recounts his adventures in the air over Singapore and Sumatra in the chaotic fighting that saw the British troops routed by a brilliant offensive by the Japanese. Surviving the overwhelming odds in the air, the author managed to escape back to England via India; but was listed as missing in action in 1942. “Donahue makes no attempt either to dramatize or underplay his experiences. He tells them in a simple, unvarnished manner, much as if he were sitting down with some friends back home. The result is pretty close to what the real thing must have been.”—New York Times

As one of the storied few who defeated the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, American Arthur G. Donahue wished to continue his service and requested overseas duty. In October 1941, he was sent to the British protectorate of Singapore as a precaution against a possible threat from Japan, which was already conducting a war in China. Within two months, all of Asia was thrown into turmoil as Japan - simultaneously bombed Hawaii and invaded the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese forces swiftly conquered much of Southeast Asia and began moving toward Burma and India. Here, Donahue tells his dramatic story, accompanied by photographs he took himself, of the intense and futile battle against the Japanese for control of the gateway to the Malay Peninsula.

When C.M. Turnbull's A History of Singapore, 1819-1975 appeared in 1977, it quickly achieved recognition as the definitive history of Singapore. A second edition published in 1989 brought the story up to the elections held in 1988. In this fully revised edition, rewritten to take into account recent scholarship on Singapore, the author has added a chapter on Goh Chok Tong's premiership (1990-2004) and the transition to a government headed by Lee Hsien Loong. The book now ends in 2005, when the Republic of Singapore celebrated its 40th anniversary as an independent nation. Major changes occurred in the 1990s as the generation of leaders that oversaw the transition from a colony to independence stepped aside in favour of a younger generation of leaders. Their task was to shape a course that sustained the economic growth and social stability achieved by their predecessors, and they would be tested towards the end of the decade when Southeast Asia experienced a severe financial crisis. Many modern studies on Singapore focus on current affairs or very recent events and pay a great deal of attention to Singapore's successful transition from the developing to the developed world. However, younger historians are increasingly interested in other aspects of the country's past, particularly social and cultural issues. A History of Modern Singapore, 1819-2005 provides a solid foundation and an overarching framework for this research, surveying Singapore's trajectory from a small British port to a major trading and financial hub within the British Empire and finally to the modern city state that Singapore became after gaining independence in 1965.

The story of 488 RNZAF Squadron during the fall of Singapore early in 1942. This gripping history has been written using the diaries, letters, photographs and personal reminiscences of members of 488 Squadron, who were based just outside Singapore City and valiantly kept planes in the air against Japanese attacks until just before the city was overwhelmed. The story of their day-to-day life at a time of crisis, their hard work and their valour is eye-opening. The remaining ground crew were granted passage on one of the last ships to leave the island, when the Japanese were just 1 kilometre from the city centre. The ship had accommodation for 23 passengers, yet there were approximately 3000 people crammed on board. The overcrowding was the least of their worries...

In the early stages of the Second World War, the vast crescent of British-ruled territories stretching from India to Singapore appeared as a massive Allied asset. It provided scores of soldiers and great quantities of raw materials and helped present a seemingly impregnable global defense against the Axis. Yet, within a few weeks in 1941-42, a Japanese invasion had destroyed all this, sweeping suddenly and decisively through south and southeast Asia to the Indian frontier, and provoking the extraordinary revolutionary struggles which would mark the beginning of the end of British dominion in the East and the rise of today's Asian world. More than a military history, this gripping account of groundbreaking battles and guerrilla campaigns creates a panoramic view of British Asia as it was ravaged by warfare, nationalist insurgency, disease, and famine. It breathes life into the armies of soldiers, civilians, laborers, businessmen, comfort women, doctors, and nurses who confronted the daily brutalities of a combat zone which extended from metropolitan cities to remote jungles, from tropical plantations to the Himalayas. Drawing upon a vast range of Indian, Burmese, Chinese, and Malay as well as British, American, and Japanese voices, the authors make vivid one of the central dramas of the twentieth century: the birth of modern south and southeast Asia and the death of British rule.

Modern Singapore is a miracle. Half a century ago it unwillingly became an independent nation, after it was thrown out of the Malay Federation. It was tiny, poor, almost devoid of resources, and in a hostile neighborhood. Now, this unlikely country is at the top of almost every global national index, from high wealth and low crime to superb education and much-envied stability. But have these achievements bred a dangerous sense of complacency among Singapore's people? Nicholas Walton walked across the entire country in one day, to grasp what it was that made Singapore tick, and to understand the challenges that it now faces. Singapore, Singapura teases out the island's story, from mercantilist Raffles and British colonial rule, through the war years, to independence and the building of the current miracle. There are challenges ahead, from public complacency and the constraints of authoritarian democracy to changing geographic realities and the difficulties of balancing migration in such a tiny state. Singapore's second half-century will be just as exacting as the one since independence--as Walton warns, talk of a "Singapore model" for our hyper-globalized world must face these realities.

The story of the RAF pilot and POW shot down in 1939—including his role in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III—is told in this intimate WWII biography. While on a reconnaissance sortie over Germany in 1939, Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Alfie Fripp was shot down by the Luftwaffe and taken prisoner. The longest-serving British prisoner of war, he was also the last of the surviving “39-ers” when he died in 2012. His wartime years were spent in numerous camps, including the infamous Stalag Luft III, where he took an active role in the prison break immortalized by the film The Great Escape. Fripp also served during the interwar period and returned to service after being released in 1945. Before he died, Fripp, began working with aviation historian Sean Feast on his memoirs. Feast has now combined copious research with Fripp’s candid account and personal photographs to produce this lively and authoritative biography.