The Special Operations Executive in Malaya by Rebecca Kenneison

The Special Operations Executive in Malaya by Rebecca Kenneison

During World War II, agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) infiltrated Japanese-occupied Malaya. There they worked with Malayan guerrilla groups, including the communist-sponsored Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), regarded as the precursor of the communist insurgent army of the Malayan Emergency. This book traces the development of SOE's Malayan operations, and analyses the interactions between SOE and the various guerrilla groups. It explores the reasons for and the extent of Malay disillusionment with Japanese rule, and demonstrates how guerrilla service acted as a training ground for some later Malay leaders of the independent nation. However, the reports written about the MPAJA by SOE operatives just after the war failed to draw out the likely future threat posed by the communists to the returning colonial administration. Rebecca Kenneison shows that the British possessed a wealth of local information, but failed to convert it into active intelligence in the period prior to the Malayan Emergency. In doing so she provides new insights into the impact of SOE on Malayan politics, the nature of Malayan communism's challenge to colonial rule, and British post-war intelligence in Malaya.

Kenneison’s book represents an important and welcome contribution to the history of wartime and post-war Malaya … [It] should be required reading for any student of wartime Malaya or the Malayan Emergency* Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society *
[A] timely and vital addition … Based on her meticulous archival research, Kenneison presents a nuanced understanding of the Special Operations Executive’s operations and the intricate relationships among the local resistance forces that the agency supported … Overall, this is a well-written book with solid archival research, accessible language, and fascinating details. * Journal of British Studies *

Rebecca Kenneison is Associate Fellow in History at the University of Essex. She holds a PhD from the University of Essex and is the author of Playing for Malaya: A Eurasian Family in the Pacific War (2012).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781788313896
ISBN 10	1788313895
Title	The Special Operations Executive in Malaya
Author	Rebecca Kenneison
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2019-07-11
Number of pages	264
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.