Misfire

Brian P. Farrell is author of The Defence and Fall of Singapore, coauthor of Between Two Oceans: A Military History of Singapore from First Settlement to Final British Withdrawal, and coeditor of From Far East to Asia Pacific: Great Powers and Grand Strategy 1900–1954 and Empire in Asia: A New Global History. Farrell is professor of history at the National University of Singapore. He is the Deputy Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific for the Society for Military History.

"Brian Farrell has produced an invaluable study of the role of Independent Company in the Malayan campaign of 1940-1942, showing how institutional and personal biases at every command level prevented it from achieving its potential as the one unit that might have significantly slowed the Japanese advance. 'Opportunity wasted' is the sobering conclusion of a compelling examination of what might have been." —Peter Dennis, coauthor of The Australian Imperial Force: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War"The rise of 'Special Forces' as important (and heavily publicized) components of armies dates to the Second World War. Brian Farrell, a distinguished historian of the war against Japan, has brilliantly reconstructed one of the first attempts to create and deploy such a force during the doomed attempt to hold Singapore in 1940-1942. His careful examination of a neglected episode in a lost campaign powerfully underscores the maxim that often far more can be learned from studying defeat than by celebrating victory." —Raymond Callahan, author of Churchill and his Generals"Ambitious in scope, rigorously researched, and forensic in its assessments, Misfire is an impressive work of scholarship. It is a must read for those interested in the history of Special Operations Forces." —Karl James, author of Double Diamonds: Australian Commandos in the Pacific War, 1940-1942."The 70-day battle for Malaya in 1940-1942 ought to have been a perfect opportunity for the British to employ special forces to hinder the advancing Japanese Army. Instead, it proved a humiliating example of how not to use such units. Brian Farrell's fascinating study of the campaign, the first of its kind, sheds much valuable light on the past while offering food for thought about the 1st use of special forces." —Allan Allport, author of Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941.