No notes recorded. ( )

The story of Billy Williams alone would rate 5 stars. The author's rendering of it lowered it to 4 stars. The writing seems forced at times as if the author is trying too hard to write a good novel: there was way too much foreshadowing which I found unnecessary. This is a beautiful story and it did not need such techniques. ( )

A fantastic read about a fascinating person. Wonderful descriptions of Burma. You could feel the personality of the elephants through the work. ( )

Billy Williams, saw too many of the horrors of World War I. On returning to Britain he found he craved peace and solititude and so answered an ad to work for one of the giant British Teak companies in the jungles of colonial Burma.

There he was given a job as a supervisor. Without any knowledge of the jungle, the Burmese people, logging teak or the elephants under his charge, he found it a steep learning curve.

But he’d always had a fondness for animals and so was especially intrigued by the elephants. He oversaw their routine health problems, instituting more humane ways of caring and training them and putting an end to the cruel practice of shikar where wild elephants were captured and their spirits broken with starvation and abuse.

When WWII erupted, Williams anticipated Burma would be a quiet backwater. Instead, it became a hotly contested battle zone as the Japanese used it as a stepping stone to China, their hated enemy.

Williams convinced the British army that the logging elephants would be of great use – not just as pack animals but in actually building bridges and roads. And as the Japanese realized the elephants’ usefulness, they determined to capture or kill them. The only way out for the elephants and the people under Williams’ command was through rugged unexplored country to India – including over a cliff in a feat never attempted before with elephants. The elephants trusted Williams and he knew them almost like he knew his family. But was such an escape even possible?

Another interesting facet of WWII that was unknown to me. ( )

Very interesting ( )