Kuala Lumpur at War by Andrew Barber

This book is about the experience of war on Kuala Lumpur. This is not a "military history" in the sense that there was very little fighting either when the Japanese entered the city in January 1942 or when the British returned in September 1945. Rather, the focus of the book is on how conflict, the Japanese occupation and the return of the British impacted on the city and its people. The three years and eight months of Japanese governance wrought huge change, and were a tilting point in the history of Malaya. As the capital city, Kuala Lumpur was a central player in these changes. This is the story of those years...

Andrew Barber is a Kuala Lumpur-based corporate consultant and former British diplomat. His is the author of a number of books on Malaysian history including: Malaysian Moments; Malaya the Making of a Nation 1510-1957; Penang under the East India Company 1786-1858; Penang at War 1914-1946; Doris van der Stratten and Colonial Penang 1786-1957. His is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.