Page 159 - JSOM Winter 2018

Dadland

Carew K. Dadland. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press; 2016. 420 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8021-2514-9/978.0.8021-9038-3.
Review by COL (Ret) Warner “Rocky” D. Farr, MD, MPH

his is a book about a British SOE (Special Operations All this results in a spectacular, moving memoir made even more
Executive) soldier’s life that your spouse or significant poignant by his terminal dementia as she tries to extract his per-
Tother might well want to read when you are done or, sonal stories of the war, his several marriages, his Jedburgh train-
in my case, steal before you are done! Praise for Dadland in- ing, and his wartime service, particularly in France and Burma.
cludes being named a San Francisco Chronicle top 10 book Tom Carew, at the end of the war in Burma, saw the confusion
of the year, a best book of the year by NPR’s of an imperial Britain with a crumbing empire.
Book Concierge, winner of the Costa Book He worked extensively with Aung San, the
Award for Biography, #1 nonfiction best- commander of the Burma National Army and
seller in the UK, and an Amazon Best Book leader of the Burmese independence move-
of the Month in Biographies & Memoirs. I ment, which Carew favored and the British
lost my first copy to a houseguest with no government did not favor. Aung San was the
military experience who just had to keep it father of Aung San Suu Kyi, who today leads
to finish it. the National League for Democracy in Burma
and is the military government’s foreign minis-
So what is the “hook”? The author makes it a ter and state counselor. Carew kept in contact
quite magical voyage of discovery. She gradu- with her and her husband, Michal Aris, while
ally uncovers the story of her father’s role in Aung Saan Suu Kyi was imprisoned.
the British SOE in World War II while learn-
ing how his traits that made him a success- All and all, this is a great read on many lev-
ful Special Forces soldier did not necessarily els—a personal story mixed with military
make him a “good” husband or father after special operations wartime life complexed
the war. She is teasing this entire story out with a terminal illness and British veteran re-
from various people while her farther strug- unions and stories. Tom Carew, a left-handed
gles with the onset and progression of his Alz- stutterer, who had much wit and charm to go
heimer disease. She adroitly jumps from stories of the French along with skill and bravery, is a SOF trooper who we all will
Maquis to Burma to a Jedburgh reunion at the Special Forces recognize in this book, which is a combination of detective
Club in London and then back to Burma. story, family history, war stores, and, above all, a memoir of
a charmed life.

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