They were a handful of so-called "operatives" enmeshed somewhere in the Burmese jungle. They were ridden with disease and assailed by monsoons. They had no mission statements or operation plans, and they did not report to the US Army or to the officials at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). By the end of WWII, they were an efficient, brave troop of 10,000 guerillas, sixty long-range agents, and 400 short-range agents. Detachment 101 (eventually of the OSS) brought itself together by the bootstraps, created its own mission, and contributed heavily to the liberation of Rangoon, becoming the only American ground force in North Burma by 1945. Sacquety (history, US Army Special Operations Command) uses primary sources to describe the development and growth of the unit, the expansion of its operations, and its covert missions as it fought the Japanese Imperial Army out of Burma. He describes the development of jungle warfare, the ebb and flow of leaders, and how this group of 21 men (originally) learned to make war on the job. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)