The Trees Are All Young on Garrison Hill : An Exploration of War and Memory

In this memoir, Gordon Graham takes the reader on a journey from a quiet, respectable boyhood and adolescence in Scotland to the sudden brutality of jungle warfare in Assam and Burma, and afterwards through the twilight of empire in India to his later life as an international publishing executive doing business with his former Japanese enemies.

Drawing not only on personal sources, but on his extensive reading and on official records including war diaries of his battalion, the author blends an objective account of great events with a soldier's spontaneous and candid reactions to them. Episodes of drama and intense emotion are punctuated by moments of both poignancy and humour, leavened by mature reflection on the meaning and meaninglessness of war.

The narrative is accompanied by excerpts from the diary of the author's daughter, Sylvia, who in 2002 embarked with her husband Rob on a pilgrimage to retrace the steps of her father and the Cameron Highlanders from Kohima in Nagaland to Mount Popa in central Burma.

All income from The Trees Are All Young on Garrison Hill goes to the Kohima Educational Trust, a Foundation formed by British veterans of the battle of Kohima, which was a turning point in the war against Japan in 1944. The Trust, seen by its founders as a debt of honour to the Naga people who fought alongside them in this epic battle, is devoted to the support of Naga education by means of providing books, educational materials, scholarships, prizes and exchange visits.
The following are extracts from letters the author has received:
· "I am touched by the beautiful writing. The book is so well conceived and balanced. Together with intensely personal observations, it provides an astonishing amount of information. There is an immediacy about it, from preface to the epilogue."
· "I smiled at much – and on occasion tears welled up."
· "I read it twice and am a frequent dipper into its gems."
· "I was deeply moved by your book. I can understand that the experiences of war will never leave you and probably are the most fundamental of your life. It is hard to imagine the courage and sacrifice that was expected from you and your friends – and looked upon as something quite natural."
· "A masterpiece ... should become mandatory reading for Sandhurst cadets and all aspiring military youths."
· "One of the most moving books I have ever read ... my sincere congratulations on writing and publishing this most important historical record."
· "... a brilliant book. I knew nothing about the war in Burma. I was gripped by it."
· "Well written and moving. It evoked both memory and emotions, at once deep and yet powerful."
· "I put down other books in progress and found it fascinating, stimulating – and moving – in equal measure. Not to mention the very elegant literary touch."
· "I flicked through your book ... the next I knew I had read twenty pages. After supper I read another fifty. Today before lunch with friends I finished it. I became really absorbed in it and admiring. It is a gripping slice of life, a skilful amalgam of personal reminiscence and stories of battle ... one of those rare books which is not quite long enough."
· "I congratulate you on your marvellous book. I was full of admiration for the way you were able to achieve such an air of serenity in spite of all the tragedy that befell you personally and that struck your regimental colleagues. I also admired your very modest account of your own exploits ... few people would have been so reticent."
· "I read the first forty pages and put it down reluctantly with the inexorable approach of bedtime ... the book is riveting ... a very personal voice – revealing, droll, with a finely balanced subjectivity."
· "... an enthralling, even compulsive, read, with many fresh insights into the war and its aftermath."
· "Thanks for your wonderful book ... a particular pleasure because of its style and readability."
· "An excellent and accomplished piece of authorship. Your style of writing adds greatly to the whole tone of the book. You should be very proud you have produced such a work."
· Anything autobiographical presents a challenge and particularly when it concerns war memoirs. Typically you have sinned severely in the direction of personal understatement."
· "I really enjoyed your book, its honesty and lack of pretension."
· "The thing that most impressed me was the structure of the narrative, not only the sequencing, but the deft blending of family history, personal memoir and evocation of the universal, for want of a better term. The tone was just right, and the gradual revelation of the protagonist was in perfect proportion, supporting the narrative but never overwhelming it.