Historical fiction writer Lachlan Gunn brings a forgotten war back to life

Feb. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- Having fought with the British against the Japanese during the Second World War, the communist guerrillas then took up arms against their former allies to break the grip of colonial rule.  The protagonists in Gunn’s book come from both sides of the conflict, and the story brings an oft-forgotten piece of history back to life in the dramatic setting of the Malayan jungle.  ‘Merdeka’ is available as a paperback, through most reputable online retailers, and as a Kindle eBook.

The conflict in Malaya, which ran from 1948 to 1960, was never officially referred to as a war, but as the ‘Malayan Emergency’.  After initial communist successes, the British agreed to a democratic Malaya, and began to win the battle for the ‘hearts and minds’ of the Malayan peoples.  The Malayan Emergency is often described as a forgotten war.  It started soon after the single biggest British Imperial military defeat of all time, the fall of Singapore, an event that successive British governments wanted to forget.  The defeat of the communists in Malaya was then over-shadowed by the successful communist campaign against the South Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam.  

The Malayan campaign was a resounding success for the out-going British administration in Malaya, and for the new Malayan Government.  Lachlan’s own international experiences as an army officer are partly reflected in Alick Gordon, a fictitious soldier and one of the main characters.  Alick begins to question the war, his own future as a soldier, and whether he wants to leave a country that he has grown to love.  Some of the deaths make a profound impression on him, and a chance encounter will change his life forever.  There is nothing glorious about war, yet no war should be forgotten.  

ENDS


(Background data on Lachlan Gunn and ‘Merdeka’ follow)
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ABOUT LACHLAN GUNN

Lachlan was educated in Edinburgh, except for two years spent in Malaysia and Singapore where he attended the Royal Naval Primary Schools in Johor Bahru and Singapore.  He was awarded a University Cadetship by the Royal Navy, and went to Edinburgh University.  A six month deployment to the Falkland Islands convinced him to join the Army, and he was commissioned into the Kings Own Scottish Borderers.  During his military career he saw active service in Northern Ireland, before seconding to a Gurkha battalion (1/2 GR) in Hong Kong.  He attended a military training exercise in Malaysia, based at Terendak Camp near Malacca.

He left the Army in Hong Kong and started work as a management consultant, before taking up a management position in a regional joint venture between Securicor plc in the UK and Jardine Pacific Ltd in Hong Kong.  After nearly seven years in Hong Kong, he was sent to Taiwan where he set up Securicor Taiwan Ltd.  Four years later he was sent to Thailand where he ran Securicor’s businesses for two years.

After a short spell in India, he returned to the UK at the millennium and, in July 2000, set up his own business, BenAlpin Ltd, a UK based independent consultancy providing commercial security advice and business support & advisory services.  In 2004 Lachlan co-founded the European ATM Security Team (EAST), which gathers and provides security related information for the European ATM industry and facilitates effective representation of ATM related security issues at relevant European central institutions.  He is a Director of EAST and manages the group, which now has representation from 28 countries.

Lachlan now lives in Scotland on a hill overlooking the River Tay.  Neil M. Gunn, the acclaimed Scottish writer, is Lachlan’s great-uncle.  ‘Merdeka’ is Lachlan’s first novel.

ABOUT MERDEKA

‘Merdeka’ has been published by Lachlan Gunn in association with BenAlpin Books.  It has been published as an e-book using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (ASIN: B006FMFCHI) and as a paperback by AuthorHouse (ISBN:  978-1467880435).  The paperback is available from most reputable online book stores.  More information on the book can be obtained from http://merdeka-lachlangunn.blogspot.com/ .

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BenAlpin Books is a trading name of BenAlpin Ltd, a UK based independent consultancy. BenAlpin Books has worked with Lachlan Gunn to publish Merdeka as a Kindle eBook, and also acts as a reseller of books on Amazon.