The tale of the building of the 700-mile supply route to China under impossible circumstances over difficult terrain during WWII. It's a heroic tale of daring pilots and workers, both local and American, many of them black soldiers, dramatized in the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai. The book, by a former editor at Outside magazine, is part history and part adventure. Donovan draws on archival materials, military history, interview and travel in recreating the harrowing events surrounding the building of the Burma Road and the connecting Ledo Road from 1942-1945. General Joseph (Vinegar Joe) W. Stilwell gets a starring role.  (BMA41, $14.95)

World War II