Asia Books

Many Americans and Britons have eaten Indian foods in the United States and Britain, where Indian restaurants are increasingly a large part of the culinary scene. Despite the popularity of Indian restaurants in the West, travelers to India often retreat to the "comfort" of their hotel restaurants rather than venturing out to eat at the small, family-run restaurants and street stalls where some of the best Indian food is to be had. Lack of knowledge about Indian foods deters many people from experiencing the remarkably interesting cuisines of this country.

Joan Peterson's "Eat Smart in India" (in her series of "Eat Smart" books) solves this problem. Her book is chock full of information about India's varied and colorful cuisines. "Eat Smart in India" provides an overview of India's history, an in-depth look at the country's regional foods, and a selection of Indian recipes from appetizers to desserts, with color photographs of many of the dishes. But "Eat Smart in India" is much more than an introduction to the culinary cultures of this fascinating country. It's also a practical guidebook that you'll want to take along on your next trip there.

One chapter gives helpful phrases (with their pronunciation) for use in restaurants and food markets. An extensive Menu Guide lists menu items alphabetically, with a description of each dish, followed by a Foods & Flavors Guide with a comprehensive list (and explanation) of Indian ingredients, spices, kitchen utensils, and cooking terminology. And the bibliography is useful to readers who want to delve even further into this subject. As the author states in the Preface, "What better way to get to know a culture than through its cuisine?"

"Eat Smart in India" is a culinary guidebook that should be packed in the luggage of every traveler to India. I've also found it to be a very useful guide to dishes offered at Indian restaurants in the United States. Highly recommended! ----- Sharon Hudgins, author of "The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East"

This latest in Joan Peterson's brainy food travel series is, like her previous guides, small enough to slip into a carry-on and dense with wisdom about how to eat and drink like a local. Peterson and her Indian-born co-author, Indu Menon, neatly handle the history and development of a very complicated cuisine, provide useful food and phrase glossaries, and walk readers through the culinary regions of India dish by dish.
--Terese Allen, The Isthmus, Madison WI

There is no more satisfying way to become immersed in a new culture than to mingle with the local people in the places where they enjoy good food and conversation-in their favorite neighborhood cafes, restaurants, picnic spots or outdoor markets. ~Joan Peterson

Joan Peterson has written Eat Smart guides for Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and Morocco. She loves to travel and this led her to the creation of the Eat Smart series. Co-author Indu Menon is also a world traveler and was born in India. Together, Joan and Indu delve into a rich culinary history and have created a useful guide for real-life travelers or home chefs who want to explore Indian cuisine.

This guide also includes:

Recipes for the weekend gourmet
Food and Flavors Guide - bilingual translations for virtually everything on an Indian menu
Featured dishes that are considered to be a "national favorite"

"Eat Smart" guides are unique, portable and very readable. Eat Smart in India is the seventh and newest title in the series.

The contents include:

The Cuisine of India - A historical survey of the development of India's cuisine
Regional Indian Food - A quick tour through the Indian kitchen and around the country
Tastes of India - A selection of easy-to-prepare recipes
Shopping in India's Food Markets - Discover foods in exciting outdoor food markets
Resources - A listing of stores, culinary tours and organizations
Helpful Phrases - Phrases for use in restaurants and other useful phrases
Menu Guide - Menu entries in transliterated Hindi
Food and Flavors Guide - Comprehensive glossary of ingredients, kitchen utensils and cooking methods

If you are dreaming of sumptuous boat cruises on the tranquil waterways of Kerala or are dreaming of visiting spice plantations retreats in the hills of Tamil Nadu, this book will inspire you.

I loved reading about the artful blending of spices and the intoxicating descriptions of food preparation. If you have yet to discover nigella seeds, they are delicious on naan bread. Once you read the recipe for "Kachhe Gosht ki Biryani" you might be running to the store for cilantro, saffron and cardamom pods. Basmati rice has the scent of buttered popcorn and I can't think of any rice I love more.

If you are interested in taking a culinary tour, there is information for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the culture and cuisine. The pictures of the "water apple" had me intrigued. I must warn you; this book will make you quite hungry. I might take this book with me the next time I go out to eat at a local Indian restaurant. I keep ordering Tandoori chicken and Biryani, but now I realize there are so many dishes I want to try.

Some of the recipes include: Ghee, Paneer, Masala Chai, Sheer Khurma and Murgh Tikka Buter Masala (marinated grilled chicken pieces are grilled and then cooked in a buttery tomato and cream sauce).

~The Rebecca Review

The impressive collaboration of Joan Peterson and Indu Menon (and enhanced with b/w illustrations by Susan Chwae), Eat Smart In India: How To Decipher The Menu, Know The Market Foods & Embark On A Tasting Adventure is a very special culinary travel guide for anyone wanting to go abroad and experiencing the greatest tastes that East India cuisines and restaurants have to offer. From knowing the menu; to selecting market foods; to gathering sample recipes; to the culture behind the regional and ethnic cuisine, and so much more, Eat Smart In India is a superbly organized and presented supplementary resource for vacationers, business travelers, and dedicated gourmets seeking truly memorable dining experiences while visiting India -- and who wish to recreate ethnic and regional dishes when they are back home again! Eat Smart In India is but the latest addition to a unique series of culinary travel books from Ginkgo Press.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Shashi Tharur's well-rounded analysis of various issues in Modern India. A must-read for non-resident as well as resident Indians !!!

I adore Tharoor's erudite and amusing writing. This book feels like home with its loving description of all that matters - cricket, family, community, cinema, history, religion and politics - in that order. The author's pet theme is the ostensibly unwieldy yet absurdly functional pluralism fed by a range of coalition memberships - geographies, cricket solidarities and common political antipathies.

I love that Tharoor describes his India as an individual experience rather than an objective concept. Tharoor subtly endorses the thumping progressive new Indians with his metaphor of an elephant who became a tiger - suggesting provocatively that the vulgarly ostentatious 'five star culture' is more authentic than the discreet opulence of the club culture. However, his intense nostalgia quite clear in the subtext of every syllable - the longing for the old names Madras and Bombay, the self-conscious diginity of Nehruvian democracy and the portrayal of St. Stephens as a modern Nalanda of sorts!

Yet, there is nothing fatalistic or too precious about Tharoor - he denounces superstition and horsocopes and doesn't mind writing that as a man he'd like to see women in elegant saris. It's the sort of nice nationalism that warms one without being too jarring or jingoistic.

I wanted to know a bit more about Indian culture and Indian history and I love this book. It's so well written. You must have some basic knolwedge of Indian history to understand it though. If you don't know who Nehru was and what the "partition" was you need to read some books before this one.
The book helped me to discover many facets of the Indian culture and society: the importance of secularism (and the current threats), the basic tenets of hinduism, the difference between north and south, the passion for cricket, the odd habit of changing cities' names, the use of the sari (or the lack of use), etc.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in knowing more about India.

This book is a must read for Non Resident Indians. Mr. Tharoor has perfectly portrayed India in a way NRIs would manifest their experiences of their home country. Though the book is not targeted only for Indians, it has few historical & personal references that only a true Indian can understand.

The book starts with little bit of Indian history talking about "People who made my India" that includes noted Indians from all sects including politics, cricket & bollywood. The author also provides a glimpse of India's culture (spirituality, traditional family values) & tourism (experiences at Ajanta & Ellora caves, Ayurvedic resort in Kerala) followed by India's progress in this 21st century (call centers, cellphone surge). Since Mr. Tharoor has been associated with the United Nations, the facts about India's growth, outlined in the book, truly suggest that India is the 21st century's emerging power.

I really enjoyed the chapter on India's cricket legend, Sunil Gavaskar, who was my hero too when growing up. It is nostalgic the way Mr. Tharoor has written about the "little master".

This is a must read for all Indians living outside their own home country.

The backdrop for this book is actually an area called Emerald Hill in Singapore. It is an old street of pre-war "shophouses" which are common place in Asia. Chinese merchants use to live upstairs and anve their shops downstairs.

Singapore has done a terrific job in preserving a number of these houses and Emerald Hill is one of the prime districts in central Singapore (off Orchard Road), where a stroll here has a different feel from the bustle of Orchard Road. A must see for tourists interested in this sort of architencture.

Many proud home owners have done up these homes in a variety of way, preserving the old and upgrading it to be livable today. In the old days, these buildings commonly had only one bathroom way at the end of the house. These homes are also characterised by an "airwell" where natural light and air is allowed to flow into the houses. The houses were built with a small front door (I heard that taxes used to be based off how big your front entrance is - a leagacy from the Dutch?) and stretched out long towards the back. One of the homes has a long swimming pool built in!

In Lisa's book, she has taken this unique neighbourhood and the tastes of and lifestyles of the residents on Emerald Hill, combined with her flair for entertaining "made easy", has made this a wonderful book to get ideas.

This book is one of my all-time favorites; both as a source of reference and "can't go wrong" gift to friends visiting Malaysia & Singapore. What do I like about the book? Firstly, I find the bright, rich colors of the tropics very stimulating and enticing. Secondly, the book covers the multi-cultural/ethnic communities at an adequate level of detail. Thirdly, the recipes are easy to follow and I can validate that these recipes truly reflect the special qualities of each of the cultures presented.

An excellent coffee table book, great gift and a great source of inspiration for those who are curious about Southest Asia.

This book is absolutely gorgeous -- it is already displayed on my coffee table. I can't wait to try the recipes and entertaining tips! I will buy it for everyone on my Christmas list this year!!

The words are descriptively written to bring alive the beautiful photographs that abound within the pages of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about entertaining and creating an Asian flair to parties bringing so many great ideas into my home. All my friends have commented about all the ideas I re-created from the book. I found everything very doable and easily re-created. One of the best entertaining books I have read.

I thought that this was a great book for kids in 6th grade because we learn about Canadians and WW2. I felt sorry for Sara Warren because she is trapped inside feeling like she has to choose between Mr.Ito and her family because of the War. This is a wonderful book for our time going through the war against Iraq. The front cover is all ready a great description of the book.

In my state we have something called Readind Competition.It's where you have to read a book and answer qustions about it. I raed this book for it and loved it.It's sad and exiting so please buy it it's worth the money!

This story "The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito", was about the hardships a girl named Sara Warren and her friends and family faced while World War II was going on. Sara Warren lived with her parents in England, but because Germans were bombing England, her parents sent her to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to live with her relatives. She stayed with her Aunt Jean, Uncle Duncan, cousins Mary & Jamie, and their friends. Many horrible and unexpected things happened.

This was a really interesting novel. To me this novel explained life and all the horrible things that happen. Mr. Ito was a very special man to Sara.

To me this novel means a lot. It means that even when things are at their worst, there is still hope. And that little hope may be strength and courage to move on.

The significance of this novel within the theme of Heroic Adventures was expressed a couple of ways. Sara stood up for herself and the way she cared for things and helped people made her a hero. She looked beyond everyone's face and saw something different that made her want to help people. Sara displayed heroism in a way that she cared for her plant, and everyone around her. She especially cared for the Itos because of all the trouble they were going through. Sara was very strong when things were at their worst.

The genre I would include this story in is realistic fiction. Everything in the story was true. World War ll really happened, and sadly people do die. Comparing this novel to the last novel I read, I like this novel much better. Their similarities were both about heroes and a girl that tries to save the day.

I would absolutely recommend this book to others because it is very interesting. I guess I could say that I learned something from this book. That is that once you read this book, you can't put it down!

This is agreat book. Anyone who is looking for a Historical Fiction book, this is great!!!

Perhaps the best book on the Filipino American experience I have ever read.
This is a must read book.

I come from a similar background as the author, though a generation removed (younger). As I read it, I find that he has in fact written MY personal archipelago. This book is not contrived or pretentious. One of very few books I've found that relate the Philippines and Filipino identity issues so genuinely and honestly.

The only thing better then reading this book on your own, is to experience it from Francia's own lips. Francia is an amazing storyteller, this book is a must for anyone interested in personal/cultural identity. If you ever get a chance to hear this author read, do it- he is wonderful!

From the first word of this book I knew that this book was for me. Luis Francia's book is a must read for any Filipino-American looking to discover their Cultural Identity.

Luis takes his reader's on poetic journeys through the Philippine Archipelago, through these adventures we discover the many cultures of the Philippines and start to understand social and political issues that Filipinos face. Through his words you feel Luis' passion for a country he loves in the same way that you feel the passion through the words of Jose Rizal, Jorge Luis Borges, or Pablo Neruda.

It is not enough to say that I enjoyed this book. Luis' book is culturally significant. It meets the needs of Filipino's in their struggle to create a new cultural identity.

Though a part of Texas A&M's military history series, this book often serves as more of a study in the political conflicts between the Defense and State Departments. As a result, it details enough of the conflict between the two to intrigue both Koreaphiles and those interested in the political process and posturing.

The author was in the unique position to know fully about both positions during key moments in Korea's modern history. The result is a read that is sometimes funny, often insightful, and always interesting.

Perhaps what is best about this book is that while it helps to have a basic understanding of Korea's recent history in advance, it is by no means required. Young's straightforward style makes otherwise complicated issues seem as simple as night and day. It also provides a wealth of information in under 200 pages without overwhelming the reader.

Eye on Korea is a tremendous contribution to modern Korean history. It is a very easy and entertaining read. It will appeal to those who know nothing about Korea, and to those of us who have lived or travelled there extensively. There is little to no jargon, things that would not be familiar to the average reader are explained quickly and clearly.

I have spent the better part of my adult life in Korea or working with Koreans. I was surprised and delighted by the things I learned by Eye on Korea. It filled many gaps in my understanding of how things went down in the late 70's and 80's. It was full of names, places and events that I recognized, but had never before had a coherent picture of how they all related. Eye on Korea provides that coherence.

If I am forced to complain about anything, it would be the brevity. I would have enjoyed a couple hundred more pages. It's evident from what Col. Young tells us--and from what he doesn't tell us--that he knows enough to fill volume upon volume.

This is a MUST BUY for anyone interested in Modern Korea or Korean-US relations.

James Young, one of the American military's first area specialists, has written what may well be the most interesting and definitive book on recent Korean-American diplomatic and military relations in print today. Young, a former Army Colonel, spent almost 20 years in Asia, including 14 in Korea, where he was an advisor to five American ambassadors and several Secretaries of Defense. In this appealing memoir, he writes with the expertise of an old Korea hand.

After four years of training in Korean language and culture, Young was a first hand witness and participant as American diplomats convinced South Korean President Park Chung-hee not to develop his own nuclear weapons. The lessons from this experience might well be of use today in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

From the perspective of a military attache,Young provides new insights into the intrigue and behind-the-scenes efforts to derail President Jimmy Carter's troop withdrawal policies. His on-the-scene account of the military coup of 1979, and subsequent events, is extraordinarily authoritative and comprehensive, and provides new information for historians. He provides personal observations on the imposition of martial law and the Kwangju incident that followed, when Korean military forces ran amok during protests in the city and killed and wounded hundreds of civilians. For the first time, he details how the United States was caught flat-footed, and how policy makers at the time failed to respond, thus sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism in the years to come.

Additionally, Young's insider account of dealing with the senior leadership in North Korea in both diplomatic negotiations and business settings makes a major contribution to understanding the internal dynamics within this secretive state.

"Eye on Korea" is a great mixture of contemporary military and diplomatic history. It offers stories that are entertaining, provocative, and often humorous. Those interested in the region, the issues, and modern Korea will value this book.

Colonel Jim Young has developed a keen analytical eye for things Korean developed over a multi-decade career of study, friendship and focus on this fascinating but enigmatic country. Young uses the vehicle of autobiography to detail some of the high points in the modern developmental history of South Korea and along the way opens the curtain to an insider's view of US governmental machinations. The Colonel had an uncanny way of being involved over many years with key events in US-Korean relations such as threatened troop withdrawals under President Carter, assassination of President Park, the death of dictator Kim Il-sung in North Korea, the murder of US Army officers and many, many other events. Final chapters discuss nuclear North Korea and the complexity of the tense situation there.
This book offers the reader a fresh insight to events and analysis not seen elsewhere. It is written for a non-technical audience but is valuable for the cognoscenti as well. I recommend 'Eye on Korea' most enthusiastically to every concerned person who wonders what the future holds for America in the vital but tumultuous environment of the Korean Peninsula.

Jeffrey Paine has written an amazing book, which is both sophisticated in its analysis and insightful in its perspective. Yet, the narrative is racy and easy to read - possibly because of his background in journalism.

Paine traces the careers and Indian adventure of eight well-known persons who were either Westerners or were Indians influenced by the West to begin with, but later became deeply influenced by India. Yet in the process, they also influenced India itself. The list includes Lord Curzon, Mahatma Gandhi, E. M. Forster, Shri Aurobindo, Mira Behn (Madeleine Slade), Mother (Mirra Richard), Carl Jung, V. S. Naipaul and Annie Besant, all well-known figures in India and outside.

In the process he weaves a magical yet sophisticated tapestry showing why India exercised a near-fatal charm for these people and how it changed them. He also adds a lot of tid-bits about their personal lives, and idiosyncracies, their struggles, their failures and their successes. Surprisingly, and without noticing it, by the time you finish the book, you would have developed a pretty good perspective on how India has affected and deeply influenced Western world through these people. A remarkable intellectual feat indeed.

His handling of each character in the drama is confident and skillful. He has a definite format to follow, and this adds rigour to a book, which could have become a maudling, sentimental journey otherwise. The connections he makes with other contemporary characters and happenings are simply astounding and marvellous.

However, he becomes less sure of himself as he comes closer to the present, possibly because the processes are still going on, and the advantage of hindsight is not available. As a result, his handling of the chapter on Shri Aurobindo and his spiritual companion, the Mother, is less deft. He also fumbles with the conclusion, possibly because India is an incredibly complex phenomenon and Paine is after all a mere mortal.

Notwithstanding this slight blemish, an excellent book, worth the time and money, for anyone interested in understanding India and the West.

A paperback edition is also available in Penguin India under the plain title 'Father India'.

I never would have thought of the theme of this book, but once immersed in it, found it totally engrossing. India has been the great seed bed for many Western thinkers. This is an exciting way of seeing the relationship between India and the U.S...and a well-documented account of it with fascinating stories.

I admit I may have been mildly intoxicated before I read this book - intoxicated on Western Buddhism and New Age philosophies that legitimize themselves by associating themselves with Indian religions. This book sobered me up. Paine indicates that much of what many of us have mistaken for pure distilled India is really a hybrid mutation of India and its European interpreters and visitors. I honestly feel I came away with a much better understanding of characters like Madame Blavatsky, Krishnamurti, and Ghandi. There is also a great deal of material addressing individuals who adopted a homosexual lifestyle including E.M. Forster and Christopher Isherwood. I might wonder if Jeffery Paine is himself practicing homosexuality given the amount of time spent on the topic. (In fact, if he isn't, it would be a bit annoying.) The representation of this group seems a bit disproportionate but it may indeed be the case that a disproportionate amount of the Europeans experimenting with India in the early 1900s were of this group - well at least the ones that got famous. (In which case I shouldn't be so annoyed).

Certainly India has played a part in our present culture albeit in a roundabout and almost covert way. Paine's book suggests that it was more as a catalyst than a direct effect. A place to which people embarked on holy quests and often did not find what they expected. If you have read a few new age books that swear allegiance to Indian philosophy and religion and are feeling a bit tipsy, or if you have an interest in the psychological history of the waning British empire and India as the British empire waned, I highly recommend this book.

The book delves into the feelings, emotions and travails as felt by some of the administrators, writers,social activists and reformers who have ';experienced ' India at close quarters.Curzon, Annie Besant,EM Forster, Chris Isherwood and finally Gandhi's experiences are chronicled in detail.The book tries to provide the reader with an understanding of India that is gleaned from the spiritual and pyschological processes of these visitors and tries to enunciate a depth of feeling. These 'outsiders'twist and turn at every corner in India and the reasons for their doing si might infuse an Indian to think more deeply , and accord the foreigner with a more intimate view of the seething cauldron that answers to the name of India.

This is a wonderful exposition of the power of direct action to effect social change. Mr. Elmer does a great job of showing how a typical, suburban, middle class kid can end up burning draft records and sitting in a tiger cage for the summer on the capital steps. He makes a convncing case for the efficacy of direct action for those closed out of the political process. In effect, while very few decision makers will directly change their position because of sit-ins, protests, hunger strikes,etc., they have the power to change public opinion. As he explains, 10,000 young people may not have had the votes to elect anyone, and certainly didn't have the money to play politics in the usual way of making campaigndonations, etc., what they did have was the power to show that the only way to fight the Vietnam war was to send tens of thousands of middle class kids to jail--something thqt this country ultimately was not willing to do (at least, given the reality on the ground created by the Vietnamese themselves, and the international climate).

Where Elmer over sells his case is in arguing that non-violence is always an appropriate (and seems to argue that it is always the best tactic). It is hard to believe that this would ever work in a society such as Somalia, iraq, Cambodia (under the Khmer rouge), etc. It is one thing to ask masses of people to risk a short (or even long) jail sentenceas the price of civil disobedience, It is quite another when the price is immediate death, and the torture/murder of one's entire family. In other words, civil disobedience assumes a certain level of commitment to law and openness which simply is not present in all societies at all times.

One final criticism--Elmer confuseses non-violence as a tactic for mass mobilization with pacificism as a way of life. While the civil rights movement certainly won great victories using nonviolent protest as a mass protest strategy, it is unclear that those demonstrations would have been possible but for a committed core of people who were commited to self-defense--including resort to violence. The civil rights workers we all know about--certainly including Dr. Martin luther King, Jr., himself, were constantly protected during the most dangerous days of the movement by body guards. Especialy in the deep south, it is not at all clear that anyone would have surived long enough to lead a voter registration drive without the armed protection of men with guns. Certainly, it was the risk of outright war that motivated the federal government to intervene.

One must ask, reading Elmer's account, where today's activists are. Is there a cause today for which you would be willing to defy the wrath of the entire federal government and spend years in prison?

I've long known that during the '60s and '70s there were many protests against the Vietnam War. But my knowledge, I confess, didn't go much beyond that. Thanks to this entertaining and informative book, my embarrassing ignorance has been greatly reduced.

Elmer's book opened my eyes to the many forms that protests took, such as the destruction of records at draft boards across the country. I also learned about the kinds of personalities involved in protest actions, and about their motivations and philosophies. Those who called themselves pacifists varied in their views. When it came time to issue statements to the press and public, words were chosen carefully. Participants in covert actions didn't always agree on whether and how to reveal what they'd done.

The book raises many questions I'd never thought about, such as whether destroying draft records is a violent act, and many questions I haven't thought about enough, such as why so many people who feel strongly about something fail to take action. Elmer ties his experiences in with other pacifist movements, such as Gandhi's, and explores ethical issues in a very accessible way.

This is a personal history book that's well worth reading. Elmer faced many tough questions and decisions in his life and took many risks in the service of humanity. The book is inspirational and often moving. When Elmer was being interviewed as he applied for a license to practice law in Rhode Island (and legitimately worried that he might be rejected due to his "criminal" past), his interviewer said, "My brother was classified 1-A when you [destroyed draft files in Providence]. You probably saved his life. I've been waiting 20 years to thank you. You're approved."

In a time when discussion of a national draft has surfaced once again in election "town halls," Jerry Elmer's new book, Felon for Peace, responds to a timely debate. If there are any young people out there who don't know how they'd respond if ever a draft were reintroduced, now is the time to arm oneself with knowledge.

Set in the same location where F. Scott Fitzgerald's great literary work The Great Gatsby took place many years earlier, Jerry Elmer's new non-fiction book, Felon for Peace, has successfully portrayed life in the 1960s and 70s in Great Neck, a highly-educated Long Island community, during the rise of America's War Resistance Movement.[...]. Of course, Felon for Peace goes well beyond Elmer's coming-of-age story in Great Neck, and moves on to the national scene.

Perhaps the book's greatest strength is that it poses the ethical questions of the time in a sophisticated way that challenges the readers of today. At the same time, Elmer is self-deprecating and draws the reader in, right from his elementary school days at the Kensington-Johnson School, through his days at Great Neck South High School and well beyond.

Felon for Peace could be a great resource in teaching the history of the Vietnam War era; it reveals with clarity what was happening on the larger domestic front at that time. In addition, the book could provoke interesting class discussions for student teachers, who are planning to teach high school; the book gives an excellent sense of the capabilities of motivated and highly intelligent high school students. I recommend it as an animated discussion-starter for over-50s book clubs as well. Felon for Peace is an excellent read.

Jerry Elmer's excellent memoir of a Vietnam-era draft resister provides an insider description of the American peace movement between 1965 and the present. Its historical contribution is twofold: (1) a personal discussion of some of the key players in the nonviolent movement for peace, such as Phil and Dan Berrigan, activists whom the author knew well, and (2) an anlysis of the effectiveness of nonviolent direct action.

Outrageously honest and funny, Elmer packs every page with important facts that will engage ordinary readers and academic historians. In addition, he examines the psychology of activism: the commited "activist proceeds from the unspoken (and perhaps even unconscious) assumption that his or her actions can and do make an important difference in the world."

Besides considering formative school-age experiences, Elmer looks back at the significance of his lifetime of activism, using his broad knowledge, international experience, parfticipation in many social change campaigns, great wit, litigious mind, and excellent memory to bring history alive.

What a shame. This book gives a good outline of the events of the war and what happens when politics, not military know how runs a war.

I wrote 'Fiasco' and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was done as an audiobook. I actually listened to it on my commute and enjoyed it. I recommend it highly.

This book provides a good analysis of some of the mistakes the U.S. made in the war in Iraq. I would classify the problems he describes into two main mistakes. First, the Bush administration imagined that WWII is a good analogy for the threat that the U.S. faces from the mideast. That wouldn't have been a particularly unusual problem in a war if they had corrected their worldview when they saw evidence of enemies using a very different strategy.
The biggest and least excusable problem was that the lack of anything clear enough to be called a military strategy. It almost sounds like Bush thought the sound bites used to market the invasion to voters amounted to an adequate description of military goals. This left various parts of the U.S. forces pursuing conflicting strategies that ranged from attempts to aid Iraqis in building a democracy to attempts to conquer Iraq for its Al-Qaeda connections, leaving U.S. forces to a confused pursuit of conflicting strategies that guaranteed increased Iraqi hostility toward the U.S. without accomplishing much else.
This book suffers somewhat from a narrow scope and an over-reliance on opinions from within the U.S. military. Ricks and his sources seem to be too optimistic that they've learned a strategy that has some chance of working if U.S. voters are patient enough, but they show no familiarity with the analysis in Robert Pape's book Dying to Win which suggests that the strategy advocated in Fiasco will perpetuate the conditions under which suicide bombings increase.
The book implies that a sufficiently wise set of leaders could have produced a strategy with a reasonable chance of success, but I'm left doubting that any U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein could have produced a good result.
The book is mostly cautious about historical events that the author can't verify, such as Bush's motives, and the extent to which U.S. policy was manipulated by Iran.
I'm curious why Fiasco doesn't devote much attention to the current Iraqi government. Possibly it is sufficiently tainted by its association with the U.S. that it is irrelevant, but if so I would have expected an argument to that effect.

I commute 64 miles a day by car and this CD made my commute fly by. The narrator helped me keep all the general straight-- all of whom were saying in one way or another: "This isn't going to work" or "What is Plan B once Plan A fails?". I sat in my office driveway listening to "Fiasco"!
I highly recomend it..........now I need to buy something else.....or wait for Tom Ricks to write a follow-up.

I visit Taiwan at least once a year, and always make it a point to do as much birding as possible. The main problem I have faced in the past has been finding a good English language field guide. I have always used James Wan-Fu Chang's "Field Guide to the Birds of Taiwan" (ISBN-13: 978-0917056437), and Wu Sen-Hsiong's "A Field Guide to the Birds of Taiwan" (ISBN 957-9578-00-1). Both books are very good, and highly recommended. However, each has its drawbacks. The main one being that both are written in Chinese, although Chang's guide does have very brief descriptions of range, habitat and status in English. In addition, both books are a bit out-dated.

The MacKinnon & Phillips guide addresses these drawbacks. For starters, it is written entirely in English. The paintings are generally of high quality, and differences between subspecies are indicated. Range maps are also shown on the page facing the paintings. The descriptions of many (but not all) species are fairly well detailed, and the ranges for subspecies is also described.

The guide does have some minor problems, which are probably unavoidable. Because of the large geographical size of the area covered, and the number of species described (over 1300), the guide is quite bulky - and somewhat expensive. In addition, the descriptions are in the back of the guide, rather than on the page adjacent to the paintings, making it somewhat inconvenient to use. As I have alluded above, some of the species descriptions, particularly those of the Taiwan endemics, seemed to have been glossed over (perhaps to save space in an already sizable guide). And although most of the paintings are of high quality, not all were. Overall, I think they are slightly inferior to those of the Wu guide. That being said, no field guide is perfect. Putting a field guide together requires a lot of patience and a great deal of hard work. I, for one, really appreciate the dedication and effort of the authors.

All in all, this is the best field guide to the birds of China available. I would highly recommend this guide.

This field guide is a well done book introducing the birds of China to its readers. It is fairly standard as far as field guides goes in content. The book contains 128 color plates depicting the birds of China with the corresponding range maps opposite the plates. Next, the descriptions of the 1329 species are given. Herein lies the major problem with the book, the descriptions are not adjacent to the plates; however, had the book been arranged in this manner, the number of pages would have at least doubled and the book is already a bit cumbersome for use as a field guide at its present size.

A couple of other bits of useful information in this book include a map detailing vegetation type and an introduction to the region. Also, a list of protected and endangered species is included. For researchers, a nice bibliography is also included. Whether you just want to look at birds from a country you never plan on going to, or if you intend to go birding in China, this book is for you.

This book is absolutely essential for any birder who plans to visit any of the regions covered in this guide. The plates are very good and the descriptions are detailed. This is probably the most up-to-date guide for the region. The taxonomy is based on Sibley and Monroe, and nearly all subspecies and their ranges are listed. There is even an edition in simplified Chinese available in China and Hong Kong. However, covering such a broad region has its drawbacks, and at least in Taiwan, I recommend that this book be used more as a reference than field guide. A bird's voice often varies across its range, and the status of a species in one location can be completely different in another. For example, the White-bellied Green Pigeon, described by the book as "very rare," is in fact common in Taiwan. The quality of the plates is sometimes inconsistent (e.g. the geese and swans on plate 7 look very small!). Also, errors I've noticed include where the range map does not correspond with the descriptions (e.g. Eurasian Jay, plate 67), the bird number on the plate does not correspond with that of the range map and descriptions (e.g. Varied Tit, plate 88), and some typos (e.g. Pygmy Wren Babbler subspecies, plate 105). Although Appendix 2 lists the species endemic to the region, it left out at least three species from Taiwan (Yellow Tit, Collared Bush Robin, and Taiwan Whistling Thrush). In general, this book is excellent and highly recommended, but I do hope a new edition will be published in the future that fixes the errors and include new discoveries made since publication (e.g. Chinese Crested Tern, Taiwan Bush Warbler).

A Field Guide to the Birds of China is a must for any traveler who wants to identify birds in China. De Schauensee's earlier Birds of China is not really a field guide although it provides useful background reading. A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan includes a lot of the species occurring in eastern China, and the Beijing area is included in most of the range maps, so if you don't have the MacKinnon-Phillips new guide, this is second best.

All species of known regular occurrence somewhere in China are illustrated in excellent drawings by Karen Phillips, all but a few in full color. Colored range maps are on the page facing each of the 128 plates. The text for each species provides a detailed description, voice, distribution and status, habits (useful), and in some cases a note on taxonomy.

I used this book for more than two weeks in China during October 2001 and confidently identified every bird I got a decent look at. (Regrettably, eastern China is not exactly overrun with exotic birds, but you can find some interesting species even in the cities.)

The most noticeable problem with this book is its sheer bulk; at 256 pages of plates, 586 pages of text, and some front material, this monster tops out at well over 800 pages and won't fit in most fanny packs, not to mention pockets. So taking a utility knife with a new blade, I sliced the spine following the last plate and taped the last page to the spine, creating a book of front matter, 10 pages of introduction and all the plates and range maps--a tad over a third the thickness of the whole book. A few species are illustrated in black-and-white in the text, so I xeroxed those (with their black-and-white range maps) and pasted them below the range maps of appropriate plates. I left the text home.

The book is not without minor errors, of course. For example, the range maps on plate 35 mistakenly call the Red Phalarope the Red-necked Phalarope, with the same error in the scientific name (although, curiously, the Chinese name appears to be correct). Both species are illustrated. On plate 56 the illustration of the Red-throated Loon is mistakenly marked with the species number of the Common Loon (which is also illustrated and correctly numbered on the same plate). On plate 72 the female Japanese Paradise-flycatcher is so marked but the symbol for the male is missing. Most users can figure out such slips.

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