Asia Books

The best guide book about Chaingmai

It's a shame that there are no newer editions out but this sturdily bound and nicely sized book seems to hold up against information I have found on various websites. Written by a long term resident of Chiang Mai, it is useful for a short visit or a long stay. There is a newer edition coming out next year. However, you should be able to get an edition from the author if you google for his email address. This books make the internet information search much much more comprehensible as does Nancy Chandler's map. I recommend both products as worth buying and genuinely useful.

As as resident of Chiang Mai, I have found this book to be the most accurate and interesting guide book on Chiang Mai currently in print. Unlike many other guide books, it is just as relevant for a long-term resident or frequent visitor as it is for a short-term tourist. It is a great book.

I first came across these books traveling to Europe and I own almost 20 of these guides. I will be going to Singapore this year so I bought the DK guide, naturally!

The photos are in bright stunning color and leap from the pages. There are history time lines, references to historical and political development, architecture, museums, maps, culture, restaurants, places to stay. Very complete. Just a great book.

Let me elaborate a little bit. There are a number of other travel books - and some guides are mainly just text. I like some photographs and color. A picture is worth 1000 words. The visuals are just stunning in the DK books. This book about Singapore is no exception. Like all other DK books it has maps, and drawings, and numerous stunning photos of art, architecture, city scenes, etc. This book also has a section unique to Singapore - it has a special section on foods with many dishes all (again) in wonderful color photographs. Just an excellent job.

Highly recommend and makes for a good souvenir.

This is the best guide book i have ever bought. It helped me get through my whole trip in singapore, I would have been totally lost without it.

I love all Eyewitness guides and was not disappointed with this one. Full of details, full of pictures and very well organized. Just great...

Caution: the khaki cover and exciting illustration of the jacket of this book may make the prospective reader think it's military history. It's not, instead it is much more in-depth as a political analysis of the way in which the sudden disaster of the fall of Hong Kong irretrievably changed the colony into a more tolerant and far more Chinese place, ready for the 1997 hand-over.

The story does need to be written of the last stand of the misnamed Winnipeg Grenadiers, a Canadian unit of the defence who despite the implications of their being "British" grenadiers were completely unprepared for front-line combat.

Indeed, a movie-maker like Australia's Peter Weir (Gallipoli) needs to tell the story, which Snow rightfully downplays, of what it is actually like to be seconded to a doomed offense as in Turkey, or an equally doomed defence of Hong Kong, in BOTH CASES to assuage the vanity of a highly overrated Winston Churchill.

The story of defeat, occupation, and retaking is a series of gaps in time which as Snow shows mean breakages and breakdowns in daily life, which policy-makers systematically ignore.

Americans, for example, fancied no fissure between Saddam Husayn's rule in Iraq and a democratic "handover" to the right sort of chaps, and under their feet opened what opened under the Japanese in 1941, and, to an extent, under the reoccupying British in 1945: the irruption into daily life of the Hobbesian substructure.

In Baghdad this was an interesting combination of high-level opportunists and lowlife, and it parallels the story Snow tells of the way in which elements of the Triad gangs entered and left governance depending on the convenience of the Japanese and British.

It's in other words and in another register Tommy this and Tommy that and Tommy go away and the use of the underclass in uniform and out to satisfy the vanity of comfortable men. It's also the confusion in the public mind of representation with the things represented.

The transition was less from Britannia to Nippon and back again than Britannia to chaos to Nippon and back again, where the chaos, and being bombed and starved by friendly fire (Americans based in the Phillipines both bombed Hong Kong and interdicted rice shipments) is the reality from which most people never recover.

The West needs to learn from China about reluctance to use military force. Snow is puzzled by Chou En-Lai's restraint over the issue of Hong Kong because it is the Western statesman who doesn't eat with chopsticks and has had a tendency to bite off more than he can properly digest.

In the West, the British showed the most restraint in their long-passed Empire, coupled with a systematic tendency to annoy Asians. This can be exagerrated: until recently, the British were proud of the relative quiet of Basra but this quiet is now known to be illusory. But in contrast to the American and the Spanish empires, the British empire was free of ideological preaching, whether about "democracy and markets" or the need for Inquisitions and autos, da fe.

We need to encourage the Chinese in their wise and rather unmilitary foreign policies, where the juncture between British and Chinese domination was in 1997 a party in Victoria Park and not a bloody mess. We need also not to be smug about the return of barbarism as perhaps Hong Kongers were in the 1930s, for Iraq shows us it's always on the menu.

America's Henry Kissinger has recently stated it quite brutally. In addition to accepting without thinking Clausewitz' dictum (war is a continuation of policy by other means because unlike the actual Clausewitz, the statesman doesn't have to endure the physical rigors of the field anymore), policy under globalization has come to mean for each country the lessening of respect for sovereignity of other nations, which just happens to undergird international law, in the name of the more powerful country's "vision", a polite label for greed and fear.

In this context, both military history and Snow's political history usefully remind us of how this makes places like Hong Kong a bloody mess overnight, in a way that Americans see only on TeeVee.

Philip Snow's The Fall of Hong Kong paints a vivid picture of Hong Kong society in the leadup to the Japanese occupation of 1941-1945. The failure of the British to cultivate the loyalty of the Hong Kong Chinese in the years prior to the war weakened their ability to defend the colony against the Japanese. However, the Japanese also failed to capitalize on Chinese resentment against the British; their doctrine of "pan-Asian solidarity" was belied by their brutal treatment of the Hong Kong populace. Snow asserts that the common suffering of the Chinese and the British during the years of occupation introduced new feelings of solidarity, which in turn lead to the introduction of key social reforms in the years following the occupation.

Snow does an excellent job of showing how tenuous was the British hold on Hong Kong in the immediate aftermath of the war. The United States and the Nationalist Chinese both wanted Hong Kong to be returned to mainland China after the war. Most interestingly, Snow points out that Communist partisans in the New Territories played a key role in deterring a Nationalist takeover of Hong Kong in 1945.

A fascinating and highly-readable account for anyone with an interest in the history of Hong Kong (and China more broadly).

In this well-researched and well-written book, Phillip Snow traces the history of the British Colony of Hong Kong, with the intent to show why Britain ultimately returned the colony to China. His thesis is that the Japanese occupation, a brief period of 3 years 8 months, out of the more than 100 years that the colony was in British hands, was the critical watershed which made British relinquishment inevitable. Britain's prestige and authority were mortally wounded by the loss of Hong Kong and the other colonies in South East Asia to the Japanese. This weakened position set in train a chain of events that ultimately lead to 1997. The story is a fascinating one.
Snow also traces the waves of reform and repression that Hong Kong's rulers have pursued over the years. He argues that the periods of liberalism were driven by outside events and calculations, rather than a sincere concern for the welfare Hong Kong's citizens, but gives credit to the efforts and the truly liberal figures in each of the administrations, pre-war British, Japanese, and post-war British. Snow is at some pains to give the benefit of the doubt to each of these regimes, and the work is fair and even-handed.
Although the Fall of Hong Kong was clearly written for the British audience struggling to come to terms with the substantial end of their empire, it should be of great value to the Hong Kong Chinese, who are also struggling to understand their history and place in the world. However, it would also be very useful to any students of empire, as phases of liberalism and oppression, enlistment and alienation of the society's elites, by both the Japanese and British, give excellent lessons to anyone contemplating ruling another nation with a different culture.
Finally, it is an excellent survey of the 20th Century history of Hong Kong, which will be invaluable to any student of the period. This work and its extensive footnotes should stimulate a mini-boom in research on the period.

I've read several books about the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and the evacuation of the Americans and Vietnamese from the doomed country. "Decent Interval" by Frank Snepp is excellent. Snepp sees the events as an Embassy insider -- and one of his purposes is to excoriate the U.S. government -- and Ambassador Graham Martin -- for its failure to evacuate Vietnamese allies. Compared to "Decent Interval," "The Fall of Saigon" has a broader vision and the perspective is perhaps more balanced as it comes 10 years after the event, allowing time for reflection.

Butler begins the book with the attack of the North Vietnamese army in the Central Highlands on March 6, 1975. He ends it with the evacuation of the American Embassy in Saigon and the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on April 30. The evacuation of Saigon was one of the darkest -- but most dramatic -- events of American history. There are heroes aplenty here, especially young diplomats at the Embassy who took enormous chances to help Vietnamese friends and colleagues escape from the advancing communist army. One has to admire the inexperienced Marines who did so well in protecting the Embassy and Americans during those last days. Butler also gives attention to Vietnamese on both sides of the war although the book focuses mostly on the Americans.

Butler was a journalist in Saigon during those last days and the the great majority of the book is compiled from interviews the author had with the American and South and North Vietnamese participants and eye witnesses, including his own experiences. We are treated to some unique stories, for example, to the saga of a missionary couple cut off in the Central Highlands but most of the book is devoted to an account of the last days of of the U.S. government's presence in Saigon. This story is complex, involving many characters and shifting of scenes. Good maps and photos illustrate the story and Butler's writing is clear, concise, and compelling.

Smallchief

Do not start this book unless you have plenty of reading time. The phrase "hard to put down" is an understatement. For most of us, we watched the events of April 29, 1975 unfold on our TV sets. Author David Butler not only watched, but was also a participant in the final hours of the American Presence in Vietnam. His eyewitness accounts are both gripping and detailed. He has also collected and researched numerous first-person accounts from those who were in Saigon during those last hours.

The North Vietnamese Army made thier final push at 4 AM and in the process cut off the only available airfield. The only means of escape from the siege would be a massive evacuation using helicopters. While reading these accounts, you can feel the tension and confusion along with countless other emotions of those involved. A Hollywood script could never compare to this real-life drama. The Vietnam War was a long road in American History. The Fall of Saigon was the last milestone.

"The Fall of Saigon," by David Butler is a detailed account of a heartbreaking story. The author weaves a complete narrative by combining first hand American and Vietnamese views. Moreover, having been on the ground in Saigon during that last days of the American war in Vietnam Butler provides credible information.

Butler's work is comprehensive and objective. He also manages to integrate many tid-bits of information to demonstrate the plight of the everyday pedestrian. However, the key to the success of this book is the minute by minute, hour by hour countdown of how Americas pulled out of Vietnam. The text is enhanced by outstanding photos.

Anyone interested in examining the hasty withdrawal from Saigon should read this intimate book. Butler knows the cast of journalists and many of the key American embassy players. Consequently, he has managed to complete an amazingly credible manuscript of how the U.S. failed to keeps its promise to thousands of Vietnamese. Butler proves we were not able to keep our word when we said...that we would never leave without them.

I've read several books about the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and the evacuation of the Americans and Vietnamese from the doomed country. "Decent Interval" by Frank Snepp is excellent. Snepp sees the events as an Embassy insider -- and one of his purposes is to excoriate the U.S. government -- and Ambassador Graham Martin -- for its failure to evacuate Vietnamese allies. Compared to "Decent Interval," "The Fall of Saigon" has a broader vision and the perspective is perhaps more balanced as it comes 10 years after the event, allowing time for reflection.

Butler begins the book with the attack of the North Vietnamese army in the Central Highlands on March 6, 1975. He ends it with the evacuation of the American Embassy in Saigon and the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on April 30. The evacuation of Saigon was one of the darkest -- but most dramatic -- events of American history. There are heroes aplenty here, especially young diplomats at the Embassy who took enormous chances to help Vietnamese friends and colleagues escape from the advancing communist army. One has to admire the inexperienced Marines who did so well in protecting the Embassy and Americans during those last days. Butler also gives attention to Vietnamese on both sides of the war although the book focuses mostly on the Americans.

Butler was a journalist in Saigon during those last days and the the great majority of the book is compiled from interviews the author had with the American and South and North Vietnamese participants and eye witnesses, including his own experiences. We are treated to some unique stories, for example, to the saga of a missionary couple cut off in the Central Highlands. Most of the book is devoted to an account of the last days of of the U.S. government's presence in Saigon. This story is complex, involving many characters and shifting of scenes. Good maps and photos illustrate the story and Butler's writing is clear, concise, and compelling.

Smallchief

This book documents the last few chaotic weeks of the US presents in Vietnam. The human story is effectively conveyed by first hand accounts of eyewitnesses from many strata of Vietnam society. The author, an NBC reporter in Saigon, witnessed these events firsthand. His unique perspective and access to the diplomatic corps adds a fascinating credibility to the book. His discussion concerning the actions and statements of Ambassador Graham Martin particularly intrigued me. Did Martin's decisions during that period contribute to the frantic last minute evacuation that left many friendlies stranded? The author makes no judgments. Butler includes transcript of many diplomatic cables to and from Martin and Secretary of State Kissinger and the White House concerning events and plans for evacuation and rescue. Reading these transcripts today still convevs a strong emotional impact for this reader. Interspacing these high level discussions are the stories of a whole society turned upside down while "we" skipped town. The Fall of Saigon is not an easy book to read. We are forced to confront the final conclusion of our failed crusade. Our goal was the minds and the hearts but we ended up fragmented the lives of the people we were suppose to help. When one considers the sacrifices made by both countries in treasure and lives the facts concerning the events of April-May 1975 are hard to digest, even after 30 plus years. No judgments are made here, no accusing fingers are pointed; we must read, and ponder.

Butler was a reporter in Vietnam when the world came crashing down on the South Vietnamese government, the United States that had backed it, and the people who had joined the American cause. This is a searing book, worth any number of lofty Frances FitzGerald tomes. Butler was on the street, in the bars, and driving down the road. What's more important, he loved Vietnam and the Vietnamese. Their tragedy was his tragedy. Go find this book, in a library or a used-book store; it's worth the effort. And if you're a publisher, for God's sake get it reprinted.

Finding Joy is a happy tale about the early life of a girl in China who is placed in an orphanage. The happiness comes when the girl is adopted by American parents and brought to the USA.

This is a good read for children to learn about the way other people live.

I too have lots of Chinese and adoption book for my daugther as well, but depending on your daughter you really should see if this book is right for you child by seeing if your local library has it or by ordering it at a book store that won't make you buy the book if you don't like it or think your child is ready for this book. You know your child best, is she emotionally ready and if they are so, to also know about not being born in your tummy, but of someone elses who chose not to keep her.

The 1st page shows a mother & father getting ready to leave their child beside a bridge. It talks about the parents being sad about leaving her and the only mention on this page of the " One- Child policy" rule is the last sentence which says No Room for Girls. There is more information on the very last page in the Author's Note which does speak more of the One Child Policy and Old Chinese belief on why boys are more important that girls.

In the book the baby is found with a note and a red blanket and both are returned on Metcha / Gotcha day. Most children are not found with a note and if they had a blanket I have never heard of a child being given the blanket back to keep.... it would be a wonderful item to have for your adopted child to have the blanket or clothes they where found in. I don't know why they aren't kept......

The book talks of the little girl named Shu-li being found and going to an orphanage with loving caretakers who had " room for girls". The story then goes on to a couple who has older children who are no longer at home but want a daughter to love. The mom excitely travels to China wondering....." yet a thread of fear wrapped around her chest and pulled tight. What would she find in this distant place? Could her family love a baby born to strangers?" Again, think of your child and how they would process this........and in the next page the last sentence reads " The mother smiled. The thread of fear unwrapped and fell away' when she finally sees her daughter. After metcha or gotcha day happens the next page is of mother and daughter flying home with the abandonment note and blanket. Everyone is happy at the airport and Shu-li has a new country, family and name Joy. The story ends with" In a chest in the attic, the red blanket lies neatly folded. When the time seems right, the mother will take it out and tell her daughter about flying far way to the land that had no room for girls, and finding joy"

The illustrations are done in watercolor by Yong Chen and are beautiful. I hope this review helps.

I purchased this book on recommendation from a fellow adoptive parent. We hav all of the other popular picture books on this topic. I have been introducing my daughter's story to her slowly, without much interest on her behalf until we saw the opening pages of this book. She was totally facinated by the story and while the details from then on are different, she is able to comprehend how they apply to her own start in this life. In turn, it has started to unlock some of her questions and early conversations about our familyh. This book brings it front and center and has opened up a lot of great dialog and interest in the other pieces in our library.

It is beautifully and sensitively written and the illustrations are gorgeous watercolor drawing.

Pakistan is a fascinating and unfairly under-rated country. It certainly is one of the poorest in the world but its people are the most welcoming you will ever meet and the scenery is enthralling. I promised myself I'll keep returning to Pakistan every year since my first discovery trip (1998). Look no further for the best guidebook to Pakistan. This new edition is VERY detailed and informative and has even succeeded in improving on the already brilliant previous edition. In my opinion, Lonely Planet's updated 1998 edition is not bad either but does not compare. Have a wonderful journey ! And please, if you go to Lahore, don't miss the beautiful Wazir Khan mosque !

I really enjoyed this book and found it to be indespensible during two trips to Pakistan in the Summers of 03 and 04. A little skimpy on photos and the prices were outdated (it has not been updated since 1998 I wish they would too). other than that it was/is the best on the market, far more engaging and extensive than Lonely Planet. I see Footprint is expected to release a Guide to the Northern Areas. Although I welcome this I think far too many tourists neglect the four provinces down country. This is really where the guide book shines for it reveals so much about the majority of the country that other books neglect or skim over.

While in pursuit if my passion of travel, I have had the chance to use several types of guides, but never have I enjoyed reading any guide as this one. Very detailed, yet simply arranged, and excellent recommendations. Very accurate trekking information is also included in it, along with the typical "touristy" material. Maps could use a little more detail, as I saw it. Prices and other recommendations were excellent! Awesome job!

If anyone is going to Pakistan, I would highly suggest getting this book. There are so many things that I have never known even though I was there for several months.

It's hard to explain how and why, but this is the key to all the unanswer questions about human life circle.

I have read this book both written in Thai and English. This book is really helpful. It's based on true story. I have been to the temple and learned meditation.

I believe this book will help you to understand more about karma and what the meditation can help you to solve problems in your life.

It gave me a deeper understanding of Buddhism, Karma and Meditation, and led me to go and study meditation at the actual temple in the book- in Thailand. The Thai author is a doctor of philosophy and teaches Buddhism at University level. She has been a student and devoted follower of Luang Por Jaran for over twenty years. 'Fruit of Karma' is the first 20 chapters of her originalThai text 'All beings fare according to their karma' which was started in 1987 and grew to 80 chapters in all. It is a work of Faction, or the novelisation of a few years in the life of Luang Por Jaran- a Thai Buddhist monk and Abbot of a temple in Central Thailand. He teaches Vipassana meditation and copes with the daily problems of his local community, besides having to suffer the Fruit of his own heavy Karma. As a result of his many years of practising he has some unusual abilities; able to read minds and 'see' peoples past, present and future karma. This helps him advise those who come with problems. All set in a background of everyday life in Thailand.
More of this story has been written in Thai, and awaits translation.

I have read two other books on the General and listened to another on Books on Tape. Mr. Valley's book is easily the best, probably because he was really there not learning about it from a library. Brilliant insights and personal details fill this magnificent work. Get it! Enjoy it!

Larry Durbin, Captain, United Airlines

David Valley's book, "Gaigin Shogun ..," is great fun and an easy read. At the same time it makes you think about things you may not have thought about before. I never realized how much of the Japanese miracle recovery was attributable to the manner in which the occupational forces governed Japan after the war. Also the excerpts of the writings by MacArthur made the message crisp and believable. It leaves one in awe of MacArthur, and feeling that he may have been one of the most under appreciated hero's of our past. Valley did a fine job. Definitely worth reading.

The author did an excellent job in pointing out the accomplishments of General Douglas MacArthur in Japan. I, also,was one of the General's Honor Guard. David and I went over events during of our tours of duty both before and after the author's assignment of how MaArthur was bringing the Japanese back into the United Nations fold as an upstanding nation. I was delighted to read what he had written , but how well he had written it.

When we compared notes, it became amazing to each of us how slowly the progress was at first. Perhaps, items such as the Marshall Plan and Harry Bridges "Long Shoremans strike" that lasted for over seventeen months. Nobody saw a real potatoe for over six months. Not that anyone suffered for it. Japanese national progress did accelerated over the following short years.

The personal climate to all of us including Mrs MacArthur was that we were unafraid to walk among the Japanese from the very first moments we where there at any time , day or night. There was seldom a case of anamosity shown. The Japanese were model citizens. This is a illustration of how well MacArthurs policies were performing.

The author was factual, brief and very accurate with details. He created each scene with actual quotations from the General about verbal discriptions. The General took all his problems in his stride. The resolve was contigious. When it came to authority, the author precisely depicted the attitudes and backgrounds of the British and the Russians and the worst party of all, our own State Department. He was candid. The General was skillful in his steps that he took. He had spent too much time in the houses of power to be careless with the heads of state and worse their correspondants.

In total, the book is a good comprehensive story of the General who did an extraordinary job of uplifting the country of a former enemy. After all his seventy years of preparation, his experience prepared him well for the task. It is noted that it has not been repeated since the reigns of Alexander the Great and Julis Ceasar.

Wow, I bought this book at a library booksale, and read it probably 1 year later. I was very interested in meditation, peaceful resolution and such. This book is amazing, so full of absoloute wisdom and radically true assesments. I'm a college student and I have been copying this book and giving it away at school functions. Everyone who has children should read this book to find out how the world will end up without a positive personality to lead us through.

It is a small book but easily the single most important text I have ever read. A concise, clear depiction of the principles which motivated to Gandhi, and Dr. King like him, to commit their lives to peace. Unlike most books, De Mallac's appendix offers concrete ways in which to apply these principles and lists organziation devoted to non-violence. Every human should read it and integrate into their world view. NOW.

This little book is a gem! It explains in concise, understandable language the seven key steps to making a positive contribution to the world. The beauty of the book, besides its simplicity and readability, is its practical suggestions for steps that we, as individuals, can take starting today! Focussing on: 1) selfless service; 2) right and fair labor; 3) nonviolence; 4) conciliation; 5) sharing in government; 6) re-education and 7) the sharing of resources, De Mallac skillfully maps out Gandhi's steps to global change. The book also contains a very practical action guide on what we can do immediately to make a difference in these seven areas, including suggestions such as volunteering for groups like the American Friends Service Committe (selfless service) and "not letting a single day go by without practicing some form of giving" (sharing of resources). The Book is filled with pearls of wisdom and resources. It also contains Suggested Readings, a Gandhi Chronology, Goals for Contemporary American Personal and Political Action, and a Declaration of Interdependence - a statement reflecting Gandian values. I'm surprised that this book is not more widely circulated or used as a college text on Gandhian values and nonviolent activism. It should be required reading for anyone seeking to make the world a better, more peaceful place to live.