Asia Books

The authors of "After Moruroa - France in the South Pacific" have done a brilliant job in relating France's colonial history in the South Pacific to its global and economic interests in the region today. And it is Maclellan and Chesneaux's ability to weave between past and present which makes this book such an engaging read....After Moruroa is an important book containing a vast amount of material... from review in Race and Class (UK), January-March 2000

"Nic Maclellan and Jean Chesneaux have produced After Moruroa, an enlightening history, analysis and interpretation of French thinking about the Pacific - made all the more valuable by its publication just before the referendum [in New Caledonia] in November" excerpt from review in Islands Business, October 1998

This is an excellent and readable summary of the French presence in the South Pacific, stretching from the days of Bougainville and the "discovery", to present day - and into the future. The situation in French Polynesia and New Caledonia is made understandable, whereas the somewhat forgotten islands of Wallis and Futuna are more briefly treated. This book allows the reader to understand what is specific about French colonialism, from cultural as well as historical and political aspects.

A book that begs us to call into serious question the nature of the society in which we, live. Using examples from postwar Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, it presents the broader issue, of "how our system really works": Government, media, and such.

Nowhere does the book praise "Stalinism." The issue is simply that of a colonial power smashing a national movement. In the 19th Century the prevailing ideollogy might have been Christiandom vs. Islam; by the 1960's it was the "Free World" vs. "Godless Communism." The essential power relatons of empire remain the same. To criticise the larger power and its bullying tactics is not to whitewash the other side; but the normal human reaction among the unbrainwashed is to take the side of the little guy fighting for his life over the big fat aggressor.

Ensconced in the ivory tower of American academia, neither Noam Chomsky nor Edward Herman would have survived day one of Cambodia's infamous "Year Zero" - an "agrarian reform" that led to the deaths of roughly two million people - one quarter of the population of Cambodia.

Luckily for Chomsky, the governor of Massachusetts (Chomsky is a linguistics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA) did not summarily round up, torture, convict and execute the intelligensia and bourgeois classes in Massachusetts. Sadly for Cambodia (or Kampuchea, if you prefer) Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge government did just this in Cambodia. Under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, the "crime" of being an elementary school teacher, to say nothing of being a tenured university professor!, was excuse enough for the revolutionary heroes Chomsky sings the praises of in "After The Cataclysm", to kill you and your entire family.

Chomsky's book fails in every conceivable way when analyzing the bloody regime of Pol Pot, attempting to write off refugee reports of the unimaginably large scale atrocities as the spin of an imperialist media seeking to defame the agrarian revolution. Chomsky could not have been more wrong, nor proved more valuable a western mouthpiece for one of the most brutal dictators in living memory.

The fiery anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism polemics and philippics that were Chomsky's milieu during the Vietnam war pigeonholed his analysis of the Pol Pot regime, and it shows in this book. After his bitter condemnations of anything even vaguely pro-American in Asian politics, Chomsky had ideologially painted himself into a corner. Rather than renounce one ounce of his invective, he instead wrote this book, which regardless of intent, reads as an apologist eulogy to the Khmer Rouge.

I give this book five stars because it's a five star work on the excesses of the old guard left in American academic circles, and a lingering stench on Chomsky's reputation. Had Chomsky had the integrity and courage to admit that the emperor Pol Pot had no clothes on, this book never would have been written....The disingenuousness presented in "After The Cataclysm" is nearly too astounding, as if written as a savage and bitter satire of professional academics-cum-polemicists. It's not, and academia is left tarnished for it.

Land of the midnight sun.

Reverries.. WBYEATS sailing to byzantium innisfree

The technical mind, AgFd ACS, FSEEE

Medical doctors... Captian Doctor a natural history of the dead

Woodger

Fleming?

debakey, barnard, cooley, howard, christian, denton

medical doctors

Enjoy reading literature written by medical doctors.

MD magazine had short stories also

beware the pogonip





Medical doctors are deft, adept intellectual academic readers thus, also literati.

Nielson's 4th, The Inextinguishable rowing scull to Jupiter and
Beyond.

513-242-2393

This book contains the memoirs Dr. Victor Heiser, international public health administrator for 30 years starting at the turn of the Twentieth Century. The book begins with a riveting account of how Heiser survived the Johnstown Flood by nimbly balancing on the walls of his barn as it swirled in the maelstrom after seeing his entire family swept under the waters in their home. Alone in the world following this disaster, Heiser decided to study medicine, but discovered upon graduation that he much preferred to prevent disease than cure it. He felt that he could do more for more people by fighting public health campaigns than by dealing with individual sick patients. He began his career as a military health inspector overseeing immigration halls at large ports, including Ellis Island. He later moved on to Europe, where he set up health inspection services so that would-be immigrants to the United States could be screened before setting sail from Europe. Following the Spanish American War, he was assigned as chief health officer of the new American colony in the Philippines. After serving almost ten years in the Philippines, he joined the international public health team of the Rockefeller Foundation, where he served as an itinerant medical expert and public health adviser for nearly twenty years.

During his tenure in the Philippines, Heiser worked hard to get cholera, typhoid, plague, smallpox, and leprosy under control. Politically, he was very much a man of his times, and his prose displays the typical racist attitudes of a senior colonial official. He could become very aggravated by what he considered the whimsical behavior of the Filipinos, and he often resorted to draconian measures to contain disease outbreaks. Nevertheless, his intentions were laudable if his methods were sometimes questionable.

Heiser's accounts of his time with the Rockefeller Foundation are fascinating. He explains how the Rockefeller Foundation selected hookworm elimination campaigns as their primary focus: Rockefeller wanted the team to work with a pathogen that was not only common, caused serious harm to society, but also could be seen with the naked eye. He felt that if people could actually see what was making them sick, even if they were illiterate, they would understand the cause and effect relationship between the pathogen and their illness, and would be willing to do their part in supporting the campaign. The hope was that the administration set up in a community for the hookworm elimination campaign would prove itself so useful that the community would want it to continue and expand its scope, leading to the establishment of a full public health service. Heiser relates how well this idea succeeded, not only in the American South, but throughout the world, from Thailand to Abyssinia.

Indeed, aside from the medical details, Heiser's descriptions of his travels are some of the most interesting parts of the book. He tells us of conditions on ships and trains, in cities and country sides around the world. In one of the more fascinating accounts of his travels, he describes the lush green highland paradise of Abyssinia, how in the 1930s he could see terraced orchards of apples and pears from his hotel room in Addis Ababa, and how beautiful the forests and cool clear streams were there. From modern accounts of the Ethiopian environment, it seems those fruit trees and forests are long gone, casualties of civil war, mismanagement, and over-population (perhaps a result of Heiser's work?). Heiser also notes how the Abyssinians, including their leader Haile Selassie considered themselves a separate race from the Black Africans, who they displayed racists attitudes towards, and how they were incensed when the US sent them Black ambassadors. If Heiser's contemporary account of Abyssian society is indeed accurate, it puts Rastafarians' idolization of Selassie in a new light, indeed.

This book has been one of my favorites for many years. I read it first in paperback, and after that fell apart I managed to find a used hardback copy. The book is the autobiography of Victor Heiser, M.D. The book starts with a bang with Heiser as a teenager surviving the Johnstown flood. (His parents were killed.) The rest of the book is mostly anecdotes taken from his medical career. Dr. Heiser is perhaps the ultimate example of the international public health doctor in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He spent much of his career as the U.S.'s Director of Health in the Philippines. Much of the book is organized by disease: he discusses smallpox, plague, cholera, leprosy, hookworm, etc. Heiser's main point is that health comes mostly from vaccination, clean water, good food, sanitation, and isolation of people sick with contagious diseases, not from expensive medical care.
Nearly every page of the book has a great story; you get the impression that Heiser must have been a fantastic dinner guest. Heiser's stories of vaccinating the uncivilized tribesmen of the Philippines are medical adventure at its best.
Towards the end of his career Heiser became a representative of the Rockefeller Foundation and spent his time traveling the world selling public health to the masses. The book bogs down a bit here; sometimes you wish Heiser would stop bragging about the number of times he's visited each country and tell more stories.
For the modern reader, Heiser's book is still surprisingly relevant, though maybe not in ways he intended. Heiser and other public health doctors are perhaps the persons most responsible for today's overpopulation of the earth. The fact is that if you save a life, you must prevent a birth somewhere else, or risk overrunning your resources. Heiser had no concept of limits. In my opinion, today's doctors have for the most part still never understood this, with the result that they often cause more harm than good.
Another important point for modern readers is the concept of diminishing returns for medical care. Heiser's book shows this clearly. Heiser, who was starting with Philippine peasants that had never seen a doctor, could save thousands of lives with a few dollars' worth of vaccines. Today we may spend a million dollars on a single transplant patient or premature baby. Are we really getting our moneys' worth? I don't think so.
Overall, a very good book if you can find it.

Professor Hsu knows well--and understands well--the cultural characteristics of contemporary Americans and Chinese. This is not a history text, but rather an in-depth look at the differences between peoples which is the result of history. I would consider it "must" reading for both societies. The 1981 publication date does not make it outdated. In fact, at the present, the insights it offers are more pertinent than ever. Professor Hsu writes intelligently, humorously, and very seriously about a "meeting of minds." He doesn't pull punches, and at the same time he is fair. Chinese and Americans have a lot to learn about--and from--each other. Begin here--and keep this unique "teacher's manual" on hand.

Professor Hsu knows well--and understands well--the cultural characteristics of contemporary Americans and Chinese. This is not a history text, but rather an in-depth look at the differences between peoples which are the result of history. I would consider it "must" reading for both societies. The 1981 publication date does not make it outdated. Professor Hsu writes intelligently, humorously,and very seriously about a "meeting of minds." He doesn't pull punches, and at the same time he is fair. Chinese and Americans have a lot to learn about each other. Begin here--and keep it on hand.

I came across Dr. Hsu's work during my doctoral research and found his observations of the similarities and differences between American and Chinese thinking insightful--at times profoundly so. Here is an academic who writes with clarity and common sense, yet bases his conclusions on years of firsthand experience and ongoing research. Although its last reprint was nearly a quarter century ago, most of what he describes and explains remains pertinent today. Those conducting cross-cultural studies, or otherwise engaged in international exchanges between these two nations, would do well to read and heed this book. Nothing since approaches this even more timely topic with the same sense of philosophical distance and objectivity.

And Then There Was One... is a historical memoir covering the era from 1910 t o 1945. Author Michael Stone was born in Latvia in 1910, grew up in Moscow, relocated to Berlin with his family to escape the Communist Revolution, and emigrated to the United States when the Nazis emerged to take control. And Then There Was One... is a riveting personal saga that spans nations, and offers a very personal view of cataclysmic events that reshaped human history and the world. Enhanced with an appendix, bibliography, and index, And Then There Was One... is highly recommended reading.

(...)Twentieth century lives are often studies in chaos, disruption, and just one damned thing after another. For Michael Stone, born in 1910, it's a century of the murder of Jews and of coming to America and having the freedom to build a successful life. But a successful and culture life was Stone's in Latvia, born into a family of prosperous entrepreneurs. Memories, experiences, fascinating bits of information—The Cotton Club, speeches in Columbus Circle, in the Latvian army, upbringing, siblings and parents, and meeting European men and women who, through their experiences, would define the times. But also there is the malady of the century: the Nazi murder of Jews. A horrifying depiction of the roundup of the Jews of Riga: "Those actions were representative of a number of carefully planned acts of extermination of Jews, not only in various cities in Latvia, but also in other parts of Nazi-occupied regions in Europe." And the terrible personal experiences of Stone. "My initial reaction to being transferred from the hands of the Gestapo to the regular, green-uniformed police calmed me a bit." In an important sense, this is a modern American life: coming from war-torn Europe, a man prospers but remembers, for future generations, the terrible things done in Europe. And it is a history of all of Europe as that history affected poor, helpless people. Stone remembers in a thoughtful, scrupulously detailed way: And Then There Was One is a clearheaded and instructive memoir, related with passion, and with enormous sorrow(...)

Unlike traditional history books, which are written many years after events have actually occurred, this unusual book tells of the cataclysmic world events of the the first half of the last century from the perspective of one who was there. The reader will get a graphic description of the different cultures, customs and events as they then existed.

There are not many people today who can say that they were acctually present in Moscow when the Bolshevic revolution was unfolding. Michael Stone was there. In this meticulously researched volume, Mr. Stone vividly describes how he survived the bloody two-year civil war when his mother was brutally killed. He goes on to describe his family's flight from Russia to the Weimar Republic. He provides a first-hand account of the World War II from the German perspective. Mr. Stone writes with passion about his experience of being arrested by the Gestapo on charges of high treason, which carried a mandatory sentence of decapitation (He was ultimately pardoned by Hermann Goering, personally!) We are fortunate that Mr. Stone, who was thrust into the middle of the century's greatest historic events, survived to preserve the truth from his unique perspective.

This is a must read for all history buffs.

Angkor is, indubitably, one of the most magical places on earth and it has captured the imagination of many a photographer, poet and writer. Candee's travelogue vividly portrays an Angkor of yesteryear, an enjoyable read for those looking for historical color and insights into the truly magnificent ruins of Angkor, Cambodia. A true pioneer, Candee writes well and one is inspired by her life and thankful that she recorded her travels in the early part of the last century.
A great read! Highly recommended.

For most people, Angkor is about their own encounters with the stones as much as it is about the stones themselves. The personal experience colors the objective assessment ... and so it should. In 1981 I had the privilege, of being part of the second western journalistic team to visit Angkor after the Pol Pot years -- I was writing for Smithsonian magazine; and National Geographic, I am sorry to say, beat us by a week. There were Vietnamese military officers staying at the Grand Hotel in Siem Reap then, drinking too much cognac. They assumed I was Russian and proposed toasts, in slurred French, to Soviet-Vietnamese friendship. That night mortar shells landed outside the hotel ... but nothing about that alcohol-and-explosive-fuelled night impressed me as much as seeing Angkor the next day. To clamber around on the faces of the Bayon, to feel the weight of the stones pressing down on each other, to be lost in the orchestral chorus of jungle insects and gibbons was to be brought into some realm that was both eternal and unforgettable.
Angkor the Magnificent is about the encounters Helen Churchill Candee had early in the 20th century. Others came to Angkor before and now, of course, with jet planes landing at Siem Reap, the volume of visitors is larger than ever before in history. This is a charming book. It stands up well to the passing of decades, and I for one am grateful that the remarkable Kent Davis has brought it back into print.
Roger Warner, author of Angkor: The Hidden Glories; Surviving the Killing Fields; and other books about Cambodia and Laos.

Once again, Kent Davis has been able to convey his love and respect for the history of Cambodia through this beautifully written book. Angkor the Magnificent makes one feel as if you are in Cambodia riding an elephant during the 1920's. I have been magically transported into this exotic beautiful world.

Mr. Davis surprises readers with a biography of Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee. What a fascinating life she must have had as a liberated woman in the early 20th Century. From surviving the Titanic disaster to exotic and primitive travel, Mrs. Candee is an inspiration to 21st Century women.

Angkor the Magnificent is of equal quality to the other Cambodian books published by Mr. Davis: Cambodian Dancers and Earth in Flower.

If you are interested in Asian history, this book is a must read!

This book has provided me with a good solid overview and a list of further resource material.

This is a must-read book for US servicemen given the coming conflict in Afghanistan that provides important information about our likely Afghan opponents and the lessons learnt over the decades by the Brits. The lessons learnt then have relevance still today and the book should appear on officer and NCO required reading lists.

This is an informative, well-written and impressively researched account of how British and Indian units fought on the North-West Frontier of India for nearly a 100 years. Fighting against the Pathan tribes became almost a way of life for imperial troops during repeated skirmishes and major campaigns in the period covered by the book. It effectively combines detailed and lively accounts of important battles with analysis of how the military prepared itself for this very specialised form of unconventional warfare.

Moreman provides a wealth of new information about frontier fighting and a detailed bibliography that makes it a must for all interested in British imperial military history. I thoroughly recommend it other readers.

This is an excellent translation. The book contains a number of appendices which are superb analyses of different issues dealing with Alexander's history.
As a professional historian I can recommend the book without hesitation.

MJ Olbrycht

This book is one of two volumes written by Arrian on Alexander the Great. So many books have been written about this fascinating and charigmatic young man.Although most of the documents from Alexander's lifetime have vanished,this one is the closest that we can get to him.

In my own opinion I think that the documents that vanished may have been in the Alexandria library,or possibly were the body or remains of Alexander are.

What I liked the most in this book is the fact that the name of the cities and places that Alexander conquered are also named with today's actual names,making it easy for us lovers of history to relate to today's geography.

The Theban battle is very well written with so many details, not only the amount of horses,companions,hypastis and so on but the way that Alexander he himself planned.How Alexander took care of the innocent people,and how he cared for them,example the battle of Agis. What he did to the citizens of Soli, giving their land and money back.Details of Darius' mother,wife and children.
For instance I did not know that Dairus married his own sister.
there is so much in this book that it is really worth having if you are a true historian buff of Alexander's time.

The details of the army that conquered which tribe and city.How many horses, carriages, elephants, companions were used for each battle.

The treason fo Philotas and the killing of Parmenio,are also detailed here.The revolt of Agis,India and the Persian Empire, plus detailes of Alexander's army.

I enjoyed reading it very very much.I hope that you will do the same.

Arrian's Books, in two volumes, are perhaps the most informative and accurate existing account of the expeditions of Alexander the Great. The accounts are historical and also give insight into the personality of Alexander. Contrary to most histories, the texts are an easy read, with descriptions of places, people, and events giving the reader a good sense of the adventures encountered by Alexander and his men. The tale is told directly. Alexander's sexuality, the love of his troops for their leader, and all the other human qualities intermingled in a real life situation are presented without bias.
The text is in greek and english, in flanking pages. The footnotes are helpful, providing clarity to definitions of words in their historical context. The second volume contains various Appendixes providing added information on Military Questions, India, Mearchus' Voyage (Alexander's Sea Captain), etc.
For one wising to learn of Alexander, this is the best source available.

Henry Glassie has written one of the great books of the 21st Century. His descriptions of the history of Bangladesh provide exactly the context needed to understand the folklife and art that he chooses to present from this nation. Glassie balances his own thought-provoking and insightful interpretations with articulate and intriguing texts, edited together from hundreds of hours of interview material. In this manner, Glassie guides the reader to a great understanding of the incredible artistry of the people of Bangladesh. Reading this book forces one to reflect on a range of important issues -- the central one being a compassionate concern with what it means to be wealthy or poor in Bangladesh, and in America.

"Art" must be taken very broadly, not to misjudge this book by its title. Glassie is such an honest, humble writer, one would forgive him for staying with the high arts, but he brings us into the back yards of potters and other craftspeople who labor in mud and obscurity. What I appreciate the most is his exquisite sense of the moment. Glassie never generalizes or universalizes; he shows us how lives and art change (not constantly, but imperceptibly, and also in sudden surges), and at the end we know more about all people by knowing more about these few.

The author has captured the essence of East Bengal in this marvelous book about art in Bangladesh. While the primary medium is pottery, the book also touches on rickshaw art, engraving, boat building, straw mat production and others. More than a description of art and the artists, it delves into the philosophy of Bengal and reaches depths of religious understanding (especially among the Hindu community); that many of us who lived in Bangladesh did not encounter. If you love Bangladesh, this book is must reading.

The chapter summaries are easy to read and succint. Well written book.
Beware subtitle, however. Modern methods of conflict resolution are win/win and more spiritual than this! This classic is studied at West Point!

With a shelf full of versions of "The Art of War" why purchase another one? This is a question one could ask of me. I have a dozen versions of "The Art of War," yet I purchased and read "The Art of War - Spirituality for Conflict" and am extremely glad that I did.

This version of "The Art of War" annotated and explained was annotated by Thomas Huynh and it is his translations with the editors at his website Sonshi. There is a foreword by Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce and a preface by Thomas Cleary. It was Cleary's preface that helped me decide to purchase this version, since several of my versions were translated by Cleary, and I've enjoyed the numerous translations of his I've read over the years.

Huynh states that he wishes he would have had this translation when he first started studying Sun Tzu's words twenty years ago. After reading it, I agree that any student of Sun Tzu will benefit from "The Art of War - Spirituality for Conflict."

Besides the interesting foreword and preface, there is a good introduction that lays some basic history and information for those new to Sun Tzu and those that have studied various translations already. One impressive fact about this book is that it is the work of twenty years of study with over forty reputable scholars working on it.

I enjoyed how this edition addresses a spiritual approach to conflict through Sun Tzu's teachings. The book still contains the thirteen chapters that were written by Sun Tzu. They are laid out in a format that has the translated text on the right side page, with the commentary to the translated text on the left side page. If a person wanted to, they could read every right hand page and they would be reading the entire translated text of "The Art of War."

However, if you truly study "The Art of War" like I enjoy doing, you will not only read the translated text, you will savor the commentary and annotations as well as ponder the lessons beyond Huynh's guidance.

In the annotations, Huynh provides examples relating to the text from many sources. It is refreshing to see things from the Bible, Buddha, and Lao Tzu not contrasting each other, but illustrating points and guiding toward conflict resolution. The text also includes examples based on General Robert E. Lee, Fourth Geneva Convention, a sermon delivered by Martin Luther king Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1957, George Washington, Robert Gates to the U.S. Congress in 2007, Henry David Thoreau, mathematics professor and investment trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure, and many more. These examples and illustrations of lessons and principles help with the study and application of "The Art of War" to other areas than only military strategy.

This is important, because while many readers of this text will benefit in areas other than in the military. While I first studied "The Art of War" while in the U.S. Army, I study it now for different reasons. It is a text that not only can help the military person, but any person who deals with conflict. And we all face conflict!

Sun Tzu's teachings are effective in all conflict, not only war. This new translation, with the annotations and explanations will allow any reader, from those with no previous knowledge of "The Art of War" to those who have studied multiple volumes, to learn and apply Sun Tzu's sage advice. It is very insightful and will not only help with your understanding and application of the ancient text, but will provide you with guidance to prevent and resolve conflicts in your own life.

If you want to study conflict resolution through a book about war. This is the text for you. If you have never read "The Art of War," this is a good book to start your studies. It is clear, easy to read, and contains excellent annotations to apply the lessons to your life. If you are a student of "The Art of War," this is a must add to your collection. You will find it an informative and refreshing look at this classic manual. I am very happy that I decided to purchase yet another volume. Its practical and pragmatic guidance has broadened my understanding of "The Art of War," and more importantly has helped me bring these ancient lessons into my conflict resolution practice. Highly recommended!

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author, speaker
Hard-Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks, Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, and The Lock On Joint Locking series, and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer

A wisdom text that has been in print for over two millennium hardly needs another review to establish its merit. What's new here is the annotated translation by Thomas Huynh and his colleagues [...]. By carefully studying each and every pictograph from the Chinese original, they've come as close to reconnecting the English reader with Sun Tzu's thoughts as can be achieved in a translation. For example, when choosing a single word in English to correspond with a key concept from the original, the translator gives the alternatives and explains the final choice.

But the work goes beyond simply providing the most accurate translation that language differences allow. The extensive explanations are presented on facing pages in step with the translation, as opposed to being buried in footnotes or endnotes, and provide the cultural and historical context required to understand the text. Without these explanations of the who, what and where that Sun Tzu is referring to, a reader without a deep background in the Chinese literature and history of the period would come away with a partial understanding at best.

While I didn't put together an army to invade a neighboring state after reading this book, I already used one of the key concepts in a critical business negotiation that resolved in my favor. I'd recommend this book both to first time readers of the Art of War and to serious students of looking for additional insight into their favorite wisdom text.