Asia Books

These twenty nine stories give us a much needed look into the multi-faceted journey of Filipino youth coming of age in this society. These tales are full of humor, fear, sadness and love of family and their culture. Over the course of time in the development of this country we have heard from diverse immigrant groups about their struggles to find a sense of belonging here. It is time to hear the voice of the Filipino community. I think this would be an ideal book for teachers to introduce to all their students.

Emerging and established award-winning writers are the authors of this fine collection of 29 stories about what it means to be young and Filipino in the Philippines and in the United States. Filipinos in America are now the second largest in the umbrella group of Asian Americans, yet there is a scarcity of books by and for Filipinos. This impressive array captures the complexities of both the Filipino culture and history and the realities of the lives of young adults no matter what their ethnic affiliation. Each story is assigned to one of five universal themes: family, angst, friendship, love, and home. (by Glenna Sloan)

In a world where we are all interconnected by technology, itis so important to expand our experience of the world. I read these stories with such interest and became aware of a unique perspective on a different cultural experience. I am an adult and read these stores with fascination before reading them to my daughter. Three cheers for this book and an editor who brought these experiences, past and present, together.

I read this book to my grandson and realized the emotions stemming from difficult times and family matters are universal. There are so many diverse races in today's classrooms. This book helped him see beyond his own little corner of the world. I highly recommend it.

In this fine short-story collection, 29 Filipino American writers explore the universal challenges of adolescence from the unique perspectives of teens in the Philippines or the U.S. Organized into 5 sections - Family, Angst, Friendship, Love, and Home - all the stories are about growing up and what the introduction calls "growing into Filipino-ness, growing with Filipinos, and growing in or growing away from the Philippines." The stories are introduced by the authors, who illustrate the teenage experience as they remember it or as they wish to explain it to the reader - whether the focus is the death of a grandparent, budding sexuality, or going to the mall. The cultural flavor aspect never overwhelms the stories, and readers will be drawn to the particulars as well as the universal concerns of family, friends, love, and leaving home. While the stories are fairly easy to read, teens might be intimidated by the dense book design and small type. Take the time to help them overcome this. The stories are delightful!

Written history, in particular the written history of any war, is made up of small pieces. No one person can possibly give a good account of an entire battle, even a small one, much less an entire war. We therefore need many written pictures, many pieces of the puzzle, many views, in order to have some understanding of just what went on and why. In this work by Charles Anderson we have another of those hundreds of word pictures we need. This is a very small view of a very small part of the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of one Marine. This makes it a rather important work. Without first hand accounts such as this, much of the history of this particular war will be lost forever. As a participant of this particular war (certainly nothing in comparison to Anderson's experiences, far, far from it), I appreciate another's view, an account of another's experiences. This is a well written work, quite frank, quite to the point. It is a pity this one apparently is no longer in print. If you can find a copy, grab it for it is certainly a good addition to your library. I highly recommend this one.

Anderson's book has got to be the next best thing to "being there". I am envious of his talent for "detailing" the ordinary. He is absolutely "right on" in describing just how wonderful plain old ordinary water can taste. I read Anderson's book before I joined the Corps. Since then I've read all the big names in this genre; Sassoon, Graves, Owen, Mailer, Jones, Caputo, O'brien, Webb. I guess I tend to identify more with Caputo's, Webb's, and Anderson's books since they're Marines. It really doesn't matter because they were all good and they all sent a message that has never been heeded. I wish someone would tell a story about us and all the silly c**p that went on in Somalia.

I served with "Andy" in Vietnam in 1969 in the First Battalion Third Marines. He was a friend to everyone and paid very close attention to things around him knowing he would write this book. Many of the stories in the book are based on actual happenings. The pallet of mortar rounds exploding really happened and it was a wonder more Marines weren't killed. This book ranks along with Jim Web's "Fields of Fire" as two of the most realistic Vietnam combat accounts. A friend of mine served under Jim Web and lost his right arm just below the shoulder. He and Mr. Web still stay in touch and continue the bond that can only be formed in combat. Don't waste you money on all those Vietnam war novels until you have read "The Grunts" and "Fields of Fire".

I thought this book was a real sleeper. I bought it as a used paperback and based on its title and cover, I expected a "pulpy" style blood and guts novel. Once I looked at it closer, I realized it was a true story. And once I read it, I realized it was an exceptionally well-conceived and well-written book.

The book is in two parts - the first part being about the tour of duty in Vietnam for an infantryman and the second nominally being about "The World". I thought the first part did a fine job of describing the physical and mental hardships imposed on the grunts by the climate, the terrain and the unpredictable boredom/terror nature of the conflict. Following that, Part Two takes the reader through what I believe is the material that really distinguishes this book as one that anyone who studies the Vietnam war should read. Anderson presents a thoughtful and straightforward discussion about the attitudes of Americans who served and those who did not and the forces that shaped those attitudes. He does a great job of relating these to the struggles the servicemen faced in reentering civilian life and to the struggles they faced in dealing with Vietnamese society and their own combat leaders. Placing the veterans' homecoming adjustments, atrocities and fraggings in this context was what moved this book from the very good to the extraordinary class.

Easy to read, hard to put down. Read it - you'll enjoy it and you'll learn some interesting things.

"Andy", as we knew him, is right on the money with this book. He has covered the experiences of the Vietnam War as only a participant could. He was not a "journalist" who went along to get some good material for a book he was planning. He was just another "grunt" who was clever enough to document his experiences and put them together in a book later. It sure brought back some memories to read this book. The account of the pallet of ammo exploding hit home, even though I was not on that hill. I remember the event as if it was yesterday.

If anyone would like to know how it was being a grunt in Vietnam just read this book. I know from talking with combat veterans of different branches of service and from different areas in Vietnam that things were different according to where you fought and who you were with. I can assure you that things in the "Northern I Corps" and with 1/3 (First Battalion/Third Marines) were exactly as they are represented in this book. To be able to do his part in every way while serving with 1/3 and to still come up with a book like this says a lot for Andy. He was liked by all who served with him and is now appreciated by them for documenting what they could not or would not talk about. Only Jim Webb's "Fields of Fire" can compare in authenticity with this superb account of the Vietnam Experience. Bill Bratton, USM

I've got it and you don't! Too bad. It's outta print. I called the publisher and they are not reissuing. Go find it used. It is worth every penny ($85 I paid) if you need or desire to ID gulls.

This book is a must have for every birdwatcher! If you have problems with indentifying gulls, this is the book to have! It anwers all my questions I have about gull distribution and indentification. Now I know how to Indentify those Ring-billed Gulls that I see in the parking lot. Also I have a better outlook on where they came from as Well!

The size and massive detail in this new book on identifying the gulls of the Northern Hemisphere is likely to deter most readers from more than a cursory leafing through its lovely paintings and photographs. But if you're curious to learn more about these common but highly varied, many-shades-of-gray birds around us, and you happen to live in a coastal area as I do, with more than a few gulls that are hard to identify during the winter, this might be a book to look into more thoroughly.

A caution though: gulls can be notoriously difficult to identify accurately, since they have so much finely detailed, age-related plumage variation. But an effort to simply knuckle-down and learn more about all this, such as this book amply provides, can pay off greatly in much greater detective-fun trying to figure out all these heretofore anonymously gray gulls sailing and prowling around us here each year. It's already helped me develop better skills in figuring out nearly all the varied groups of gulls around us here more quickly than I would have heretofore thought possible. And to more quickly decide which birds you can or cannot more accurately identify...and why.

The detailed accounts and maps of the distribution and relative abundance of various gull species have also helped me better understand where the gulls that migrate through or winter in our area are likely to have come from. And, finally, as you delve more deeply into what's known about all these gull species, and their European and Asian counterparts, it becomes obvious that the series of beautiful, comparative paintings and color photographs provided in such detail for each species in its various age-plumages, subspecies, and hybrid-forms is worth the price of the book alone.

Well....maybe not easy....but, not through any fault of this book! The book starts with a lesson on the various body parts, as you will need to know many of these in order to ascertain what gull you have sitting in front of you. A comparison of the wings comes next. Then, it goes through each gull species and all of its plumages, including the months you might expect to see them in that plumage. It ends by discussing the various hybrids. If you ever hope to get beyond referring to gulls as "gull sp.," this book will do it. When you hear other birders refer to "the gull bible," this is it!!! However, don't think that this is a field guide you might want to carry in a fanny pack...it's a heavyweight!

growing up with the knowledge that there are just a few "kinds" of gulls and realising after a while that all the gulls you knew are now called somthing compleatly different (the whole herring,yellow legged,caspian,armenian,lesser black backed,sibirian etc. complex). this is the book we were all looking for, easy to use and extremly proffesional.
another good birding book to have around.

I first traveled to Thailand in 2001 and am now planning my long-awaited second trip. I leave in a few weeks and am browsing the different Thailand books available in bookstores, but I will also definitely be bringing the Moon Handbook: Bangkok guide I brought with me in 2001.

During my first trip to Thailand (I taught English for three weeks within the Bangkok vicinity) this book was the perfect guide. Since my trip was so long ago I unfortunately can't remember specifics, but I do remember being impressed by it and thinking during my trip that I couldn't have asked for a better guide to Bangkok. It provided a thorough guide to the city and it was easy to understand, well-written and the content was well laid out. For whatever it's worth, I wanted to write a review and give it five stars because I think it deserves it.

I, also, would love if it Carl Parkes wrote an updated version. I'll need to bring along a more updated book with me for this trip because I don't think it's a good idea to rely solely on an out-of-date book, but I'm sure I'll be consulting the Moon Handbook again.

I brought both this book and Joe Cumming's Lonely Planet guide with me. I was glad I hauled both with me across the Pacific (you can never have too much information), but Carl's book was my clear favorite.

The Moon guide always seemed to bring me a bit closer to the Thais than the Lonely Planet guide -- it seemed like Carl is closer to "going native," or perhaps more empathetic than Joe. What a shame that it seems to be the less popular of the two.

Bring them both, but if you only want to buy/carry one, make it Carl's Moon Guide.

I first picked up the initial edition of Bangkok Handbook in 1992. As I worked in Bangkok for 7 years in the 1980s and I was a bit curious as to how deep this guide would go. While most guide books cover all the basic sights and things to do they often fall short in really getting under the surface. This book did indeed have things to teach me. I ended up taking some of the walking tours myself and used the map of the river stops extensively.

I like my guides to give my some good historical and cultural information in a concise but insightful manner. Take Thai temples. First time visitors are typically struck by their stunning beauty. But what do all the architectural forms mean? What aspects of Buddhism are contained within their design? You could read whole volumes on this at your local university. The Handbook, however has a two page spread that will get you up to speed fast with an understanding of the basic terminology and historical usage. To my mind this is what separates the Handbook from the more popular Lonely Planet travel survival guides. These "backpacker bibles" may be very good at where to get the cheapest rooms and meals, but really fall short on what you are really seeing while you are there.

Bangkok is both heaven and hell. It's city of fabulous restaurants, fantastic shopping, pristine temples and frantic sex. It's polluted, noisy, smelly, ill-planned and hot, hot, hot. And It's traffic is world famous. We used to joke that you could do anything you wanted in Bangkok; you just couldn't get there. (Over the last few years with the advent of many new tollways and since Dec. 99 the overhead trains this has really abated.)

I've used Parkes book a lot - along with my reprint of the "1928 Guide to Bangkok" which is great for my historical expeditions. And I have found myself in Thailand every year since I've left in 1990.

Carl Parkes provides a great cultural education and writes well about Thai history. You'll be informed and your table manners won't offend your Thai hosts (they use forks and spoons but not the way that we do). More photos and maps would be nice (the D-K guide to Thailand will fill those gaps). But the big shortcoming with the book is the subject itself: Bangkok. Sophisticated and curious travelers to Thailand always say that their favorite spot is Chiang Mai in the north! You've got to fly through Bangkok to get there so you still may want to carve out a week to see Bangkok and environs. But do try to get to the north (Parkes also wrote the Moon Thailand Handbook, which will be useful if you do decide to visit Chiang Mai).

This book not only got me around, but I learned a lot along the way.

Causey is what anthropologists should be. His book is grounded, full of humanity, insightful, surprising, poetic, compassionate and a lovely read. He beautifully describes and explains something profound of a people through times of tremendous social and economic change. An extremely informative and humanistic look at a Sumatran cultural group in the midst of global pressures.

A first rate work and a wonderful read. This book was delightful to read. Right from the beginning of the book, I was drawn in. It's clear this is a scholarly work, well researched and carefully detailed. As a reader of more casual literature, I was agreeably surprised at the superior writing style of the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the experiences and anecdotes throughout the whole book. Anyone who enjoys reading about other cultures and other places would definitely enjoy reading this book. I stayed up to 1:00 am one night reading it. I look forward with real anticipation to future works from this author.

Like most working stiffs, I save up for a big vacation to some far away land and when it finally happens I get shuffled around from one tourist spot to the next. The culture presents itself for purchase and I buy.

"Hard Bargaining in Sumatra" isn't just a book by an affable scholar. It immediately took me into the home of a very different family, sat me on a 'fancy mat' and amused me with a narrative by the author to his Toba Batak friends. He told a story for their entertainment that might easily have described my own hapless first experience in an exotic culture. The family's reaction and the unfolding details of their work in the woodcarving-for-tourists trade was a pleasure to read.

I was continuously surprised at how clearly Causey expressed complicated, seldom-analyzed notions of place and identity. The relationship between tourist and vacation spot is alive and dynamic in a way I'd never imagined. The author's struggle to learn the skills of the woodcarver gave extra dimension to my understanding of this traditional craft. The friendship between the student/researcher and the teacher/subject made the dynamics of the familial roles and societal obligations disarmingly vivid and personal. The book enriched my understanding of a distant culture to a degree I could never have achieved by hopping a plane and wandering their marketplaces. When I saw a Toba Batak carving at an art museum a few weeks later, I had a wealth of feelings and observations that would never have occurred to me before. For me, reading this book was like the best kind of vacation. I learned a lot, felt a connection to the people and culture, and enjoyed the process.

"What happens when the homeland of one group is also claimed as the vacationland of another group?"

This question put by the author rather succinctly sums up a major theme of the book, and perhaps should be a guiding thought for all of us who ever take a vacation...anywhere.
Whether we are taking a "package" vacation or just winging it in a new location, we have an impact not only on the place we visit, the feeling of the place, the services it provides, and perhaps most importantly, the ART of the place. Souvenirs...mementos...folk art...all these tokens and totems that come from our vacation spot are evolving to meet our desires.

The author handles this idea and others in a very human and sensitive way, inviting us into his experience in Sumatra, Indonesia and filling our minds with the sense of the place: its smells, visuals, sounds, landscape and its people. It is easy to lose oneself in this book as if it were a novel or the travelogue, yet it tackles some very difficult issues without sounding preachy or judgmental. I have always been interested in, and sensitive to the general "sense" of a place. I can be easily spooked by the quality of light or the sight of long shadows in the afternoon. I found Dr. Causey to be a kindred spirit, as he has addressed this feeling (because it is at heart a "feeling") very poetically in his writing about Lake Toba.

There are many humourous vignettes within the book, as well as many parables and lessons.
It in indeed educational, and educational on a new level-it reaches right into the spaces between ideas and brings into being a hybrid way of looking. It is accessible, informative and heartfelt.
I would recommend this book to anyone - it can be read for sheer pleasure. But if you are planning to travel, and would like to get some ideas on developing a very diplomatic and culturally sensitive approach to your new destination, this is most certainly the book for you.
I nominate Dr. Causey for Goodwill Ambassador!

This book is a true rarity--a work of serious scholarship, written in a user-friendly, personal, poetic, eminently-readable style. You'd almost be fooled into thinking you were reading a romantic travel narrative, one of those popular memoirs à la "Under the Tuscan Sun" where a naive American goes off and has a life-transforming experience while in a foreign land. But as Dr. Causey relates his tales of the months spent with the Toba Batak in their remote, beautiful homeland in northern Sumatra, learning something about their culture, something about woodcarving, and a LOT about shopping, he also unfolds a series of subtle, complex observations about aesthetics, about colonialism and acquisition, and about the role of tourists / collectors in a market economy and their effect as both destroyers and saviors of traditional culture. Absolutely fascinating stuff, and certainly not just for students of anthropology--this is a book that should be read by art historians as well as by economists, as well as by anyone who simply enjoys a well-written tale of a beautiful place that they've never been...

I particularly admire "Hard Bargaining" for the lack of any tang of cultural superiority on Dr. Causey's part--he never assumes that he knows more than the people he's observing, or that since he has a Ph.D., his observations must be considered correct. He went there; he lived, he learned, he shopped; and he thought about it, hard, and critically, comparing the Toba Batak culture to our own, and letting the reader make the judgement calls, not the anthropologist. Very well done!

Her Be Yaks: Travels in Far West Tibet is a travelogue chronicling a group of ordinary people who embarked upon an extraordinary journey to Tibet's Mount Kailash, a peak revered by four faiths. They battled physical exhaustion and altitude sickness on their arduous journey, all to perform the sacred kora (circumambulation) of Mount Kalish and seek religious inspiration. Author Manosi Lahiri was one of this group, searching for consolation after the loss of her ancestors; in the course of journey, she solved a geographic mystery concerning the source of the river Sutlej, a matter that had been contended for centuries. Part adventure, part scholarly narrative, Here Be Yaks is an amazing look at Tibet through a visitor's eyes, and highly recommended.

This traveller's account reminded me vividly of my own trip across Tibet in 1987. Twenty years later it conjured up memories of capricious weather, devout pilgrims, rancid yak butter, tea which might be better called soup, the unfathomable devotion of Tibetans, sunburned noses, indescribable sanitation, breathtaking temples and palaces, the appalling destruction of monuments and buildings by Red Guards and above all, the landscape. Is there anywhere else on earth that comes close to matching the colours, drama, inaccessibility and mystery of Tibet's topography? The star of this journey is the landscape, brought to us with the eye of a geographer. Not only does the author bring dramatic vistas alive as she travels from Lhasa to Tsaparang, she explains them too with textbook clarity. Her journey, part pilgrimage, homage and exploration, takes the reader to Mount Kailash, sacred to Buddhists, Hindus and Jains and more interestingly, to the little visited and destroyed Tsaparang, centuries ago the capital of ancient Guge in far west Tibet. Over the centuries it has been visited by Jesuits, Kashmiri Muslims and intrepid travellers and explorers, not always happily. But as the author recounts, the greatest destruction to Tsaparang and its temples and art, happened in our own lifetime at the hands of Cultural Revolution zealots. Still, with an explorer's optimism and determination, she scrambles up the ruins of Tsaparang into chambers hewn out of the hillside and discovers wanton destruction but also the vibrant remains of murals, hundreds of years old. To have come this far and seen what few of us can only dream of, is a singular accomplishment. Yet there is one last goal to tackle: a return to Tibet's landscape to research the source of one of Asia's great rivers, the Sutlej. Is its commonly accepted source near Mount Kailash and Lake Manosarovar correct? Or is there a mystery to be solved? Using accounts of earlier explorers, especially Sven Hedin and Swami Pranavananda, and applying a geographer's keen eye and GPS and satellite imagery, we can add the name of the author to her illustrious forebears. For she makes a compelling case for discarding the popularly accepted source of the Sutlej for another. This entertaining book therefore is not just a travelogue. It is a piece of history which on my bookshelf rests besides Hedin, Swami Pranavananda and Alexandra David-Neel's accounts of their journeys to incomparable Tibet.

This is a most gripping and unusual book. A good story, travel interest, personal feelings and if that were not
enough true scientific research! To anyone who might be planning a journey to Tibet this will give invaluable pointers over where to go, how to, what to take and critical cultural elements. The international perspective of the author is combined with local knowledge and insight of she and her travelling companions.

In this spiritual and scientific journey disguised as a travelogue, India's leading geographer exposes the reader to the majesty of the mountains, lakes and rivers of far western Tibet. Her personal style of writing evokes comparison to a Theroux or Iyer but is distinct as would be expected from the pioneer and entrepreneur of Geographic Information Systems in India.

The thoroughness of the research in the history, geography and geology of this remote area reminds us that the author is a leader in her field. However, what captures us is the scientist's spiritual quest to reconcile herself with the loss of her husband. Her journey, as it turns out, melds with that of the pilgrims that converge on this area considered holy by four different faiths.

Towards the end of the book, Lahiri makes the astounding discovery that the source of the river Sutlej has shifted by many miles. Even in these days of satellite imagery and Google maps, she is able to recreate the excitement of exploration reminiscent of the discoveries of the Missouri and Congo headwaters.

A travel journal that is more a journey of the soul, this page turner will engage the searcher and the surveyor.

"Here Be Yaks" combines elements of a travel novel, a personal narrative, and a history of Tibet, thereby offering a truly delightful reading experience. This book is a great way for anyone interested in Tibetan culture or the history of Buddhism to get a quick and concise introduction to both topics. The author is a keen observer of her surroundings, which, combined with her expertise in the field of geography, allows her to paint a picture so vivid and intricate, I felt like I myself participated in the adventure she described. "Here Be Yaks" is also a spiritual journey, offering a glimpse into the soul of a person befallen by personal tragedy, and her quest to find joy and purpose in their life. An informative and inspirational must-read!

As Hinge fo Fate opens in early 1942, The Japanese had just destroyed most of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor; Japan was about to drive Britain from Southeast Asia and (perhaps) invade Australia; German and Italian troops under Romel were about to invade Egypt, and Stalin's Russia was under attack by the German Army, which had completed itsoccupation of virtually all of Europe, from France to Norway, Lithuania to Greece. Parliament was calling for Churchill's head. This was a true world war (contrast, Bush's War on Terror)--and Britain was losing.

Churchill's reaction--the entry of America and Russia into the war as Britain's allies guaranteed that the Allies would ultimately win--Britain, US, and USSR simply had greater resources than Germany, Japan and Italy. Thus it was only a matter of time.

The attack by Parliament was a sign of a healthy, strong democracy--as Churchill said, how many countries had strong enough political institutions to allow this type of no holds barred debate while under attack, and still survive.

And survive they did. The first half of Hinge of Fate describes a series of worldwide disasters, unbroken by a single significant Allied victory. Then came the legendary battle of Alamein--where General Montgomery beat Rommel, the Allied landing on the north coast of Africa, the US Naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, and Russia's effective resistance against the German Army at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus Mountains.

By the end of 1942, it was not yet clear that tha tAllies would win, but they looked a whole lot batter than they did at the beginning. Along the way, Churchill gives us his impressions of the politics involved--both internal British, within the larger Commonwealth, among the Allies--and particularly his relationship and struggles with Stalin--and the tension between the British (focused on Europe) and the Americans (pushing for more resources to fight the Japanese in the Pacific).

Hinge of Fate continues Churchill's inimitable style, mixing contemporaneous, detailed, memos, telegrams, letters, and directives he wrote, the responses he received, connected by new (in 1950) commentary by Churchill himself. This makes no pretesne at being an "objective" or multi-focused history of WWII. It is clearly, and exclusively, the war from Churchill's unique perspective. But, what a perspective!

Well, here it is. The largest of the six volumes in Winston Churchill's telling of The Second World War. There's not really much to say about volume four that hasn't been said about the previous three. Churchill continues in his style of presenting his own perspective on the war effort, including (very) extensive use of memos, reports, and telegrams written at the time both by him and other major players.

With America and the Soviet Union fully committed, the war rages hard while the western allies seek a means of striking at Nazi Germany effectively. Though this is delayed throughout this volume, and Churchill's tense relations with Stalin over this very point are prominently presented, the events leading up to just prior to the Italian campaign are presented here. The reader will see how the first real turnabouts came about.

Winston Churchill was remarkable, as much as for any other reason, for the sheer volume of words he produced. In a long life, during which he was often preoccupied by both family matters (he had four children) and matters of state, he nevertheless found the time to compose an inordinate number of books. I say compose, because he perfected a system during the first war, which revealed its efficacy more than ever in the second, of working through secretaries. There are many odd anecdotes told about Churchill, not the least of which is that his secretaries, sometimes working in rotation throughout much of the night, were obliged to attend to him and take down what he said, even in the bath. This way of getting the material down in print proved to be very effective, as the tens of thousands of published pages of his work amply demonstrates.

His long history of the Second World War continues with "The Hinge of Fate." Although he was personally assured that the American entry into the war meant the ultimate defeat of Germany, he still had to see to the day to day running of the war machine, and counter the perverse effects of both German victories and British pessimism. Now began, as well, the long battle with Stalin about opening up a second front in France, to take some of the heat off the Russian armies in the East. In fact, his relationship with the Russian leader is one of the most interesting sources of anecdotal references throughout this series.

This is history being well told by a man who was, while perhaps not a trained historian as such, so steeped in the history of his family and his country, that he an utterly unique point of view. The fact that he was also a central figure in the war itself, means that we have, if you like, a one in a million chance victory on our hands, as though we had just won a lottery of sorts, by being able to read him.

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross channel attack, of German held France in 1943 as planned, but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

Because he was writing for a population that had lived through World War II and knew its facts, Churchill's 6-volume history of that time can be more than a little daunting for contemporary readers. His is a kind of top-down history that approaches unconscious autobiography: Churchill seems to feel that reproducting his memos, letters, and "minutes" -- in painfully small type -- will provide the reader with all the info necessary to completely know and understand the war. Of course we know it ain't so; Cornelius Ryan, John Toland, and Stephen Ambrose, just for starters, have written far more accessible and comprehensive histories that present a variety of viewpoints and don't gloss over difficult or unsavory moments. Instead, one should read Churchill in order to read Churchill-- in order to enjoy the company of that most remarkable statesman, in order to savor his impeccable prose and snicker at his wicked humor, in order to marvel at a life that began in mid-Victorian times and ended in the heyday of the Rolling Stones. The man's prescience was uncanny, not only in recognizing the evils of Hitler long before any other world leader, but in comprehending the nature and extent of what was then a genuine Soviet menace. Despite his anachronistic attitudes about people of color, Churchill was no racist; he simply lived in his world as we live in ours, and his story is an object lesson for the present. How much of what we now revere as received truth will be questoned, even debunked, 50 or 60 or 70 years from now? Yet authenticity and honesty will always last longer than glibness and flash, and Churchill has more a & h on one page than the easy-to-read historians have in their entire oevre. I'm afraid our puny and wan little world, so beset with its infantile fears and carefully nurtured insecurities, gooey with political correctness, dizzied with the hoohaw and the yelping of the media, is now far from capable of producing such a giant. Young Winston would be given Ritalin in school today and taught that white males like him are born evil. To paraphrase "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he saved the world -- a lot -- and he did it with the English language.

This book is a definitive history of Tibet covering a crucial period. Goldstein writes an extremely readable book. He covers a large time period using primary sources and interviews with the characters involved. He limits his analysis of the events and lets the readers examine the evidence. He gives evidence of the Tibetan government's faults as well as the abandonment of Tibet by the international community. This book is a must read for anyone trying to understand the current efforts of the Tibetan government in exile. `Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival' by John Kenneth Knaus is also an excellent book that covers the US government's involvement with Tibet and gives extra insight to the information given by Goldstein.

Mr. Goldstein's book is informative, detailed, and well-researched. The author provides the reader with numerous maps and photos and presents the subject of Tibet and its de facto independence in an un-biased manner. His background in the culture was useful in explaining the customs and politics of Tibet. Tibet's external issues, mainly with China and Britain, are well balanced with the internal goings on of the government. Goldstein blends all this together to make sense of the status of the Land of Snows during this time period. However, for the most part, this is a political history, rather than a social history. That is, Goldstein does not give much time to issues outside the political realm of Tibet. Much time is spent on the central government and its so-called Three Seats (monasteries). He presents the evidence (government records, first-hand accounts,etc.) to show Tibet's status. To find a flaw in Mr. Goldstein's book would be to say that although it gave much detail and explanation, it needed more of that "human touch" with a sprinkle of emotion to give a feeling of the average Tibetan in the period 1913-1951. Those who would like to learn more about Tibet's government before the invasion of the Chinese Communists will definately appreciate this book. It is unsurpassed in its content. For general Tibet reading, I recommend "Tibet: the Road Ahead", by Dawa Norbu; "The Voice that Remembers", by Ama Adhe; and absolutely "Tears of Blood" by Mary Craig.

I ENJOYED VERY MUCH READING THIS BOOK,GOING DEEP IN THE PECULIAR TRADITION AND UNIQUE WAY OF STATE RULING SYSTEM.A COUNTRY LARGELY IGNORED BY RECENT GENERATIONS IS CAREFULLY DESCRIBED AS WELL AS THE EUROPEANS AND CHINESE AMBITIONS REGARDING THE CONTROL OF THIS STRATEGIC TOP OF THE WORLD AND PACIFIC COUNTRY

If you ever cherished the illusion that Tibet was populated only by saints and holy men of impeccable judgement, the stories recounted in this history will demolish any such belief. Instead, you will develop a realistic appreciation for the achievements and handicaps of the Tibetan system in the first half of this century. This book will enable you to understand why Tibet could not remain independent from China. This is a troubling, fascinating book, full of invaluable historical detail which can be found nowhere else. It is only for those who like their truths unvarnished. Those with a genuine love of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism will develop a maturer love of this extraordinary culture, and those whose notions of the country are based on legends of Shangri-La and Madame Blavatsky's "Great White Brotherhood" will never see Tibet the same way again.

This is, by any standard, a great book. Its level of erudition, rigour and insight are unmatched by anything else on offer about modern Tibetan history. It is an herculean opus, both in scope and in depth. Moreover, the astonishing fact that is also highly readable recommends it even to the reader with a casual interest in Tibet. Its only arguable drawback is, paradoxically, that such a towering achievement is bound to virtually determine the reader's perspective on the topic. In order to get additional and possibly alternative insights, you will have to wade through books, however worthy, whose scholarship doesn't remotely match Goldstein's.

So much travel writing is a tedious checklist of places visited and experiences experienced, combined with trite observations about local customs and culture. Not so Will Ferguson's Hitching Rides with Buddha.

I lived in Japan for three years and am constantly disappointed by the stereotypes and bleedingly obvious cultural differences pointed out by people who write (or make films - think Lost in Translation) about Japan. But Ferguson lived in Japan, and it shows. His acute cultural observations are tempered with a great sense of humour and wackiness, and the book has a clear narrative arc that pulls you from the bottom to the top of Japan along the cherry-blossom front. A great book for people thinking of going to Japan, or for expats living in Japan who know Sofia Coppola ain't got a clue.

....but I must say, besides it being funny and a real treat to read, I find that the author has a beautiful way with words that is not so often seen in travel writing. Chapter 10 may very well be one of the best chapters in a book I have ever read, and re-read, and read again. Beautiful words and beautiful images. I look forward to finishing the book this week, and thus far, can say that I highly recommend this book who not only enjoy good writing, but also a good laugh. - Vince Yanez, Author of It Doesn't Matter Which Road You Take: A European Travel Story

I read this book twice when living in Japan. I've experienced some of the things that Ferguson wrote about. His sense of humor had me laughing out loud. It's an easy and fun book to read.

Books about Japan by westerners seem to fall into two categories- literary books that talk about Japan in poetic terms and dwell on traditional culture, and comedy books that play up the wacky side of Japanese pop culture for laughs. Somewhere in between is "Hitching Rides with the Buddha"- a book by a foreigner who actually lived here for 5 years, speaks Japanese (as modest as he is about his blunders with the grammar), and really has an understanding of its people and its way of life.

Written as a modern day answer to Alan Booth's "The Road to Sato", this book details Ferguson's cross-country hitchhiking trip from mainland Japan's southernmost point in Kyushu to the northernmost point in Hokkaido, covering thousands of miles and encountering people from all walks of life, from teenagers to senior citizens and from ski bums to college professors.

At first, I was a bit sceptical about reading a book based on a trip hatched, by Ferguson's own admission, while falling-down drunk at a cherry blossom-viewing party in rural Kyushu. What kind of expert could he be?

But speaking as someone who loves Japan and has lived here almost 5 years myself, this book gets to the heart of the experience better than any other I know, and does a great job capturing the joy, delight, confusion and even occasional sorrow that comes when interacting with this amazing culture. Inspired by this book, I sometimes take off on similar hitch hiking trips during breaks at the university I teach at, and even made the same trip from Kyushu to Hokkaido. Every trip is a different adventure, and I'm glad that someone as talented as Ferguson wrote about it.

Hitchhiking from Cape Sata to Cape Soya in Japan, William Ferguson creates a good follow up to Alan Booth's "The Roads to Sata". As humorous as it is scholarly, one comes from this book feeling they somewhat understand many aspects of Japanese culture, such as Shintoism. I say somewhat because, as Ferguson clearly shows in the narrative, it's impossible to ever understand the Japanese fully without being Japanese. A good read for any time.

Being aware of the influence that Japanese print making had on European artists in the 19th century, but not having had much exposure to Japanese prints, I found this book to be a wonderful introduction. The essays that opened the book and the explicatory text that accompanied each print helped to establish a dialogue between the ideas that were exchanged between Oriental art and European art. I found this to be an excellent addition to my personal collection, and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this area.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Europeans and Americans discovered the world of Japanese woodblock prints and thus began an enduring love affair. One result has been the publication over the last century of literally hundreds of books and thousands of articles about the prints known as "ukiyoe," with a particular emphasis on such giants of the genre as Hokusai and Hiroshige. How then, in this crowded field, does one manage to create a must-have publication for readers who may already have well-stocked libraries on Japanese art?

One answer is to be found in "Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts." Issued by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in conjunction with an exhibition, "Hokusai and Hiroshige" is typical of a new wave of "ukiyoe" books that combine excellent design (of layout and typography) with clear and interesting text. Every page displaying a print has a near equal amount of space devoted to text, and the book benefits as well from introductory essays by three established experts. The text in particular appeals to me, providing not only insights about the compositional nature of each print but also detail on the locales depicted by these two great landscape artists and appropriate historical information. There is room for improvement in "Hokusai and Hiroshige"--I would have preferred more standard romanizations for some Japanese words and the inclusion of an index covering well more than just print titles--but overall this is an excellent and valuable volume.

I have not "finished" this book, nor do I intend to for a long time. I take it out to admire, print by print, sometimes reading the informative text, sometimes not. This is not a comic book to rush through. Linger, enjoy.

This volume was the companion for the exhibits at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. It covers all the lerge number of works shown there, each with descriptions of what is depicted and some in the points of interest that highlight each artist's rendering of the scene. There are sections on the lives of each artist and the fairly primitive tools used to create these intricate multi-colored (and thus multi-pressed) prints. The full collection of sets, such as the Hokusai views of Mount Fuji, are very well done and would in themselves make this book worthwhile. The sum total of both these woodblock masters is awe inspiring and sumptuous.

I have not "finished" this book, nor do I intend to for a long time. I take it out to admire, print by print, sometimes reading the informative text, sometimes not. This is not a comic book to rush through. Linger, enjoy.