Asia Books

William Berry has written a well-detailed, although brief, look at his attempted escape and captivity after the fall of Correigdor. While not a scholarly look at these events, the author gives a good account of his capture, escape and trek through the jungle, recapture and liberation by American servicemen from Bilibid prison in Manila. He painfully recounts the agony these men went through as they were crammed, up to 13 men at one time, into a 10 by 10 cell and forced to sit, without flinching, and stare at the wall all day.

As a recaptured prisoner, Berry and his two comrades somehow survive the war, as the usual penalty for escape is execution. They were sent to the maximum security prison in Manila for "special prisoners", and many prisoners stopped here only long enough to be sentenced and shot. Berry, who was a fledgling lawyer before enlisting in the Navy, saw these skills save his life and the lives of his friends when being sentenced, not so much his arguments, of course, but rather how he shaped it to fit his audience (A Japanese tribunal)

This book does not take long to read, but it is an interesting tale, and well worth the time invested. But, if you want greater scope and detail of Americans in Japanese captivity, read "Prisoners of the Japanese" by Gavan Daws, an extremely informative and well-written look at the horrors these men had to endure daily.

The author of this book is my grandfather. I found this book to be inspiring as I am also a soldier. I am in the Army and found this book to give me a greater appreciation of my profession as well as bring a greater understanding of my grandfather's life and why he is so proud. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand what POWs in the Philippines went through. I have lent my copy of his book to several of my friends and they all gave it great reviews as well.

This is an excellent first hand account. It is rather well done, more so than several others I have read. I do wish we had more like this one. Very inspiring. I felt it gave even a greater insight to the war in the Pacific. Recommend you add this one to your collection.

One of the few true to life books written by a WWII POW. As a history buff I find the first hand accounts in this book of the authors experiances and the others he came in contact a first rate story of America's darkest time. A must for all those who want to know more about POW's of the Japanese.

Having been stationed in the Philippines and traveled to Battan and Corrigidor it brought the meaning of those visits a little sharper in focus.

This touchingly illustrated book normalizes the adoption path toward building a Jewish family. The author describes the process of adding a Vietnamese-born child to a Jewish family. The text resonnates with its simplicity. Even though it is filled with warm emotions, it is never corny and respects the diversity that it added to a family in a multi-cultural adoption as an addition of greater wealth of identities. This book would appeal to children as young as 3 and up to about 8.

Hear an interview with Rebecca's Journey Home author Brynn Olenberg Sugarman on The Book of Life podcast's September 2007 episode "Seeing Through New Eyes," at www.bookoflifepodcast.com! Brynn talks about the book's creation, and the inspiration for adopting her own daughter, Rachel.

Mrs. Stein is eager to adopt a new baby girl to add to her family, consisting of herself and Mr. Stein, along with Jacob (age 8), and Gabe (age 4). As she tells her family," There were so many babies and children in the world whose parents had loved them, but could not take care of them". The story follows familiar territory- over a period of a year, Mrs. Stein gets ready for the big day; she needs to fill out documents, answer questions, and attend meetings until she is finally told there is a baby waiting for her in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, she patiently waits for permission to take the baby home and spends her time shopping and emailing her family who can't wait to meet baby Rebecca. Back in the United States, the focus is on Rebecca's Judaism; on Shabbat, a special blessing is made for her. When she is almost one; Rebecca is taken to the mikvah and given the Hebrew name, Rivka Shoshanah. As her mother proudly states, " She is now Vietnamese, American, and Jewish!".
This endearing picture book perfectly captures the growing trend of international adoption among the American Jewish community. Warm, stylized pastel double-spread illustrations complement the text and make this a great book for sharing aloud. The author, a mom with an adopted Vietnamese baby, draws on her own experiences, to realistically portray the excitement and joy of having a new family member. For all families, this title would be especially useful in a Jewish preschool or temple library.
Ages 4-8.
Reviewed by Debby Gold

A picture book portraying a Jewish-American family adopting a child from overseas is long overdue and Rebecca's Journey Home handles the subject with sensitivity and warmth. The beautifully written text explains how the Stein family, with two biological children, wish to build their family and share their home with one of the many children in the world "whose parents had loved them but could not take care of them." Each Shabbat since the beginning of their adoption process the family blesses their two boys and includes a blessing for their new daughter in Vietnam. They explain to their sons that while their new sister Rebecca will always be Vietnamese, she will also be American and Jewish. The story ends with Rebecca's trip to the mikveh where she receives her Hebrew name. This book will especially appeal to families with adopted children and libraries who wish to celebrate the diversity of the Jewish community.

Revolt in Paradise is a classic and it is good to see it in print again after a long absence. It is rather hard to classify this book: maybe autobiography, perhaps historical novel, possibly adventure story. On the face of it, it purports to be autobiographical: the story of a British-born American woman's fifteen years in Indonesia in the 1930s and 1940s. Doubt has been cast on its accuracy and indeed the author beings the book by saying, `It is always difficult to be completely honest about oneself'. This does not matter. It's a great story.

The story is divided into three parts. The first part tells of her time in Bali. In 1932 in Hollywood she saw the film Bali,The Last Paradise and shortly after set sail from New York on a cargo ship. She was an artist and made for Bali immediately after arriving in Java. Like all visitors at that time she stayed in the Dutch owned Bali Hotel in Denpasar. She felt, however, that this was not Bali but Holland, part of the colonial masters' country, and determined to leave as quickly as possible and live in a Balinese village. Such a thing was unheard of in those days but she hated the Dutch attitudes. She took off in her car, driving herself, and decided to stop when she ran out of petrol. The car happened to halt outside a Rajah's palace and although she does not mention it I have it on good authority that it was the palace of Bangli.

She was accepted as one of the family and given a Balinese name - K'tut Tantri. K'tut is the fourth-born child - the Rajah already had three. In this section she describes what it was like to live with a royal family. She describes the various ceremonies she attended and trips she took. She also tells of run-ins and arguments with the Dutch authorities. They did not approve and schemed to deport her, but never succeeded. Her analysis is not terribly profound - the Balinese are all wonderful and the Dutch are all terrible. She herself is heroic and brilliant at all things. She formed a very close relationship with the Rajah's son Agung Nura. My informant tells me that she formed an even closer relationship with the Rajah himself. Agung Nura was active in the independence movement, which K'tut Tanri later joined.

She found palace life a bit restrictive and unrepresentative of real Bali life and moved out and as she put it, `bought practically the whole of Kuta beach'. Here she put up a hotel in partnership with some Americans. This is a delightful section of the book despite the fact that she fell out with the Americans. The accounts of her relationships with her staff are endearing and clearly affectionate. The first hotel in Kuta seems to have been very popular. It was not a financial success, however, and she ran into difficulties with the Dutch authorities. Europe was at war. Germany invaded Holland and Japan invaded Indonesia - they landed in Bali first. The Dutch did not fire a shot in defence and fled to Java. It was no longer safe. K'tut Tantri left for Surabaya in East Java. The hotel was demolished by looters permitted by the Japanese.

The second section of the book recounts her time in Japanese occupied Java. The Dutch quickly surrendered. She was able to negotiate travel passes with the Japanese and helped the underground resistance movement against the Japanese. She narrates stories of arms smuggling and tales of derring-do. K'tut Tanti always plays a starring role. Finally she was caught and imprisoned for more than two years until almost the end of the war. She was tortured and the descriptions are quite harrowing.

The third and final section of the book describes the long independence struggle and her part in it. After the war the Dutch wanted to come back to Indonesia as overlords. The English helped them and bombed Surabaya, which was unarmed and did not have air-raid shelters, for three consecutive days. The blood of hundreds was shed. Women and children died. It was a turning point for K'tut Tantri and she determined to help the Indonesians again. She broadcast twice nightly in English from secret radio stations run by the guerillas. By this means she brought the struggle to the attention of the World and became known herself as Surabaya Sue. She also helped spread the word in an English language magazine called The Voice of Free Indonesia. She met and wrote a speech for President Sukarno. There were more cloak and dagger escapades until she went to Australia and toured the main cities publicizing Indonesia's case for freedom. Finally six years after the War ended World opinion forced the Dutch to grant Indonesia her independence.

The book ends there; K'tut Tanti drifts back to New York. After all the excitement it is rather an anti-climax and the reader is left dangling wanting to know more. Whether or not it is all true, it's a jolly good read.

Murni
Ubud, Bali

I was surprised to learn about the Dutch atrocities in Indonesia. The Japanese were bad enough and there are plenty accounts of their inhumane treatment of natives in conquered countries. However, what the Dutch did before and after the war was not good. In light of the current times torturing of others is unacceptable. Perps, no matter where they reside, White House included, should never be given a free pass on this behavior. They should all be hunted down and punished for their crimes against humanity. This is a fantastic account of human tragedy that should be brought to light and pursued for accountability.

As a fan of historical fiction, I was greatly pleased to come across this book of historical...history? *grin* This autobiography is well written and compelling. Having lived in Indonesia for a number of years (and having visited Bali), I found it really fascinating. I think anyone would enjoy it, though. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with world history.

Very good book. Tells a fascinating story about the author's life in Indonesia. Brave lady who was willing to risk everything for all she believed in.Vivid picture of Bali and the situation there, and the people and culture.

Wow. That sums this up in one word. The recipies are setup for a serving of 1 person. No division required for odd number of people, just multiply the recipie and wham! We've made dozens of the recipies and although I'm white, I've got a phillipeano friend that's telling everyone that I'm asian. The meals come out soo good I've got people asking us to cook for them. It's got helpful information for properly preparing rice, and other aspects of cooking that might be foreign to a lot of people out there. I definately recommend this for everyone.

I am not a Japanese but my wife and I love eating Japanese food. We bought this book and used it multiple times for cooking dinner. The instruction was clear and the result was tasty. Highly recommended.

PS: We usually just look at the photos in the book to pick the rice bowl that we want to prepare.

I picked up this book on a trip to Japan and didn't really expect much out of it. To my surprise, it's become one of my all-time favourite cookbooks. It's a great way to start learning about Japanese home cooking. There are also some great recipes for Korean and Chinese dishes. Every recipe I've tried is quite tasty and easy to prepare. It's also great when cooking for 1-2 people or when you're on the go. For years I've thought rice was a side bowl of dry and bland grains. Well, no more! Get yourself a decent rice cooker and get ready for a new way of preparing wholesome, quick, and delicious meals.

If you like rice dishes, buy this book. I'm no cook, but I've tried 3 different dishes in as many nights, and they all turned out great.

There're MANY simple, delicious dishes that you can cook up within an hour or less. All I've bought so far is sake (I have most other oriental spices, oil, and what nots).

I just had to get used to cooking w/o salt, cos you use soy sauce alot of times.

Buy it and enjoy it!

This is a great story for any age group. My eight year old son read this book and learned more about current events than the news could have ever taught him. I used this book in my tenth grade class room when we did a unit on picture books and changing the world and my students were prompted to plan a school wide "tolerance / compassion" day so that others could learn more about people around the world.

Dealing with refugee children i must say this is a great book, it realy captures the heartache of the afgahni experience.

"It's always the same. The jets scream overhead." is the powerful first line of this story that resonates even more forcefully in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The Roses in My Carpets is a masterful tale of a young Afghan refugee by Toronto writer Rukhsana Khan. It is based on a true story, that of the author's foster child in Peshawar, Pakistan. With the unfolding of historical events, it is probably destined to be a classic.

Spare, grim and unsentimental, the story is a beautifully woven narrative of a young fatherless refugee boy caring for his mother and sister in a war-torn world. Symbolic of the loss of identity suffered by refugees, the boy remains nameless throughout the story. Movingly, he struggles to survive with his family within the sombre parameters that govern his universe. Escape finally arrives when he goes to his job as an apprentice carpet weaver. There he makes sure "there are plenty of roses in my carpets". As the story ends, hope surfaces in the young boy's dream of finding "a space, the size of a carpet, where the bombs cannot touch us."

Ronald Himler's watercolour and pencil drawings look overwhelmingly familiar with the images that now flood our homes through television. I have read Roses to my four year old many times and she appreciated the opportunity to comprehend the devastating effect of war on families. I would highly recommend it to other parents and teachers.

I think this is a great book for encouraging discussion of diversity in the classroom.

In the school where I teach a lot of the children come from refugee backgrounds and this story was something they could really relate to. But the other kids could relate to it too.

The imagery is powerful and the kids loved it.

This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting HK and Macau.

Great walking tours are included in this Rough Guide to Hong Kong and Macau-the directions are explicit and easy to follow and the places to which we ventured exceeded expectations. There were GREAT shopping tips for a shopping mecca and we scored on several fronts! This is a great way to introduce yourself to Hong Kong and Macau before you get there and a great way to bring what you read into reality. A must-buy for travel to Asia.

I recommend this guide, it was quite useful.

The descriptions of various areas were quite accurate, and the maps were mostly very good. The one of Macau seemed to have some minor errors, but that place is very confusing to walk around, so it could have been me. Anyway, you want the maps in this book or something pretty good, because the free tourist map is basically worthless.

I really like Rough Guides, because their reviews are very honest and balanced, and they are excellent about cross-referencing recommended locations, restaurants, hotels, etc and maps in each book. This guide is up to the same high standards, so it was very easy to use.

I would recommend that the walking tours guide (available for free at the airport, etc) is a good supplement to this guide. I used it extensively.

I used the sixth (2006) edition of the ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU during a recent two-week stay in Hong Kong. Reading it before my trip, I found it to portray Hong Kong as a fascinating and immense place to visit, where one can spend weeks covering all manner of out of the way places. This was a great contrast to the Berlitz guide to Hong Kong I also took along, which make the region seem like a two-day stop where the only interesting thing is shopping.

There's a chapter each on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and the outlying islands. The description of each town or wilderness inside these divisions takes the form of a walking tour. The authors guide the reader through the streets well, and like all Rough Guides the maps here are clear and accurate. I unfortunately didn't visit Macau, so I cannot comment on that portion of the guide.

I didn't use the accommodation listings, as like many travelers I prefer to stay with local from hospitality associations for closer contact with the local culture. As the Rough Guide does not cover this option, I have removed one star from my rating. However, there does indeed seem to be an adequate amount of both budget and luxury accommodation, with the stops in between of course. The needs of shoestring travelers are not given short shrift here, as in the offerings of all too many guidebook publishers. I did use the recommendations for restaurants, which do a great job of steering travelers to hole-in-the-wall eateries with little English signage which might not look fancy, but which show you the real Hong Kong in a way flashier places don't.

At the end of the book one finds a history of the region, as well as some general information on Hong Kong culture. The history soberly discusses the uncertainty of Hong Kong's true autonomy after the handover, while other guidebooks I read gave only a rosy view. In these appendices there's also a list of films and books, fiction and non-fiction, about Hong Kong, letting the reader learn more about the place before he visits.

If you're an independent travelver going to Hong Kong, I'd certainly recommend ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU. I find it better than the Lonely Planet guide due to the range of its listings and the quality of its maps, and light years ahead of the paltry listings and assumption that the reader is a millionaire which one finds in many other guidebook lines.

Unlike another reviewer, I did not have to benefit of travelling to Laos with the authors. But after reading this guide book, I felt as if I knew them, like they were old friends who were jotting down their travel notes to help me on my journey. By halfway through the book, i felt i could read between the lines to tell the good from the better, the bad from the horrible. As someone who generally hates guide books, I can honestly say, this one is all good. I only wish i could someday travel to Laos with Jeff Cranmer and Steven Martin. Such a fascinating read clearly could only come from fascinating people.

I never appreciated how difficult it must be to write a travel guide until I spent a week with the authors in southern Laos. Unlike the north, which has several bonafide tourist destinations, the south is still largely untraveled. A 50-mile trip between two provincial capitals took us more than four hours, packed into a "bus" (essentially a covered truck with wooden benches installed in the payload) in the dusty heat of the hot season. And at the end of the road, we found towns with no accommodation save the local government guest house, where the only "history" in evidence was the one stone wall remaining from the US bombing or the craters still lining the avenues.

But despite the hardships and the apparent lack of organized tourism, I would definitely go back again if I had the chance. Something unique about Laos - the scenery, the food, especially the people - gets under your skin.

This is where the authors achieve their greatest success, in their ability to communicate what is special about this amazing, but often overlooked, country. The Rough Guide's signature style, which tends to include social, cultural and historical information throughout (rather than just tucking a few pages into the introductory section) is of particular benefit here. The result is so much more than a bland recitation of towns, distances, modes of transport and places to stay.

This book definitely rekindled my desire to go back to Laos. And when I do, I know what I'll be using as my guide.

I traveled to Laos in January, 2002 and found that the Rough Guide to Laos enhanced my experience tremendously. The writing is much more thorough and intelligent than Lonely Planet's guidebook for Laos. About 95% of independent travelers depend on the Lonely Planet book, but I think Rough Guide does a much better job. Laos is changing quickly so there are oftentimes many additional restaurants and hotels in a town that were not around when the book was researched, but that is not a major problem. I highly recommend this book.

None of the guides to Laos are perfect. This one was at least helpful and the writing tolerable. That's all you can ask, apparently. It doesn't matter, though. If you make it to Luangphabang and stay for a while I don't think you'll care which guidebook was "best". You'll be too busy enjoying one of the most beautiful, romantic cities I've ever had the joy of setting foot in. If you're French visit the Dao Fe creperie, if you speak English, try to find the owner of the Duang Champa, and whatever you do, wherever you go, learn a little Lao so you can talk to people in their own language, like a proper human being. You can get away with speaking English in Vientiane and Luangphabang, but it's rude; in the villages they aren't going to be very interested in what you have to say if you can't at least speak a little Lao. So your choice of guidebook will quickly become an afterthought once the first few days have passed.

thank goodness for an interprising soldier who saved the photos and info
from a lab fire and has now shared his secret world with the masses. It
gives another and more in depth view of cross border RECON in the Nam war.
Coupled with Plaster's SOG and Harris' Break Contact-Continue Mission, we
can mentally imbed with these soldiers as they risked all to interdict the workings of a cruel and voracious enemy. The book tells the story.
Great work Frank..

Greco described this book best by calling it the "scrapbook of a covert organization never meant to see the light of day." (Acknowledgements, X) This is exactly what this work is. Not only does it reflect his experiences while serving in SOG, but it reflects the overall experience of running highly classified missions into enemy controlled territory.

Before I bought this book, I was somewhat apprehensive because I had already bought John L. Plaster's book "SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars" and I was afraid that they'd be very similar in photos and content. While some photos appear in both books, they are each their own separate works and both compliment the other very well.

I am truly thankful to Greco and Plaster and the others alike who served in SOG and performed a job against such incredible and sometimes suicidal odds. Furthermore, thank you for taking the time to compile your experiences into something that can be read and held by those who were never there.

This book is right up there with MAJ (R) Plaster's earlier works. Predominantly consisting of a well-written narrative and unique, previously unpublished photographs, Mr. Greco's contribution to the history of SOG is incredible. As a historian and currently serving Soldier, this is a fantastic look into a world that the bureaucrats tried to forget or suppress, at least until the next war where they needed something like it again. Great work!

This was a very informative book.These men saved many lives by doing the things that they secretly did, the recognition is well deserved.

Steve Stacy

Runway Visions is the appropriately titled story of Captain Vaughan's experiences and "bringing up" as a C-130 aviator in Southeast Asia from February 1967 to April 1968, from a newly ordained aircraft commander (AC) at Dyess AFB to "new guy" novitiate in the right seat, progressing to the left seat as AC with a crew, and both seats as an instructor pilot, to check out the "new guys". Early in his fifteen-month tour, he is introduced to the harrowing landing required of An Khe Golf Course, relieved by the construction of a new runway nearby (An Khe Main), then back to the dread of the Golf Course when the new runway is closed for further improvement. Missions to Khe Sanh during his tour are described, the crew's Christmas dinner at the chow hall providing signs of the future siege.
Airlift operations during this time in that part of the world have been little documented, so this journal of a C-130 pilot is a welcome addition to the literature of military aviation for the period. Most pilots seem to have the most vivid impressions of their landing strips, regardless of time, place, or aircraft flown, and this book would be welcomed by many, especially those who know that runways are not always straight and level, or paved and lighted. Perhaps it would prove an awakening for those who don't, and should, as well.

I found David Kirk Vaughan's book about his experiences as an airlift pilot in Vietnam impossible to put down. His descriptions of action in and out of the cockpit are done such that they are very easy to understand, even if one is not a pilot. Yet, even the experienced military aviator will find some intriguing action there for him too.

Vaughan's description of landing at the "golf course" is but one example. Written in such a manner that the novice can appreciate the extreme difficulty of such a task, an aviator will nearly be in disbelief, especially after seeing the landing strip in one of the several photos that the author took during his tour and which are included in the book.

Of course there is plenty of action outside the cockpit, too. Again, I found Vaughan's descriptions superb as he related his travels throughout Thailand, Vietnam, the Phillipines and back "home" in Taiwan.

If one wishes to have a better understanding of the life of a military transport pilot or to have a record of Vietnam war airlift action, then this is a must buy!

Runway Visions is a memoir of a young pilot who volunteers to go to SE Asia and fly Hercules C-130 supply missions during the Viet Nam war.

David Vaughan tells a compelling tale, one that haunts me. It is not a story full of heroic rescues, though there is a little of that. It is the tale of a man looking back at himself and trying to make sense of what he did and saw. He holds little back.A difficult book to describe, but one that this reader found very satisfying. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

I bought this book because I am going into the Air Force Reserves as a C-130 pilot. I, of course, found it very interesting and informative, but I don't think I would recommend it to any non-pilots and would hesitate to recommend it to a non-airlift military pilot. A lot of people would find the topics he discusses very boring as compared to a fighter or bomber type memoir book. Nevertheless, I thought the stories he told were awesome - he talks about almost every mission the Hercules performs - hauling mail, booze, troops, dead bodies, ammo, and medical litters of injured troops. He also details the short-field capability of the C-130 flying into all of those fields in 'Nam. There are several hair-raising stories that he depicts where they are supplying the Marines at Khe Sahn during Tet and others where he is landing in bad weather, runways with craters, dirt strips, etc. He also mixes up the book with some details of the social life in Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines (he parallels the airlifting stories with stories about a chick he "hangs out" with in Bangkok.)

Anyway, I thought it was a great read, but I doubt most folks would think so unless they were very into the C-130 - like me.

What I like best about the book is the way in which it traces the historical development of calligraphy. The author's Japan bias matches my own (I got into calligraphy in Japan) and so I didn't particularly mind the heavy Japan slant. What I found frustrating was the lack of a pronunciation guide, especially for the Sanskrit. Given the diacritics in use, I would have liked to have known how to pronounce the dotted consonants, etc. It would be nice to learn more about Khmer and Thai calligraphy also, but I turn to other books...

Two years ago, at a Zen retreat, I needed something to relax my mind. The priest who headed the retreat had, at his house, an assortment of books from which to choose. I didn't want something cerebral. I fingered his library and came upon John Steven's "Sacred Calligraphy of the East." It was perfect! It offered pictures from which I was able to relax and study the historical progress of Eastern calligraphic forms. Since then, I have bought the book for myself and I continually refer to it when in need. That may seem rather odd: I don't really know why the book relaxes me and gives me solice, but I am quite grateful to John Stevens for his contribution to the art and to my life.

Sacred Calligraphy of the East takes you through the scripts used in the sacred writings of religions and nations of East Asia. If the book would have just been a wide collection of calligraphic examples, this would have been a good enough reason to get the book. But the book is more than this: It actually teaches you to draw these characters. It's a wonderful book.

Honestly I bought the book out of pure intuition. I didn't know what to expect except for a very interesting index. It was a wonderful surprise. Leading a meditation workshop based on western calligraphy technique, I had a keen personal interest on reading this book. Extraordinary in its coverage of background, theory, examples and exercises, it sure is an excellent addition to any artist or person interested in finding a creative and trascendental outlet for his creativity. Although a little technical knowledge goes a long way here, it is also easy for beginners to start. Recommended whole-heartedly.