Asia Books

I grew up with the leader of the incursion and I don't think any of this has had "literary license". In High School, Dev was a wrestler and fierce competitor. He was consistantly demonstrating his leadership abilities. It was in his blood. His Dad and Brother were leaders as well. This book does him justice. He has been and will be missed by all that knew him.

I think that this a very god book, a series of short stories about the vietnam war, one or two off them are perhaps " non-confirme-able", but who cares, just as long as it is a good storie.
I very much enjoyed the R-R storie to Thailand; revenge is to be enjoyed cold.
Also the story about marine SGT Henderson, that died and diden't
send chills up and down my spine.
Kregg has a way with frases and words, especialy his funny and self-ironic way of decribing himself and his conversion with all those who contributed stories to his book, he is very much the
Wiseguy he always describes himself as.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone.
Keep up the good work !!

As in all his books Kregg has done a super job on this book. I have read all the books that Kregg has written, and this one was right up there with the rest.

This was the 2nd book that I have read written by Mr. Jorgenson. The first was Acceptable loss. One of the best I have ever read. MIA Rescue is just as good but more focused on a particular mission. Mr. Jorgenson's style of writing is very smooth and combines points of view from all soliders involved in this rescue mission. Including his own in a very unique way. From the guys that were wounded, to the troops going in to get them, to the pilots flying through the thick fog, Jorgenson captures the full realm surrounding this very very stressful situation.
I would recommend this book to anyone. Mr. Speilberg or Mr. Stone if you are out there. Please look at this book! This story needs to be told on the big screen!

I would have given this book 5 stars, but Kregg makes me out to be more heroic than I really was. Fact is, I would have gone looking for the team if I had been told to, but I was happier than hell that I wasn't! There was a huge storm in the area that night and I had a really bad feeling about flying around in it trying to make radio contact with the team. Using my simple logic, if they were okay, they would still be okay in the morning when the storm passed. And if they weren't okay, increasing the body count by 5 wan't going to help either. Kregg, if you read this, please contact me.

We checked this book out of the library and our 5 yr old daughter just loved it! I like it because it's clever, quality literature for little ones that makes all ages laugh. The illustrations are also fantastic and add wonderful depth to the humor.

I had this book when I was younger- I'm 20 now. I was thinking about a story I read when I was younger about a couple who moved a mountian (or at least thought they did). I also remembered the Reading Rainbow rendition. I searched all over the Internet for the title because I no longer have it, or can't find it. Then I remembered it was a Scholastics! book. Here it is 10+ years later and I still want to read it.

Ming Lo and his wife love their home, but not that their house is at the bottom of a big mountain, which caused them nothing but unhappiness. Their roof always had holes from falling rock. It rained often under the mountain and with a roof full of holes it meant their rooms where damp and when the sun did shine it's warmth warmed the house and it was difficult to grow anything.

One day Ming Lo's wife told him he must move the mountain so that they may enjoy their house in peace. Ming lo replies that he's just man, how can he move a mountain? Ming Lo's wife knows of a wise man who lives in the village and tells him he should go and ask this wise man. And so Ming Lo does. Each time doing exactly as the wise man tells him and each time the mountain did not move. Finally the wise man told Ming that he must take his house apart stick by stick .They would carry these bundles in their arms and on their heads, and then face the mountain and close their eyes. Next the wise man said you must dance the dance of the moving mountain. You must do this for many hours and when you open your eyes you will see the mountain has moved. So Ming Lo and his wife did as they where told and when they opened their eyes... the mountain dance had worked and the mountain was now far away!

Arnold Lobel has a beautiful book with soft colored drawing! A great book to have as part of your childs' library.

what I liked about the book was that it was kind of funny. Because ming lo had to go back and forth to his house and to the wise man .But the wise man always told the wrong thin like to give some bread because the mountain might be hungry and thats why it didn't move.And also like to hit the montain with
wood and make alot of noise, but at the end the wise man told
ming lo to take all his stuff far from the mountain and they
were never have problem with the mountain agin.

Ming Lo and his wife live next to a mountain. The mountain constantly drops rocks on their house; clouds form at the peak and rain falls on their house (through the holes the rocks have already made) and it blocks the sun. Eventually, they have had enough!!

Ming Lo's wife sends him off to the village wise man that first tells them to run at the mountain with a large pole-this will knock the mountain far away. Of course, it doesn't work, so Ming Lo returns to the wise man many times to ask his advice. Each suggestion grows more and more silly until the last one that actually works!!

Mr. Label is most well known for his Frog and Toad books. The illustration style is similar with "Ming Lo", sharing similar muted colors but with softer outlines. The pictures highlight the foolishness of Ming Lo and his wife as they bang pots and pans at the mountain to scare it away or bring food to the summit to appease the mountain god. The wise man is an amusing character, sitting under a small pagoda in purple robes smoking a pipe (he produces more and more smoke each time that Ming Lo comes to ask him questions, to the point that he can barely be seen).

The story is easy to read and fun without being ridiculous. It's an excellent book for beginning readers and will keep children interested as they read on to find out what Ming Lo and his wife will be up to next! Highly recommended.

Written over forty years, MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END is poet Gary Snyder's highest achievment. Here he has presented a perception of the world that has taken four decades of experience to put into words. The collection moves chronologically from Snyder's glimpse in the 50's of a Japanese scroll that gave the book its name, though his wanderings in the American West, and into senescene.

Decades of travel have exposure Snyder to so much of our planet, and this experience forms a major part of MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END. Mixing ecological perspective with Buddhist metaphysics, these poems are a powerful description of Man's relationship with the planet. Snyder is supremely aware of how attached mankind is to the Earth, and how its ever-surrounding landscape influences peoples.

The final poem "Finding the Space in the Heart" is a moving retrospective of Gary Snyder's forty years as a writer, from his Beat poet days in the 1950's to the older man that he is now, using elements of Buddhism's Prajnaparamita-sutra, the so called "Heart Sutra."

While Snyder's poems sometimes do not succeed due to clumsy meter, a lacking that makes me give this work only four stars, they often move the reader with their sincerity and signifance. MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END is certainly worth a read.

I have some ambivalence about giving Snyder 5 stars for this work. I come to this collection of poems after reading "Turtle Island", which I liked better overall. It had a bit more of the wide-eyed innocence that makes the poetry more heart-felt to me, even with that whole section at the end dedicated to prose on how to make the world a better place.

I found several poems in "Mountains..." that I like better than the ones in "Turtle Island" - particularly pieces like "Ma", which takes the form of a letter from a mother to son. What I didn't like so much was the pervasive use of East Indian and Oriental terms, much of which had little meaning to me. Recognizing a certain desire on Snyder's part to "disorient" a traveller through the literature helped somewhat. But often I felt Snyder was abusing his "superstar" status to make these foreign phrases seem more important than they actually are. How difficult can it be to just say what you want to say without resorting to another language? Snyder certainly has many tools at his disposal - the sum of which comes under the heading of "Poetic License".

Admittedly, languages are not solid, and new words creep in all the time. Perhaps Snyder feels he is just doing his part to force the issue with regard to some patterns of thought he wants insinnuated into western english. But I don't think it comes off that way all the time. Many times it just sounds like: "Aren't I clever to come up with this deep-meaning foreign phrase that you don't understand". This detracted some from the total effect in the book.

Ultimately, that's just me of course. One must do one's own thinking on these matters. And since I gave the thing 4 stars, it obviously still comes highly recomended from my viewpoint.

In this work of poetry, Snyder has presented a perception of the world that has taken four decades of experience to put into words. But, this is more than a simple philosophical oratory, because Snyder came to write this due to the influence of Nature. This is a powerful description of Man's relationship with the planet.

Gary Snyder's epic poem "Mountains and Rivers Without End" is an epic work from an American Zen Buddhist pioneer. From Kerouac to the millenium, it is all there. His history is our history. Read it and get wiser.

Golden nugget from Sierra streams. Gold never rusts.

I recently read the new Philip Short biography on Mao. A long and good book. However, I did not learn half as much about Mao from Short's book as I did from the New Emperors.

Salisbury writes a highly readable, brilliant book on Mao, the founding of the people's republic of China, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

The book does a great job showing the personal side of Mao, how he treated other people, and how he changed over time between 1949 and 1976.

The book also does a great job on the early career of Deng Xiaoping. However, feel the book falters on covering the demise of the Gang of Four and the early rule of Deng. As great as the book was up to this point, I feel he does not thoroughly cover how the gang of four was defeated and the early rule of Deng.

The book recovers in its coverage of Tianaman Square and in its conclusions about China.

This book is 3/4 brilliant and 1/4 ok.

Salisbury's book is so good, his reporting so valuable, that it will provide ample basic information to future historians as they attempt to sift through this period with some scholarly distance. Just prior to Tiananmen "incident" as it is called in China, he went and talked to the last surviving people who remember Mao and Deng, the two most powerful leaders of Communist China. It was a unique time, as China was open for just a moment during a reform period before shutting down again after Tiananmen and those people were about to disappear forever. Salisbury found them and recorded their memories.

The result is a masterpiece of reporting, bringing Mao and Deng to life and in detail like no other account that I have read - and I have read a lot of them! The book concentrates on government and power politics, leaving the details of policies to others, which strikes just the right balance.

Highly recommended.

What Mao and Deng did as China's "new emperors" are well known. For Mao, the Korean war, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the establishment of China as a nuclear power; for Deng, the Reform and Opening, and the Tiananmen Massacre.

Why did they do it? This is a question that is seldomly asked and when asked, never satisfactorily answered. Salisbury has attempted to answer such a qusetion with more depth than the simple-minded answer "because they want to stay in power". Salisbury carefully laid out for the readers how Mao and Deng's acts were shaped by their personal histories, by attitudes of other countries toward China, and by the burden of Chinese history and culture (unlike America, the Chinese leaders did not start from a clean slate, instead, they carried 5,000 years of history with them). In short, this book is about how history, culture, international hostility and personality has shaped modern China; how these factors brought out the "emperor instincts" in Mao and, to a lesser extent, Deng.

Indeed, what Mao did was almost right out of history books. The emperors' attempts to annhilate their enemies when they sensed danger, the emperors' attempts to better people's lives using means that were totally naive and against human nature, has happened numerous times in Chinese history. China has been too burdened with its history, and Mao was simply an emperor fulfilling his roles while the whole world was watching.

The book also touched upon an interesting (and sad) question: what blames should be placed on ordinary people? It was Mao who unleashed the darkest aspects of human nature during Cultural Revolution, but the darkest sides of some Chinese people were so dark that one has to wonder: why were these people worse than beasts? The Red Guards and the on-lookers who readily cheered as thousands and thousands of people were tortured and beaten (or drowned, pushed from high-rise buildings) to death has to make one wonder: why did they do it? why did they have no judgment of their own and could become the worst creatures on earth simply because of a few words from their leaders? I believe that, if China wants to prevents something like the Cultural Revolution from happening again, it will not be enough to openly admit Mao's role in these atrocities. Ordinary people will also have to do some soul-searching.

After reading this book, I felt extremely sad. I sensed that the disasters that happened to the Chinese people in the past decades could have been avoided. If only Mao had studied Western politics instead of focusing entirely on the deeds of Chinese emperors; if only Kim Ii-Sung wasn't such a fool as to start the Korean War; if only the Chinese people were exposed to Western culture earlier and possessed more qualities than blind patriotism and loyalty; if only more of Mao's subordinates were willing to be outspoken; if only Stalin was a bit less sinister toward China; if only America was a bit more open-minded and not refusing Mao's request for negotiations outright... The list is endless. History is full of missed chances, and ordinary people suffer. Although no reversal is possible, we may be able to learn from the past and avoid some disasters in the future. Because of this, I highly recommend this book.

I am a fan of Salisbury's works for a long time, and this book has not disappointed me. The writing is compelling, the materials well organized, and his unbiased reporting is as good as ever. This is one of the best books on the modern history of China.

This book set me off on a binge of Chinese history reading. I had to know more about Kang Sheng, for example, and "Claws of the Dragon" helped shed light on this "immortal". Then there were: Zhou Enlai's hagiography 'Eldest Son' at the hands of Han Suyin; The White Boned Demon, about Jiang Qing; Mao's doctor's self-glorifying account; Deng's biography. Nothing compares to this book for readability and sense of magnitude. You meet the twenty or so people who decided the fates of a billion Chinese. Modern democracy has nothing to compare. The personalities in recent Chinese history, the importance of them, are staggering. The Great Leap, the Cultural Revolution--these hellish mass movements affected hundreds of millions of people. You get to see the tiny coterie which ordered the lives of a significant portion of the Earth's inhabitants for fifty years. An amazing book.
I wish Harrison Salisbury were still around to write an update. TNE stops in 1991 as the economy is slowing and the hardliners are asserting themselves. Deng visited the "new cities" on the South China Sea in 1993-4, invigorating them and the "capitalism with Chinese characteristics" which they represented. What followed, of course, is our recent history of China thinking itself as a great power.

Let's face it, China is rapidly replacing Russia as the chief rival of the U.S. in world affairs. And anyone who wants to begin to understand modern China must start with this book. Harrison Salisbury is an excellent journalist and writer who chronicles the tragic history of China from the beginning of the communist regime through the early 1990s. He focusses on the two leaders, Mao and Deng, who guided China into the modern era, causing at least as much if not far more destruction to their country the good that came from modernity. The irony is that while Mao was an egomaniacal madman, Deng was at heart a decent man who rebounded from being jailed and humiliated by the Cultural Revolution only to ruin his more benevolent legacy at Tianamen Square in 1989. Salisbury's account is readable and insightful and is essential for anyone with an interest in the country.

The title of this book is well chosen and its publication is very timely. North Korea is indeed facing perilous times. Then again it has in the past. From the 1950 war, the transition of power Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il, and the nuclear weapon agreement brokered by Jimmy Carter the recent history of North Korea has certainly been turbulent.

In more recent times, Korea has launched some very long range rockets and appears to have at least a few nuclear weapons. President Bush has identified them as a "rogue state" and part of the "axis of evil." North Korea along with Cuba remain as practictioners of the failed Communist system. These systems have proved that they can sustain huge armies, exercise strong control over their people, but also proved that centralized control of everything from farming to industrial production simply doesn't work very well. Friends of mine who recently visited North Korea report that the famine of the 1990's continues, although not as bad as it was.

A small book, at only 232 pages, it is a concise summary of the countries 4,000 year history and a political analysis of the recent past. Combined with this are several alternatives of what the future might hold. Can the status quo continue. Certainly not forever. Could the collapse of the Government bring about another war - certainly it could. The options and their likelyhood form a major part of the theme of the book, and they are carefully considered and disucssed. Excellent reading.

Professor Kim's writing is engaging, thorough enough for scholars and the general public alike. Readers wishing to understand the enigma of North Korea, its relationship with South Korea and the rest of the world, and where to go from here, will be pleased with this book and its measured, balanced perspective. After reading this book, you will be conversant in all the relevant topics. For those who are interested in further study, the book includes questions and study aids, as well as extensive references. Highly recommended.

For any person wishing to understand the North Korean situation, since it has now hit the world stage, this is an excellent first place to go. It enables the reader to get up to speed quickly by first providing a potted history of the peninsular. Then political, humanitarian, and particularly economic aspects are explored in appropriate detail for a book that is easily readable. Finally, chapter 9, reasons for reconciliation, provides a constructive ending to the present dilemma. For further study, the comprehensive lists of references make it easy.

No country is more mysterious than North Korea. After reading this short text, there is no more mystery for me. It is easy to read and understand. Even though the book's author is a finance or economics professor, and I am currently studying political science and philosophy, I still found this book to be very valuable. A great way to get up to speed.

Fifty years after Korea's division the Koreans of both North and South remain at an impasse, leaving North Korea embroiled in international crises. North Korea seemingly faces four choices: collapse, more war, a continuing status quo, or peace with the south. Suk Hi Kim's North Korea At A Crossroads provides an historical and political analysis covers 1948 to modern times and is a 'must' for any college-level collection strong in modern Asian issues or non-specialist general reader wanting a competent backgrounding in contemporary American/North Korean international relations.

The writing and story seemed fine. It certainly had personality and flair. After a while though, the stories seemed a bit of a stretch. Guarino was the only one who could schmooze his captors into better treatment. Guarino was the one who reprimanded and instructed the more well-known POW's (Kasler, etc.) Guarino was wiser than other SRO's who advocated detrimental behaviors (Denton and fasting). Guarino was the one who had his hand on moving events (Denton speech at Clark AFB).

I'm sure the guy went through hell and more than I could ever take but the story really started to smack of someone trying to justify and prove his heroics. His heroics stood for themselves -- they didn't need to be built off the backs of others.

Fine writing and overall a fine story but starts to stretch credulity.

This book is a true story that My Grandfather went thru after being shot down in the Vietnam War. He was Bound Tied and Tortured almost daily. They did not break him. I applaud you Grandpa for writing this book. You are my Hero!
David

This book takes a harsh look at the truth of life of an American POW in Vietnam. Reading the horrid things done to our POW's would make me ill at times but it also gave me an even greater respect for the people who served in the Vietnam War. Our POW's went through a lot and if you'd like to experience that first hand, read this book!

I have read several accounts of the Vietnam POW's and this one was the most emotional for me. I am glad that he had the courage to point out the traitorous and despicable behavior of people like Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. What these men had to go through is in the face of such cowardice by these traitors is incomprehensible to me. God bless you Col. Guarino... your efforts are profoundly appreciated!

As the young son of an Air Force officer, I was close to the family during the period of captivity. I only wish there was more in the book of the incredible courage of the entire family. The oldest son went to Vietnam and flew as a Forward Air Controller. The wife was deeply involved in the grass-roots effort to free the POWs and I was deeply touched by her courage, devotion and faith. I once saw the middle son save a young boy after the boy was attacked by a shark. It is often difficult to identify true courage, but here is an entire family. This is a great book of courage from the courageous father of a courageous family.

The author has an agenda to bash America in this work, all the more incredible since one would think the nation of Japan, which has never officially apologized for the atrocities described in this bood, would more than suffice as a punching bag for him, the author. His determination to get that bashing in, in the second half of the work, distracted him from delivering the proper scope and balance in telling the story the author is probably capable of. Worth the price though (especially if you can get it at a discount).

This is why my mother won't visit China. Although she would like to learn more about Chinese culture, she discouraged my visiting China because she was afraid something would bite me or I would bring vermin back not because the Chinese are inherently dirty but because she accurately remembers the strength of vermin warfare inflicted upon China and is convinced that the poisoning of China's water system and soil makes Chinese products suspect even before the industrial accidents in recent news. It takes a widespread intense campaign to deal with this problem. I didn't read this book before visiting China but I believed that she was being practical in her advise and not political. This problem needs to be researched. One must satisfy the most critical person in order to solve the problem correctly.

I came from the city where the Japanse secret germ army operated during the second world war. What the author stated in the book is true. The truth can not be denied by the Japanese Government. Don`t judge anything as lie or truth, unless you find out with yoru own eyes.

I recently attended a lecture by Daniel Barenblatt in NYC. The subject was of course Barenblatt's new book A PLAGUE UPON HUMANITY. Whereas the use of human medical experimentation is now a well known aspect of the Nazi extermination program, the fact that
Japan innovated these same techniques, as well as implementing a lethal biological warfare unit, directed by Dr. Ishii Shiro & imposed upon the Chinese population in Manchuria & Occupied China, prior & parallel to the Nazi regime, is less known in the Western World.
Whereas some books on this topic have been published, Mr. Barenblatt, with integrity & the detachment necessary to cover the terrain, has written a contemporary & updated version of the material That he does so fills an important gap in our historical understanding but moreover, underlies the situation in which we now live.
The 25 photographs speak without words. The 10 chapters & for this reader, in particular the last chapter `What The Deal Brought' wherein the implication of this program for our current policy is clear become apparent.. In an era of lethal indifference , poisoned ambients, both intellectual & environmental, a voice such as Barenblatt's must be heeded.

The author Dan Barenblatt has his special background in chemistry and the most precious common human values to complete such a wonderful book. I can image how much efforts he put to overcome the difficullties since the auther does not read and write Chinese.
The most impressive from in this book is the auther try to understand the facts of the history and the cause of it. Unless we understand the cause of the historic tragedy, it will repeat again.
For example he spent a good amount of efforts to analyze what cause the head of Unit 731 - Dr. Shiro Ishii to commit such a huge crime on germ warfare from his family, social background and political environment at that time and how America knew about it, how the secret deal was made later. The auther wanted to present the whole true history base on the individual has right to know, without knowing the fact, the justice and human values are easily betrayed by interest or other purpose.
You will be touched by this most forgotten or unkown history presented in the book; but as a Chinese auther I was touched and amazed by his efforts and unbiased humaneness

Wow. This book makes me long for my grad school days. What an inspired story of scientific pursuit, history, evolution, ethnobotany, and the love of pomegranates. I love this book so much I want to eat it. This is a must read. He includes detailed descriptions of plant guilds that would grow well in dry places and some information that could lead readers to find sources of pomegranate germplasm. I love how he weaves his story together. The botanical terminology makes my heart flutter! I want to visit the places he's been. Reading this book right now is especially poignant as many place names he uses have been on the news as sites of bombing and military action. I wish it were not so and this book gives me greater depth of appreciation for the history, ecology, and beauty of these areas.

I was expecting just information about pomegranates. Boy did I have pleasant surprise. Pomegranate Roads not only gets the the 'ole taste buds salivating, but it also provides amazing insight into a man with a great passion for his work. Equally impressive is the historical perspective of the fall of the USSR and what it did to this small part of biological diversity as well as the cultural impacts. An excellent memoir unto itself.

If you are curious about pomegranates, this is the book for you! Even if you do not eat them or grow them, this is a wonderful story about human passion.

I purchased this book primarily to learn about pomegranates as I am in the process of planting a small orchard of pomegranates. I found it to be a wonderful history lesson and an adventure. I am planting several of Dr. Levin's cultivars and have a great appreciation for all of the work he carried out for some 40 years, often at great risk of life. I often felt I was on these adventures and now wonder if I could ever participate in some exploratory treks. It's painful to read how the research stations have been bulldozed and wish more of the 1,117 cultivars could be rescued. It was hard to put this book down and I now have a much greater appreciation for being able to grow some of Dr. Levin's cultivars. I only hope I can do them justice!

Some chapters of this book make you feel like you've just watched an Indiana Jones movie, while other chapters would make a great NOVA science episode. On his scientific treasure hunt for exotic pomegranates, Dr.Gregory Levin has--unassumingly-- run into vipers dancing on their tails, and seen cave paintings of kangaroos on the border of Iran and Turkmenistan! Levin knows which godesses were idolized in pomegranates and what the penalty was for felling a pomegranate tree in ancient Egypt. Yet the tone of this adventure is deeply thoughtful. In 1941 when young Levin and his parents were digging trenches around Leningrad in preparation for the seige, Levin watched a drift of butterflies land on a nearby tree. "Their life cycle was ending," Levin says,"and they had all landed on the tree to die. The tree was their cemetary." Here's an author who sees reflections of the human condition in Nature all around us. And like a good hiking companion he doesn't keep pointing things out, but leaves you alone to take it all in for yourself.

Ari Siletz, author of "The Mullah With No Legs and Other Stories."

This is one of the best military history books out there. Its an account of a raid to free POWs carried out during the Vietnam war. What is so good about it is that it gives a truely comprehensive from top-to-bottom account of the mission from conception to execution and even following through to the political aftermath. while the mission was not successful in its objective (the POWs were moved before the team arrived), the plan involving a raid deep into North Vietnam was carried out flawlessly.

While many things have changed since the time the book was written, people, organizations and politics have not. The book is a case study with wide ongoing application. Its also a fun read for anyone interested in politics, the Vietnam war, special operations or military history in general.

The Son Tay Prison Raid was a good idea but was based on poor intelligence. Benjamin Schemmer did a good telling the story. It's too bad it doesn't have a happy ending.

Sam McGowan
Vietnam Veteran, author "The Cave"

Great account of the brilliantly executed 1970 special operations mission to rescue POWs, and the breakdown in intelligence which resulted in the rescuers coming away empty handed. If you've read about the mission to rescue the hostages at the embassy in Iran a few years later, you'll recognize a number of the names. (See Delta Force by Charlie Beckwith for details on the Iranian mission.)

First published in 1976, "The Raid" is the story of the heroic attempt to rescue 61 Americans from the North Vietnamese POW camp at Son Tay in November, 1970. It is thoroughly and meticulously researched. Its' 3 reprints attest to the quality. Author Schemmer had some obvious command cooperation in its' compilation. "The Raid" devotes more effort -and pages- in depicting the painstaking step by step preparation and practice that was dedicated to the rescue than the actual time on the ground. That is understandable, since the mission lasted less than 30 minutes. The camp was empty and no one was rescued! The author examines the intelligence "considerations' behind that unpleasant fact. More time and space is given to the inevitable damage control that the Pentagon and White House had to tackle. That easy to appreciate as well, given the frantic antiwar feelings in this country at the time. The raid took place less than 4 months after our troops were withdrawn from Cambodia. That incursion had sparked huge domestic protests. There are three outstanding traits to this tale: The first is the obvious bravery and courage shown by the men involved. The second is the sheer amount of logistical support and inter -service coordination that the effort required. There is an impressive array of those Command acronyms. As any veteran would rightly suspect, there was a bit of infighting as well. I appreciated reading that General Ryan, Air Force Chief of Staff, gave an open letter to some of the chief planners directing they receive complete "no questions asked" cooperation. Those who felt unable to comply were to call the General directly! How many calls do we think Ryan received? Finally, we the author incorporates the human beings who were the actual prisoners. We read of some of the more distinguished, such as Robinson Risner and Jerimiah Denton as well as those not as famous but who suffered as much and more. "The Raid" is almost a mini-history of the POW saga-one that extends to this very day. Over 1,800 men remain unaccounted for. Some claimed the raid to be a failure. It strikes this reviewer as an outstanding success. That's because after Son Tay, most POWs were consolidated into the big Hanoi area prisons. There was safety-not to mention a command structure-in numbers. Treatment improved, especially since many prisoners could help themselves. This reviewer would like to compliment President Nixon and Defense Secretary Laird for supporting a military action they knew would be unpopular and suspected might be unsuccessful. Canceling the operation would have been the easy way out; they courageously chose the difficult course. To this day, Mr. Nixon remains the only Chief Executive to seriously address the POW issue. Those buying "The Raid" should strongly consider Frank Anton's "Why Didn't You Get Me Out?" It's time frame perfectly complements Mr. Schemmer's tale. Finally, there is the virtual Bible on the subject, "Code Name Bright Light". That may be a lot of reading but what subject is more worthwhile?

On November 21st, 1970, a rescue mission would be launched inside North Vietnam that would eventually gain status as being possibly the most incredible operation ever conducted during the Vietnam war.

The culmination of months of grueling planning and training, intensive coordination through military channels, extensive secrecy, and special operations wizardry would lead to the daring raid on the Son Tay POW camp just 20 short miles outside of Hanoi. So well prepared was the team that after the raid's accomplishment, no lives were lost and everyone returned safely after just 26 minutes on the ground. Everyone except U.S. POW's, that is, who were unfortunately not at the POW compound being that it had been abandoned only months previously. Information discovered as to why the Son Tay facility was empty would prove to be both revealing and disturbing to the raid planners and executers.

In assessing the aftermath of the mission itself, although deemed a failure by the mainstream media and squabbled over by Congress, the military, and intelligence agencies, positive aspects would eventually come to light to justify the raid a success after all. Unknown to many outside the purview of the POW's themselves, the raid was an eye opener to the North Vietnamese who now fully realized that America would defy the greatest of odds to repatriate their POW's and show them that they were not forgotten. The Son Tay rescue mission was a serious morale booster for our U.S. captives and also hastened their improved treatment from their North Vietnamese jailors.

Benjamin F. Schemmer has written a fascinating and in-depth study into one of the most sensational rescue missions ever accomplished in the history of warfare. Richly detailed and researched, included are photographs, maps, and appendixes with a multitude of statistics and operational facts. Whether just a casual reader or an avid fan of Vietnam era history, The Raid is an excellent book from start to finish. For those readers interested in the complete story of POW rescues in Vietnam, I would highly recommend the book "Code Name Bright Light: The Untold Story of POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War" by George J. Veith.

Raghubir Singh's River of Colour is a book that beautiful in many ways. Not only was he a very talented photographer, he also brings out a tremendous sense of patriotism with his book. His photographs capture the essence of Indian culture.

I was given this book (softcover edition) by a friend some years ago, and it has resonated with me as one of the finest compilations of documentary photography on India. Raghubir Singh's photograph captures moments in the lives of ordinary Indians, in a way that is without a doubt timeless. This book is a collection of his best works from his many years of photography in India and it's simply a marvel, especially for anyone who has a special interest in India or comes from India, who can really appreciate the imagery.

I hands down recommend this book to anyone and everyone and always show it off to friends. Try and get some of his other works as well - Bombay, The Grand Trunk Road, Kerala, Banares, Kashmir, if you can find them. You will be equally impressed.

Raghubir Singh was born in India and began his photography career in 1965 - but until this collection, very few of his works reached audiences outside the country. RIVER OF COLOUR: THE INDIA OF RAGHUBIR SINGH uses a wide-angle panoramic layout which will prove a shelving challenge to most art library collections - but a delight to any who seek fine display materials. It's the only retrospective of Singh's works and by choosing an elongated, oversized display format, the color photos of Indian topics come to life and nearly spring off the page. RIVER OF COLOUR is recommended not just for art photography libraries, but for any collection strong on India history or culture.

I first bought this book in its paperback edition... I was so taken by the photographs that on learning that Phaidon was re-releasing the book, I gave my pbk copy to an Indian friend of mine (who loves it, as it reminds him of home). Looking forward to the re-release of this book, I was eagerly looking for it to become available.

The re-release arrived just the other day. I can say that the photos are just as moving, heart-melting, and colorful as the original copy. HOWEVER, Amazon's "shrink-wraping process" ruined the cover of the book, and many of the pages of the book.

So, I paid full Amazon price for the book, but were I to try to re-sell it, it would be "damaged."

To say that I'm a little piss#d is an understatement.

It _is_ a beautiful book, with a wonderful overview of Singh's work - my favorites are the boys diving from the tops of submerged temples on a flooded Ganges, and a pic of a muscician from Tamil Nadu...

I just wish the condition of the book were better.

India is a difficult country to understand and even more difficult to explain, in words or pictures! Rughubir Singh has captured the chaos of India which take you right into the bylanes of Varanasi/Banaras. This is my favourite(infact the only picture book) gift to a lot of my western friends, most of whom have visited India before. The pictures are simply too powerful. If you have any facination for that land, you cant afford not to have a look at Mr. Singh's pictures.