Asian Books

The most heartbreaking story I have ever read...Ngor tells his story with a lucid and clear voice and keeps you forever wondering how people can do such things to one another. A definite introduction to the history of the Cambodian genocide, and one that will humble you when you think your problems are too large.

That said, it it so worth the reading. The writing flows and moves you to see such a human spirit survive.

Before this book, I had only vaguely heard of the name Pol Pot and the nation of Cambodia. Where I go to school, we have history for four years, but never get past the Civil war.
As I was changing the television station, I heard the name Pol Pot and Cambodian again. This time I was determined to educate myself and I bought this book.
I was horrified, I was ashamed, I was overwhelmed. First we had allowed the Jews to endure the Holocaust, and now we had let millions of Cambodians die the same way.
Maybe the history teachers in my area just need to come into the 20th century and repeat IT over and over again, because obviously we're not learning from our mistakes.

This book is on top of my list as the best reads ever. It truly is an amazing story and will leave you thinking about this world we live in. I reccommend this book to all...what a great learning tool to use in the classroom also!

I first spotted this book at a tourist book shop in Phnom Penh and after scanning its pages, I was hooked. It is an immensely absorbing tale, both harrowing and hopeful. I was drawn not only into Dr. Ngor's story but into Dr. Ngor himself. As I kept reading, I felt hungry, exhausted, terrified and sad. But if I wanted it to stop, I simply had to close the book. Not that simple for Dr. Ngor.
I pray that Ngor Haing is now with his Sweet, living the life that was so cruelly denied to them. This book is definitely one of the best I've ever read in my life, and I hope that in your heaven, you can hear me say Thank You, Dr. Ngor.

If you are interested in reading the memoir of someone who survived the reign of the Khmer Rouge, then I can't reccommend any other book higher. I have read two other books from survivors, but Ngor's book was by far my favourite.

What sets Ngor's book apart from the others that I have read is that Ngor was an adult when the Khmer Rouge took over. His memories are very lucid, and he fully comprehends what is going on around him. He watches his young wife die in his arms, those close to him betray, and everyone around him suffer. There are no high points throughout the entire odysey. Ngor brings you to the senseless and incomprehensible suffering that pervades every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge.

One element I particularily enjoyed about Ngor's book is the extensive descriptions of Cambodian culture, attitudes and behaviour. Cambodian society (from what I can gather from what I have hitherto studied) is highly formal, with a rather complex series of formality set up for intereaction with others and a rather reserved character in regards to expression of feelings. The most important of which in this context being "kum," which is a sort of bitterness and longing for revenge, that becomes evident in a lot of what is happening. You will leave this read with a feeling of not only being inside of what is happening, but also for the actual mechanisms guiding behaviour.

This is, however, not a pleasant read in the least. The descriptions of the atrocities are beyond anything that I was expecting, and for that reason, I would seriously warn others that this is not for the faint at heart. Luckily, Ngor offers notes at the beginning of graphic chapters so that one can skip over them. You will lose sleep, and I can guarantee you that it makes any of those goofy horror movies like "Hostel" and "Turistas" look like a day at Disneyland. This horror is real, and not far in the past. Being that my normal area of study is Russian history, I have read a lot about the horrors of communism and tyranny, but nothing from the basements of Lyubyanka Prison or Mao Tse Tung's Cultural Revolution comes close to the abominable atrocities of Pol Pot's Cambodia.

Ngor also describes his role in the classic movie, The Killing Fields, as well as his integration of life in America. An afterword by friend Roger Warner ends the book on a particularily haunting and sad note, but rightfully so, none the less.

There are a lot of truely excellent books available by survivors of the Killing Fields, and this is the quintessential starting point for those who wish to learn more.

This book was very good. It kept me very interested.
I hope there are more out there like this one.

Great service. Condition of book was stellar and it was delivered in a very timely manner.

This is a mandatory read for my class but I enjoyed it. Once I started it, I could not put it down.

I read this book in two days, which is quite a record for me. It is a fascinating book, and John Bester is a very good translator.

Not a word is wasted in this short and powerful novel covering decades in the life of the Shirakawas, a Japanese family from a century ago, and offering an intense and fascinating look into intimate relationships and suppressed emotions. .

The story begins with Yukitomo asking his wife Tomo to choose a concubine for him, someone young and inexperienced who will also serve as a maid for her. Though Tomo is not yet 30 he has already tired of her and she has become used to his appetite for many affairs, while choosing a mistress for her husband can be perceived as an insult she considers herself fortunate to have control over what woman will be brought into her home and family life. As the years go on a second concubine is acquired, geishas visit frequently, and eventually the aging Yukitomo even takes his own daughter-in-law as his mistress. Through it all Tomo is left with the management of the estate and the care of the family.

Recommended for those who are interested in marriages involving concubines.

The author of this book does an excellent job of analyzing the operational and tactical performance of Arabic Armies in the latter 20th Century. But, be forewarned, the book can be a slog to get through for the novice. Mr. Pollack examines the good, bad and ugly of the national performance of several armies (Iraqi, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian) in a manner which is useful to any decision maker who might have to confront an Arab Military foe. The best part of this book and its most useful application is in detailing Arabic Armies 'mismanagement' of information. Yes, poor leadership has doomed many Arabic Military operations, but within Arab Military leadership the fatal mismanagement of information is at the heart of each defeat. As detailed by the author, Senior and Junior officers both lie. They lie to their troops, lie to their political masters and lie to each other. At times they seem incapable of any truth telling whatsoever. The author details Senior Officers describing "Great Victories" where battles are being lost. Junior officers repeatedly fail to provide timely analysis of opposing forces or give a true picture of ongoing operations (lest they be termed cowards?). This has caused missed opportunities to adjust deployments and often leads to catastrophic defeats. Another excellent point is that the author never dismisses the ability of the individual Arab foot soldier to display extreme bravery and tenacity often despite overwhelming odds.

This is a superb and easily read treatise, of use both to the military professional and the interested lay reader. The book meticulously details strategic and tactical performance of each of the prinicple Arab states, not only with respect to their well-publicized conflicts with Israel, but it also investigates the lesser-known military endeavors (e.g., Egypt's war in Yemen, Libya's adventures in Chad). As a result, this is a comprehensive evaluation. Fortunately, it was not burdened with background details on Islam and it's baleful influences on the technical aspects of modern warfare: this material would constitute a separate treatise and has been detailed elsewhere. Nonetheless, the insights gained from Pollack's investigation of military performance transfer to Arab domestic politics and Islamic cultural influence on military doctrine.

Unfortunately, the cost of the book and it's length will deter many readers. In summary, this is an outstanding book and should be on the 'must read' list of readers of Middle Eastern affairs. It's only shortcomings were in the maps: symbols used throughout the text were only annotated in one map and never completely explained. Otherwise, a superb work.

This is a solid study. It is well written, well researched, solid on its data, and thorough in its scope.

The sections on inter-Arab/Muslim/African conflict give good looks at relatively obscure pieces of information -- the author's discussion of the Libyan-Chadian conflicts, for example, is outstanding.

A number of interesting conclusions are evident here, whether about Arabs' failure to maintain their weapons and equipment, their poor battlefield employment of intelligence, their horrendous logistical systems, or the failure of their junior leadership to execute, lead, and decide sua sponte.

My only real complaint is that often, I found myself thinking 'but what do you think?' The author is so thorough in the book that he often leaves his intermediary conclusions for the reader to absorb, and extrapolate. This makes the book something of a tool, as opposed to the pedantic thing you would expect given its girth. But I would figure that with all the author's knowledge (and his resume to boot), he would have more of his own things to say. He does offer, at the end, that this book is essentially a shortened version of his dissertation, and there is a follow-on work that looks more in depth, examines other aspects, and offers more analysis.

Bottom line is that this is a great piece of work. It should be seen as, essentially, an encyclopedia. If you're looking for anything else you'll be woefully disappointed. But if you're serious about the subject, this book is well worth the time.

I won't repeat all of the detail and commentary provided by other reviewers, but I wanted to provide a favorable review for this excellent work.

In the introduction, the author addresses the factors often cited for the poor performance of Arab armies--poor junior leadership, poor equipment, lack of intestinal fortitude, etc. etc. He then provides rare detailed coverage of specific operations of the various Arab armies, including their successes and failures, and then returns to address, on the basis of his analysis, the "poor performance factors" for each of the armies which he covers. Very interesting (to military history fans) and well done.

TMR

Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq are six major players in the Middle East. Whether they are US allies (such as Saudi Arabia or Jordan) or die hard enemies (such as Syria or Libya) Pollack gives an objective analysis of their military prowess, or lack there of.

Pollack's argument is twofold. He claims that because of Arab society Arab militaries lack basic skills that modern European armies take for granted. For instance because Arab culture looks down upon those who preform physical labor nations like Saudi Arabia wouldn't teach maitenance skills for rifles and aircraft. As a result Saudi Arabia still rely on foriegn advisors. Pollack notes that "Saudis also were limited in the fact that very few of their people were willing to take on a job that they considered menial labor-hence the support services suffered." (pg. 431)

The second portion of his thesis is that the junior officer corps of most Arab armies is incredibly poor. Considered having one of the finest armies in the Middle East, Jordan showed that on a tactical level it simply could not preform. While most Western militaries have based their soldiers tactics off of the old WW2 German saying "every corporal should carry a field marshalls baton." Arab countries such as the Hashemite Kingdom have good generals but poor lower level leadership. This was evident when Pollack states (talking about the battle of al Karamah), "The artillery was accurate but almost exclusively preplanned, preregistered fire missions and, therefore, did not demonstrate any real improvement over 1967. Whenever Jordanian armor encountered Israeli armor-and these were mostly even fights in both numbers and types of tanks engaged-the Jordanians either lost or, at best gained a draw which still favored the Israelis."(pg.334-335) There was simply little or no improvisation on plans that were drawn earlier.

There was only one minor flaw I found, this had nothing to do with what was written but with the book itself. The sofcover copy has a bit of a poor spine and doesn't do well under a little stress.

Pollack's book is as one review by Choice Magazine says, "[an] encyclopedic study will be of great interest to scholars, military planners and analysts, and policy makers." it really is a true encyclopedia chronicaling every major and minor conflict the above countries were involved in. Whether you are reading because you love military or Middle East history, this book is for you. I couldn't recommend Pollacks book more.

I am in agreement with the other reviewers that this is a very good history of the US/Philippine War that should be more broadly read. Parallels with Vietnam and the present oily Iraqi War are eerie: attacks on the patriotism of war critics to silence them, support of the wide spread use of various tortures against the adversary including "The Chinese Water Treatment" (aka "Chinese Water Torture"--from which "Waterboarding" is only a variation), the excusing of massacres of civilians by American soldiers, etc. There truly is nothing new under the sun when it comes to these dirty little 3rd world wars. I'm reminded of the poet Robinson Jeffers' poem "Blood Lakes." So many blood lakes and we always fall in--with apologies to Jeffers' spirit if I've essentially misquoted him.

Perhaps we can overcome our national "Altzheimer's" on the issue of these 3rd world colonial/neo-colonial wars and stay out of them when the next opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, I would settle for our exit from the present Iraqi mess with all due and reasonable speed. America's moral force and image in the world is not improved by our involvement in such bloody horrors.

A very interesting story about the American armies attempt to end the Phillipine insurgency that broke out in the wake of the Spanish-American war. Originally allied with the Americans the Phillipinoes were angry that the U.S had promised indpedendence and from their point of view, reneged on the promise. An insurgency broke out and the American army used classic anti-insurgency methods to break it, including creating institutions and providing incentives for the people not to back it, as well as combatting it. Famous figures such as Roosevelt, Taft, Pershing and Macarthur's father were involved. This is an important part of American history that is often forgotten.

Seth J. Frantzman

This book reviews the politics and media surrounding the actions by the US in the Philippines following the Spanish-American war. It gives great insight into the propaganda used to sell the war to the American pubic and to obfuscate the atrocities that American soldiers committed there. Miller paints a fascinating picture of egocentric American political and military commands steeped in duplicity and self-delusion; these patterns will be interesting and familiar to any student of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

The material is sourced mainly from newspaper editorials, political speeches, congressional inquiries and the letters of politicians and high ranking military figures.
This book will not tell you anything about what the war was like for the soldiers on the ground, American or Philippino. It won't tell you much about tactics. It won't teach you anything about Philippine culture of the time, either.

This book is an excellent general history of the American invasion and conquest of The Philippines in 1898-1902. The author immersed himself in private letters, official hearings, and newspaper editorials from the era. The result of this research is a compelling picture of a sleazy and violent episode in American history, when Republican politicians launched a war to boost their prospects in the 1898 midterm elections. The book is timelier than ever after 9/11, since imperialism has come back into vogue in the guise of anti-terrorism -- anyone who has illusions about America's "innocence" today should read Miller's accounts of atrocities and racism circa 1900.

I gave the book four stars instead of five only because the narrative is based almost exclusively on U.S. sources. In particular, Miller's endless rehashing of imperialist and anti-imperialist newspaper editorials gets quite old at times.

This book was originally from 1982, written in a time of post-Vietnam regret. However, this book may have picked up on themes, very much in the U.S. press in the period of the Philippines war of a century ago, that are suddenly current in fall 2005: systematic use of torture by American forces (particularly the "water cure"); carelessness with the lives of civilians in the battle zones; denunciation of Americans with doubts about the war as unpatriotic or traitorous; the denial of normal legal due process to an enemy deemed too savage and inferior to be worthy of it; considerable confusion on the events where U.S. forces transpose one war (i.e., Spain 1898 or War on Terror 2001) into a new one (the Philippines in 1899 or Iraq today) more by act of U.S. will than enemy action. The author does stretch some comparisons between the Philippines war and Tonkin Gulf and My Lai, but given the events of Operation Iraqi Freedom the book seems eerily more relevant now.

Another reviewer has noted that Mr. Miller's research was almost entirely from U.S. sources. That does take it down from five stars but we should remember that this book, as with the Iraq war, is more about the U.S. mind-set than about the other side. Thus the book's tone is a bit as lurid as the press of that day but it is startling how the U.S. public read this news coverage year after year and then -- as Mr. Miller notes -- forgot. We might wind up putting Iraq out of mind as well, its veterans and victims as forgotten and neglected as those of 1902, a point Mr. Miller does us a favor by raising. Scary.

I waited almost a year for a new edition of Beyond Fusion to be printed that was affordable - $130 was just too expensive. Now that I've seen the USA edition, I can say it was well worth the wait. Rainer really knows how to inspire a novice chef (like myself). Bravo!!!

The book has wonderful photography but the main beauty lies in the application of ideas. It invokes the imaginative side of cookery. After reading it, I am urged to explore cookery beyond culturally accepted norms. I feel that the whole basis is totally about the combination of western and eastern styles of cooking to produce a unique food that goes beyond traditional boundaries. Even different sub-cultures are mixed in cooking to create something palatable to all. It is truly beyond the melding of East and West. The book shows us how the combination of cooking ideas can actually work. It is creativity at its best. Wonderful.

" Beyond Fusion " is a beautiful , if slightly expensive , book.
This book is top of the top-end cooking books.The photography is
a delight to the eye, the recipes creative, overall an outstanding book.

This is a very nice Asian fusion book.

The photos are very good, and recipes are generally simple, straightforward, and remarkably concise...a pleasure!

Techniques are suitable for intermediate level cooks, as beginners are not likely to go for finding and assembling the varied ingredients.

Main drawback is if you live outside of Asia or away from an Asian market to get your taro, chicken feet, red dried dates, wolfberries, astragalus root, Chilean bellflower, it's going to be a long search...and that's just for making Black Chicken Herbal Broth! Don't despair, you can even start on Asian Dried Fruit Dipped in Chocolate, and make Mango and Jackfruit Spring Rolls.

I bought this on the basis of the rave reviews, and just have found other fine Asian/Asian Fusion books with similar fine qualities, for less money, and with simpler recipes.

Rainer's credentials are impressive. Renowned chef Pierre Koffmann refers to him as one of the most brilliant young chefs to graduate his restaurant La Tante Claire in Chelsea (London). In addition to this culinary confirmation, Rainer has traveled and worked thoughout Asia, North America and Europe. So who better to iron out some of the wrinkles in the confusion over fusion than a chef who has first hand experience of working within a multitude of cultures and countries?

To set the scene the cookbook begins with a journey through an Asian wet market "the Temple to which the majority of Asian housewives make their daily pilgrimage for fresh food, household wares and other necessities." Wet markets offers every commodity that a cook could desire; produce, seafood, spices - even live chickens wait to be bought, slaughtered and plucked. To many chefs in Asia the pilgrimage to a wet market serves as the fuel that fires their imagination.

This well written piece puts the reader in the mood for the next five chapters of recipes. The chapters are logically categorized offering; soups and laksa (Asian noodle soups), vegetables, fish and seafood, meat and poultry and finally sweets.

The skills and techniques used in each of the dishes varies - the recipes suit cooks of every level. The Thai Red Curry Cappuccino proved to be delicious and the Kataifi Prawns is a really simple multi purpose dish that would be a good addition to anyone's home repertoire or a great snack for professional chef to add to their bar menu.

Each creation is accompanied by a brief narration from Rainer and complimented with inspirational photography courtesy of the author's friend Shekar. The lay out of the book is colorful and simple, finishing with a few "notes" from the chef. In this final part of the book Rainer explains some of his basic philosophies and credits the hard work of those who made the book possible.

To summarize - if you want to understand or love fusion food or are a true cookbook lover, Beyond Fusion will make a fantastic addition to your library.

The large format publication is awesome. The artwork is of excellent quality and serves as inspiration for joyful meditation sessions.

What a beautiful, sacred and incredible collection of artwork. The book is absolutely stunning!

I've owned this book for 7 years. I admit that I love the art --the mandalas are beautiful. Romio Shrestha is a good MANAGER of good artists (I've never seen him actually PAINT a mandala HIMSELF, and even he admits that the mandalas are painted by monks he has "commissioned.")

And Ian Baker's text to this book is extraordinary.

BUT -- and these are some BIG concerns:

INACCURACY: The mandalas contain numerous inaccuracies in them, and do not reflect deity or yogic practices as accurately, precisely or in as much detail as do the works of many others who actually PRACTICE the Dharma (which Romio does not) -- day in and day out -- see, for example, thangkas painted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama's personal thangka artist in Dharamsala, or even more Western-accessible Andy Weber.

AS IMPORTANTLY: I've met Romio Shrestha. He is a player, a wanna-be playboy, and a charlatan -- a cheap imitation of what non-discerning and gullible Westerners will believe a tantric master to be, or a self-appointed swamiji or yogi. When I met Romio the first time, he was at an international WOMEN's peace conference, lurking about, pretending to be a yogi or swami, chanting mantras and "casting spells" on sacred pendants -- all a pretext for the fact that he was stoned out of his gourd.

All he was doing (I saw this, first-hand) was smoking pot in a hotel room designated for the media production team -- trying to pick up women!!!

Romio tried to come on to me by chanting the Ganesha mantra while holding and offering to me a cheap fake silver Ganesh pendant. I recognized the pendant instantly as identical to the handfuls of pendants I had picked up on my many trips to India, dozens of years previously. The main problem for Romio was twofold: (1) I am intimately familiar with the Ganesh mantra -- Ganesh is one of my protector deities!; and (2) as a longtime practitioner of a Kriya Pranayam meditation practice, a longtime Tibetan Tantric practitioner (I keep my samaya), and with live-wire activated Kundalini, I am INTIMATELY familiar with energy player PRETENDERS.

As soon as I chanted the Ganesha mantra back to him, Heart wide-open, staring him directly in the eyes the whole time -- he scurried away, like a cockroach does when the light is turned on.

I bear Romio no ill will. Romio is, ultimately, pretty harmless to most people (except pretty young things, whom he will try to pick up by his pretense of being a "tantric master.") He's got trickster energy -- which can actually be quite fun, when it's recognized and acknowledged as such by the person who is the container for it (rather than some kind of "high teacher" egoic pretense). The bottom line is that he has NO genuine spiritual juice, NO genuine foundation in Tibetan tantric practices, and he is FAR from being a genuine spiritual master, of any kind.

The art he helps bring into the world is beautiful. But his schtick? Kindly stated, it's mundane at best.

Things are never as they seem . . . especially where spiritual materialism is concerned.

Thanks for listening -- to my humble opinion, of course! :)

I have a modest collection of new, good-quality Thangka ($150 to $400, up to 25"), but the quality of the Thangka displayed in this collection are beyond my price and size range. If you are considering buying a Thangka, get this book first to see how high the bar can go. No faded antiques here. For the most part the book's format is one page text, one page painting, but some intricate Thangka such as the "Wheel of Life" are broken down and explained in more detail.

The near poster sized book of mandalas is truly perfect for the subject. Traditionally done in sand to mirror the transcient nature of life and beauty, this book is wonderful to behold. One can easily frame the individual plates but it's not merely a bound poster book. The text is nicely written and informative. The mandalas are really first rate, so intricate and detailed, that they transcend even beauty. It's surprisingly heavy (nice glossy paper) for a book that is the thickness of a children's book. Best displayed open to your favorite page.

... No psycho-drama authorship trying to turn historical facts into "entertaining history". This book takes the documented history of the Vietnam air war, thoughtfully analyzes the data, and presents rational conclusions that can be used as lessons for the future. This is "intelligent history" at its best. Well-done!

This book is an excellent account of the "corporate" deficiencies of the USAF in the late 60's and early 70's. The deficiencies of the air-to-air missiles in the Vietnam war are strikingly similar to the deficiencies of the torpedos in the USN in the first two years of WWII. Equally striking was the smug attitude of the service about the superiority of US aircraft ("The F-86 had a 13:1 kill ratio over the MiG-15. Who cares that they slaughtered the F-84s?") and the poor pilot training that occurred for both USAF and USN F-4 drivers. The MiG-21 was indeed a nasty surprise. With a higher thrust-to-weight ratio and a lower wing loading, it could both out-accelerate and out-turn F-105s and F-4s. The only American advantage was a higher clean top speed, and external ordinance stores and fuel tanks often abrogated this. The MiG-21 had poor visibility, and a short range, but was an excellent point defense interceptor that transitioned well from bomber defense to dog fighting. (As an aside to the book, with modern electronics, the MiG-21/Lancer and MiG-21/2000 are excellent low-cost fighters today, but each air-air missile will cost you as much as the airframe!) The book details both the combat adaptations that worked (jamming pods, IFF interrogators) and the effective efforts of the USN and criminal negligence of the USAF (and I write as an ex-USAF officer) to improve dog fighting capabilities between the end of Rolling Thunder in 1968 and Linebacker I/II in 1972. The Navy instituted the Top Gun school and made effective modifications to the AIM-9 Sidewinder - the Air Force made a couple of ineffective changes to the AIM-9 and some moderately good ones to the AIM-7, though much of the better performance of the latter during Linebacker was due to higher engagement altitudes resulting from the use of laser guided bombs for the strike packages. He does make the point in the end that the USAF attitude improved after Vietnam when the junior officers of that war increased in seniority and that the introduction of AWACS and trading top speed for maneuverability and visibility in the new generation of fighters cured many of the deficiencies seen in the Vietnam war. A minor objection is that the book does not refer to officers below general rank by name.

This is simply the best book on the air war over thenorth. Here you found both technichal datas, doctrinal debate and combat history. Michel style is dry, he ocnentrates on fact rayther than personal memoir or oral history, but reading this book you will have the best picture of the actal missions over the North Vietnam. Tha autohrs follow the history of the air war both from US and DRV perspective comparing airacraft, weapons and doctrines. The book is full of detial form the advantages and disavanteges of the various aricrafts to the dreaded flight four USAF formation. He actually dispel some myths (especially adressoing the real effectiveness of the SAM defense). If you are interested in air war this book is a must.

Clashes deals with the air war over North Vietnam, something I've had a fascination with for some time. Why, because I wanted to understand why servicemen were put into a dangerous position and what did really happen. To help answer this, Col. Michel takes on the entire air war over North Vietnam (Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I, and Linebacker II). Rather than looking at it from the cockpit view (ala Thud Ridge: F-105 Thunderchief missions over Vietnam or When Thunder Rolled), Col. Michel takes us up to the operations level and provides a good high level breakdown of many of the raids and the engagements between fighters and the North Vietnamese air defenses. The book is divided into two parts (Rolling Thunder and Linebacker) with subsections focusing on different components (both parts use equipment used, early engagements, later engagements, and summary). In each of subsection, Col. Michel does a very good job describing what is occurring and what the Americans and North Vietnamese are doing. In addition to describing engagements, Col. Michel does a great job describing the involvement of EC-121's (College Eye/Disco) and Red Crown (a naval ship controlling the fighters) and their impact on the fight. Unlike other history's, Clashes does not name the pilots involved, rather their radio call signs are used.

Parts I Loved:
Clashes gives us much information about the aircraft involved, the abilities of the men flying them (their training and tactics), and the environment they're fighting in. I loved the drawings, they do an excellent job showing the differences between a fluid four and a loose deuce. I also loved Col. Michel including the technical aspects; performance test of captured MiG's, the Command and Control aspect (often overlooked), and the power and effect of jamming.

Parts I Wish Were a Little Stronger:
Iron Hand missions were a little on the weak side. I have a love and fondness for Wild Weasels and wish that more had been brought out about their support of the missions and how they operated (I'm sorry, this was weak in comparison to the attention paid to Chaff bombers). I also wish more had been brought out about rescue missions and the work they did there.

Bottom Line
Rating wise, this is a very solid 4.5 star book. I am giving it the node to 5 for Amazon purposes, but for my personal rating I can't rate it up there with Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific by Eric Bergerud (I'm sorry, Fire in the Sky is my personal favorite or telling the story of an air war. Clashes though is right behind it!). I understand why Col. Michel focused heavily on the air-to-air engagements and for the insight he provides there this a solid 5 star book. No matter, if you want to know about the Vietnam Air War (mainly in Pack's 5 and 6), then this is the book for you.

"Clashes:Air Combat over North Vietnam 1965-1972" is the best book I have ever read on aerial combat over North Vietnam and one of the best books I have read on aerial combat in general. It provides an excellent analysis of what went right and what went wrong in the skies over North Vietnam. I was truly amazed to read how often the air to air missiles, especialliy the AIM-7 Sparrow, malfunctioned. For anyone interested in aerial combat, this excellent book is a must!

My son kept checking this book out at the library, then I found an awesome price at amazon and bought it for him last Christmas we have read it so many times that my 5yo has memorized it, great book for the whole family to sit down together and read

This is a fun story of a monkey who wants some bananas from a tree but has to cross a sea of crocodiles to do it. By counting the crocodiles, (and ultimately outsmarting the crocodiles) the monkey does just that. It has become a family favorite. It has increased our little's girls awareness of counting and her phonemic awareness through the rhyming words.

When we borrowed this from the library, we read it several times per day, and my kids were begging to keep it when it was time to return it. Now we have to buy a copy for ourselves, plus one for a gift. The rhymes are better than clever--maybe even brilliant! With the catchy rhythm, this was easily the most fun book I've ever read with my kids. My four-year-old daughter was soon reading it to her brother, with the help of the fantastic illustrations. All in all, a very fun book that will thrill young and old!

Counting Crockodiles is a great book. My 3 year old loves it. It is his favorite book. We read it EVERY night before bed. The pictures are colorful and the animals keep his attention. He likes that the words rhyme. He looks at it so much I am ready for another copy.

As a mother of a 3 year old daughter and an early childhood educator, this is probably my most favorite book available.

The story revolves around a monkey who spies a banana tree on an island across the way and tricks the crocodiles into making a bridge for him to go over and retrieve some bananas. Each page is very colorfully illustrated and is told in a very catchy poetic form. Through the story you count crocodiles from one to ten and back again. The book is short but puts a smile on your face all the way through.

This story is excellent for teaching values, sequence in stories and in counting, and is a great introduction to crocodiles. A huge fan of The Crocodile Hunter, my daughter finds this story entertaining, and is one of the only stories she asks me to read over and over. It's nice because this is one of the only stories I like reading over and over!

This is a heartfelt, heartwarming family saga of an immigrant Japanese American family and their struggle to survive despite war, racism, poverty, farming misfortunes, and many obstacles that would have defeated the toughest among us. It is a story of hope, devotion, love, faith, endurance and steadfastness against staggering circumstances that the World War II era had to offer new Japanese immigrants as well as native born Nisei Japanese Americans. While the protagonists are a Japanese family, their story has many commonalities that will resonate with any family that came with little and struggled to achieve the American dream. Everyone alive could only hope to have as remarkable a family as the Sato clan. Congratulations Kiyo on telling your story so well.

It was a great read. Both poignant and humorous at times. Personally knowing the family made it even more enjoyable. My reading group is now involved in reading it and more are asking to read. One of the group has purchased a copy for herself to keep. There were several issues of which I was not aware. Knowing the area, I could picture all that happened.

I am a caucasian American of German descent who grew up on the east coast in the 60's. I had heard, vaguely, about the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII, and I was always a bit curious about it, but it's not as if my own history brought me to this book predisposed to hang on its every word. Yet hang on every word I did; I was desperately short of sleep three nights in a row because I read until my eyes closed. I would love to make this required reading for all citizens, especially in our current time of mistrust against Middle Eastern immigrants. Not only did I love the family Ms. Sato described, I loved their farm, their trees, their dogs. I felt very strongly her family's hopes and bewilderment, and I rooted hard for their triumphs. She writes in a very poetic voice, and it creates out of her family's story a sort of literary flower, individual, delicate and beautiful. Don't miss this book.

I've finished "Dandelion through the Crack." It is a book that should be ready by everyone. I especially became personally inthralled because I lived in the area she spoke of 25 years ago. This book really should be required reading for history. I wasn't born and didn't live in CA during the interment but as an older adult I had become aware of our country's paranoia and the shameful thing they did. In her straightforward yet eloquent style she so clearly describes her family and their circumstances. And yet she does not dwell on the negative. In its reading I was able to appreciate the hard work, love of family, and quiet dignity with which they are noted.

Readers might expect a book about being banished to an internment camp to be depressing, but Dandelion is not the story you would expect. First and foremost, it's a heartwarming story about an American immigrant family's daily life on the family farm in Sacramento.

Here you have the young man, Shinji Sato, coming to America with nothing, working as a farm laborer to make a living and save for the future. After a few years, he returns home to marry, and realizes America is his new home. Together, he and his new bride, Tomomi, return to California to farm and raise a family. Against great challenges and prejudice, they manage to lease and then buy a farm, build a home, and raise award-winning strawberries and grapes, as well as other crops.

Kiyo is the eldest child of this struggling young family, and her portrait of their family life is intimate and touching. She describes the hard work in the fields, playing on the farm, the family baths in an enormous hot tub, daily meals and holiday dinners prepared together, school days in a one-room schoolhouse, church life and neighbors, and her dad's wonderful stories and haiku poetry which the children could not get enough of.

Into the middle of this sweet, idyllic family life and a now thriving farm, World War II intrudes. The family is forced to give up everything for the duration of the war and live in an arid, dusty concentration camp in Arizona. Yet even in this, these Japanese-Americans survived and transformed the desert into a garden and their prison camp into a town and the semblance of a home.

The return to their homes and farms after the war brought many heartbreaks and struggles as families like Kiyo's had to start over again. Many had lost everything, yet in true American fashion, they were indomitable in spirit and managed to struggle back and rebuild their homes and their places in the community.

Kiyo Sato's book is destined to become a classic. As the cliche goes, I laughed and I cried when I read it because in presenting such an intimate portrait, Kiyo makes the reader feel like a member of the family. Their struggles, their losses, their joys, and their successes seem almost as though they are our own. Their story is unique to their situation, yet it is also the timeless story of a typical American family, the story of modern-day American pioneers.

Don't miss this book. It's a book you will remember for a lifetime.

Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family"by Yoshiko Uchida deals with a Japanese-American family who were sent to concentration camp during World War II as Japanese-Americans at that time were considered to be potential "spies" for the Japanese government. Uchida started off with introduction to her family, of how her parents met, and how California became their home. Even though she was raised with Japanese values and ideals, she was at the same time an American who can barely speaks Japanese. Her world was turned upside down when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Japanese-Americans were sent to concentration camp for fear that they could endanger the national security. This violates their Constitutional rights but there were no public support for their fellow citizens. It was indeed racist of the government as German-Americans were not sent to any concentration camps even though the United States was fighting Germany. The Japanese-Americans had to swallow their pride and dignity and were moved to barracks that were bare and ill-equipped. They were placed behind the fence, guarded by MPs and basically were treated as prisoners. Uchida's vivid descriptions of their living conditions were both horrifying and shocking.

"Desert Exile" was used by my professor for a History of American West class. This is truly an eye-opener as most Americans are unaware of their fellow citizens' ordeal and treatment. The Japanese-American loss was immeasurable. Not only did they lose financially (from selling their homes hastily), they lost touch with friends and relatives, lost their pride and lost confidence in their government. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the ordeal of the Japanese-Americans during World War II. It is extremely well-written, eloquent and easy to understand.

I had to read a memoir for my 8th grade English class. This book was about Yoshiko Uchida's Japanese American family, who were put in camps during World War II. I chose this book because I was very interested in the war, which put over 8,000 Japanese American people into old race tracks and deserts. Yoshiko was placed in two different camps, one in Northern California and the other Utah, both the same: over stuffed with people and nowhere to cry.

Even though she suffered a lot while in the camps, Yoshiko learned that all the things in life, are worth living. She was a student, about to graduate from UC Berkeley, when they were taken off and disconnected from the "American's". They were stuck in the camps for a whole year, with no where to cry without someone seeing you.

This book gave too much background before the war, but when the war hit, the book got much more interesting and exciting.

Lori Sue
Northern California

"Desert Exile" is a wonderful book that is easy to read, yet totally enjoyable. A perfect book for a family to share together and talk about.

I was very interested in finding a book that wasn't just dry history. I wasn't born in this time period of World War II, so I was really eager to find a book relating to this topic. Possibly learning about someone who lived through this time period, something a little like Ann Frank's Diary.

My initial thoughts were, this book would be interesting learning about history without any government interference with the conditions of the camps. In fifth grade I made friends with my best friend who had just moved from Japan and her family was getting aquainted with the United States. I interviewed her mom on how she was liking America and the one resp9onse that really stuck out was, I have so much Freedom.

In the Book I realized that many Japanese Families experienced Racism from many nationalities. Children were taken out of school and from colleges. For a few years the students that were attending Universities were no longer able to graduate with their friends.

Having a friend from Japan gave me an extra push to read the book. To my surprise, I couldn't believe that families were living in horse stalls and that people did not have proper barials if they did die while in the camp.

The beginning of the book started off with how this Japanses-American Family pushed their way through life in America and tells us about their family success. At the end of the book I found that some of these Japanese American Families were actually more patriotic than many American families.

Ms. Uchida chronicles a personal account of a dark day in American history during WWII, when thousands of American citizens were herded into unspeakable conditions, purely on the basis of their race and ancestry.

The book is well written, portraying the bi-cultural life she led and the incarceration she, her family and thousands like her were forced into under the guise of well-sounding euphemisms. Her story must be read by all who need to know that part of American history and the desire to see that no such evil ever gets repeated.