Asian Books

After cringing through the first half of the book where north African Arabs horrifically persecute the Jews, it was a relief when I finally came to accounts of courageous Arabs, although not many, who helped them. I found this book difficult to put down. I hardily recommend it.

Before I go too deeply into this book, two general observations right off the top.

Firstly, considering all that has been written about the Second World War in its magnitude, to have a relatively untouched subject such as this be brought to light at this late date is truly welcome and laudable. Secondly, as I've often noted, an unfortunate side-effect of the coverage justifiably given to the evils of the Holocaust has been a certain infrequently-admitted desensitizing to the horror of the mass murder at its heart, and this new study of that period helps reawaken some comprehension of the utter dimension of cruelty that was behind the atrocities.

This book and its true stories of Arabs as rescuers of persecuted Jews (and sometimes as pro-Fascist collaborators who oppressed the Jews in North African labor camps) is a meaningful read for any scholar, or for the curious-minded. Telling tales of bravery in a time of great danger, there are many feel good moments, foremost Tunisian statesman Mohamed Chenik's clever and brave duel of wits and nerves with the occupying Nazis, courage on his part that saved Jewish lives, but there is also a scattering of disheartening tales, too, showing no culture has a monopoly on indecency.

I think anyone who deems peace between Jews and Arabs to be impossible would do well to consult the history recorded here. Not only is it a fact that traditionally Jews received better treatment when dwelling in Muslim nations than in Christian ones, but many Muslims regarded the slaying of Jews, identified in the Koran as "a People of the Book" to be a direct sin against God. Furthermore, I also think it's a sad fact that so many Muslims who worked to assist their Jewish countrymen later denied their roles, lest they suffer repercussions at the hands of reactionary fanatics intent on waging war on Judaism and those seen as soft on it. Progress may not be a constant in human affairs, but a book like this is fuel for the light of optimism.

The "righteous" would be those who risked their lives to help the unfortunate....in this case Arab Jews during the holocaust. We remember the WWII battles in North Africa. We may forget that they were necessary because the Germans and Italians controlled those areas that were at the time colonies and only became nations post WWII. Because there have been no stories about righteous people rescuing Jews in those countries, Robert Satloff set out to find them. He did find some and he also opened up a whole area of research because he is sure there are many he did not find. That said, however, he had trouble finding descendents in families who would admit this heroism. Apparently this kind of heroism is so unpopular these days that a family would rather not be known as heroic. This leaves one extremely depressed.

One interesting fact I learned is that the definition of the word "Zionism" is completely different in Moslem countries than it is elsewhere in the world. Here we see it as another word for Israeli nationalism. There it means, "the purposeful infliction of pain and suffering on Arabs and Muslims." Wow! No wonder we have so much trouble acquiring peace in the region! So let's abandon the term and simply say there are two countries there that need to have borders established.

By all means read the book. It does depress one a bit, but it also shows that simple humanity is possible. Let us build on our common humanity.

Robert Satloff follows Germany's genocide plan to wipe out the Jews in North Africa during World War II. As in European countries, some neighbors helped the Nazis and others helped the Jews, either colaborating with the Nazis or risking their own lives helping the Jews of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Satloff did intense research and traveled to the locations of the labor camps and communities. He gives the reader a complete picture and a very well written history.

I received this book "Among the righteous" as a gift through amozon.com from dear friends who knew of my background. I am of North African origin. Upon a preliminary examination of this book I was taken to my childhood and the fairy tale story of "The wolf & the lamb" hung over my mind. It was probably a way to trigger a defense mechanism to just get me ready to what I was about to read. Linking 9/11, the holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel together was a bad start.

Some of the stories of local inhabitants and occupational forces interactions are presented. Some were positive and some were negative. It is a mix. The author divided by choice the local inhabitants into two parts only - the Jewish and the Arabic part - but reality was otherwise. The stories were documented to the best possibilities available at hand but they were not far off of the norm available at the time. Similar stories are available throughout history of the region from the time of "The Barbary coast" through the independence of the North African nations. One of the best examples readily available is the story of the Emir Abdelkader. (A town Elkader, Iowa is named after him).

The author did not find any evidence of "death camps" but plenty of evidence of "Forced labor camps". These Forced labor camps had Jewish people in them but they were not exclusively Jewish. To my knowledge those camps were present throughout the occupation time. (They were certainly present before 1935). It would have been very interesting to find out more about them from the archives of the governments of France, Italy and Germany. The author limited himself to the occupied body without attempt to get information from the occupiers' brains. It may be a topic of a future book. Some of those camps sadly continued to be used even after the independence of the North African countries.

The author indulges himself gratuitously here and there in local stereotypes which were not necessary. The best example is on page 66 were he labeled people who helped him as Algerian black marketeers. If you believe that 4 Algerian black marketeers can drive a truck in Morocco's borders day time and stop to help you then I have a Brooklyn bridge to sell you.

The last chapter is more political than historical. The author discusses the politics of the day in the Middle East and justifies the creation of the state of Israel by "deserving" it (page164). Many states deserve to be created but not at the expense of others and the principal of self determination for any nation should be respected. The minute a link is made between the holocaust and the state of Israel creation john doe the Arab looses interest. Holding the position that Israel creation in the Middle East should be viewed as a "payment" for the holocaust is fictitious. Linking the two events at any level raises suspicion of agenda driven activism for muddying the water and not for clarifying the issues.

The holocaust is European and Europe cannot escape from its past.

I am glad that I read this book and I recommend it to others. It provides a flavor of some aspects of the lifestyle under the occupation in North Africa.

After 6 days in Siem Reap with a licensed guide, this book is 'Cliff Notes' to what the guide tells you. I don't recommend touring the temples without a licensed guide, unless you want a quick, superficial tour. The only book that contains info on the temple Koh Ker (3 hours from Siem Reap, built in 900 AD) & the Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary (2.5 hours by boat across Tonle Sap Lake). If you want to truly enjoy & understand the carvings, the history (Buddhist & Hindu) & culture of what you seeing, read this book before you depart (it's too heavy to take), hire a licensed guide (not a driver who cannot legally take you inside the temples) who is trained to explain how the temples were built (different materials & methods) & what the carvings depict (Hindu mythology, Buddhist kings). Then when you return, reread the sections on the temples you visited... and it will bring back a flood of images & memories. Floor plans are confusing, pictures scant, but her historical descriptions & distances are accurate, lesser known, less touristy temples are included for the adventurous or art lover.

Excellent, up-to-date info. on all sites; very detailed and accurate text on history and culture. Very informative for architects, historians, and other people interested in more profund knowledge/ facts. Far better than the other guides I've read!

One of the best guides that I have read. Very good background, history, religion,and description of the sites. In short, a great book.

So many books available on Angkor ... and I bought Dawn Rooney's! I am just delighted with my choice. The photos and the scope of material covered in the book are so comprehensive. Would really love to spend days and days seeing it all! Maybe some day ....

This book is an absolute necessity for visiting Angkor, at least if one has an interest in archaeology. In fact, knowing what I know now, I would have skipped hiring a guide and just rented a bicycle with this book as my guide. It is comprehensive, well-illustrated (although the illustrations are not always tied to the adjacent text--my most serious complaint about the book), and has the right balance between academic and popular interest. It is well-worth the extra weight involved in taking it along to Asia (I wish they had used cheaper paper and binding to make it lighter, but then the pictures wouldn't have been so inviting). Maps and organization make it easy to use, although the index sometimes is off by a page or two--perhaps they didn't update it all from the 4th ed. At any rate, it is far superior to all other guides I found on the subject.

Excellent book! I wish I had known about this book before I went to Angkor Wat.

Angkor, Celestial temples of the Khmer Empire is a photobook limited to the Angkor Site and some outlining temples. Although the quality of the photo's is excellent, the book itself with regards to the informative value is disappointing. An exception to this is the chronology of sites. Angkor: Temples et monumentsThe Treasures of Angkor: Cultural Travel Guide (Rizzoli Art Guide)Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)Ancient Angkor (River Book Guides)Angkor Cities and Temples

I purchased three books on Angkor Wat after my week visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia and this book was by far the best I have seen. The photos are excellent and the narration in very informative. It is expensive but worth it.

Wow, what a spectacular book, truly amazing. I was blown away by the quality of the photography, the reader actually feels like they are in the jungle amid the ruins of Angkor. I have never visited Angkor Wat and probably never will, but after experiencing this book, I feel somehow that I have been there. The quality of the book is superior and the book even comes in a wonderful case. The publisher should be congradulated, it's a luxurious book. Some books are extremely expensive and you wonder why, I can assure you, you will not ask that about this one. If you have any interest in this subject or just like to own beautiful things I urge you to purchase this book, it will be a jewel in your book collection

Through his magical photographic eye, Jon Ortner has created a wondrous collection of striking images and scholarly prose. His perfectly lit photographs and well-documented historic descriptions allow one to easily understand this complicated ancient subject. Each temple is clearly organized into relevant sections from the central Angkor area to the rare and never-before-seen temples in the outer lying areas. If you have visited Angkor - Ortner's book is the perfect addition to your library. Or, if you have not visited, this book provides the perfect impetus.

Major Terry's personal account of his experience in the Korean "Police Action" put color into the black and white images
many "baby-boomers" have of this war. His descriptive prose (written in the vernacular of the 50's) provides the reader with a visceral feeling of the pain and simple pleasures experienced by combat troops. This book is user-friendly with it's explanation, use and application of military jargon for readers who did not serve in the armed forces.

...that will, hopefully, serve to remind us of the committed men and women who fought and died during that awful "forgotten war" on that dirty little peninsula 50 years ago. As the child of a "Pusan Commando," I have often wondered about the war that my father was so reluctant to speak of. Mr. Terry vividly illustrates that war, and wastes no time writing eulogies or second-guessing the policies of the time. He tells of the events, and little more, in a concise manner reminiscent of Hemingway, with a down-home ease and matter-of-fact manner that is sure to drawn in the reader. This book is for the Korean War what THE LONGEST DAY was for WWII. A must read for anyone.

This first-hand account begs the ultimate question facing us today:

What if we hadn't flown in the so-called "unprepared and un-equipped Army troops from Japan to hold the Pusan perimeter? What if the ports were mined, our ships blocked by fast patrol boats and thousands of miles away? What if we had waited for ships to arrive?

The answer is the North Koreans would have over-ran the South and the U.S. would have accepted this as fait accompli. Look what we did when the Chinese Communists ran the Nationalist Chinese off to the island of Taiwan a few years earlier in 1949.

Today, this is why we have a U.S. Army 2d Infantry Division and an 8th Army Headquarters on the ground in Korea today--so America is not interdicted and forced to "cut and run" either strategically or on the battlefield where BOTH Soldiers and marines oriented to fighting a linear war had to retreat or else be encircled and annihilated by superior numbers of enemy swarming across rugged mountain/hill terrain. Today, we will stand at fight, just like the gallant men of the first Korean War did. South Korea would have been lost to Communism had it not been for U.S. Army Soldiers like Addison Terry "going as is when he was called". It was men like him who then held the Pusan perimeter for weeks so we could assemble the ships together to do General MacArthur's Inchon maneuver warfare masterpiece, cutting off the enemy deep in their own rear and retaking he capital of Seoul. However, we will not have weeks and months again in the future to do this amphibious stunt again.

The lesson of this book is that we have to have AIR-delivered U.S. Army forces ready NOW to fly to the aid of U.S. Army and AF forces already on the ground "holding the perimeter"--let's not lose sight of the fact that these kinds of forces saved the day in Korea long ago, as unready as would have like them to be in favor of allegedly better forces that cannot get there at all or in time in a world that moves by the speed of the air where surface ship wakes are seen from space and targeted by mines, missiles, patrol boats and modern diesel-electric "ultra stealthy" submarines.

The nemy thought in 1950, that he could "smash and grab" South Korea before we could get men on the ground to stop him. Men like Addison Terry proved them wrong.

Addiston Terry served with the 27th Infantry in the Korean conflict. I served in the 27th Infantry in World War II. The knowledge that we were both "Wolfhounds" led me to read the book despite the fact that my previous experiences with war reminisces even by other "Wolfhounds" had been disappointments. I was happy to find that Terry had done a great job of reporting the essencs of war. His reports of a group of poorly trained, poorly equiped and under strength Companies and Batallions is brutaly true and should be (although history says it won't) a lesson to every American Citizen that maintaining strong military ground force is a must. Terry depliction of military life with its hours of boredum and moments of sheer terror, as well as the continuning hunger and always present need for sleep are excelent. I would recomend this book to every veteran and in particula to other Wolfhounds regardless of the war in which they served.

TERRY'S BOOK IS SO good I'm at a loss to give it all the praise it deserves in the framework of a brief review. He has an engaging style of writing--cuddle up with this book in an easy chair. The description of the battles is crisp; of the lulls, languid. His honesty is touching and much like Tom Sawyer ("I cried a little bit when I covered up his face") he doesn't smother you with descriptions of casualties. You respect Terry's dignity (and that of the wounded or dying) for this brevity. He only asks that you never forget. On those few occasions where he is tempted to write a bit of an epitaph ("Able had lost a good platoon leader, I had lost....") his words get in the way.

Everybody loves Terry for his stories of battles and combat. Why? Again, he lets the story tell the story. The effect is fantastic. If you are wondering why everything suddenly falls apart at Sachon Pass [earlier that morning his men were "red hot-- an untouchable force"], well you can keep wondering because Terry doesn't know, either. As you get the sense the whole situation is slipping out of control with an NKPA roadblock behind them and the flanks crackling with encircling fire, you get just as angry as the author does when he finds an artillery battery that doesn't even have a defensive perimeter in place.

So the whole book goes. The fog of war becomes fog in the text. The words become Terry's eyes and ears, through which the soul of the drama enters the soul of the reader.

The truth is the only way we can learn from the mistakes made in the Korean War. His Haman chapter handles the issue of the 24th ID's dereliction of duty with honesty and candidness. His disgust of 'civilian bureaucrats' in Washington is justified and palpable. I might point out the swollen military brass in Japan prior to the Korean War were just as pathetic. Some things will never change.

Overall the book is an excellent read. Korean War buff's might want to brush up on Norman Allen's ITEM company saga in Knox's book PUSAN TO CHOSIN. Both Allen and Terry were near Taegu when the NKPA pushed hard in mid August. Both love artillery ("100 yards left! Drop 200! Battery 3 rounds HE, 3 rounds WP, fire for effect.") and probably would have a great tablepounding evening if they could get together and share memories.

Easy to read and understand! Even my 8-year-old can follow steps in the book. Good price for the book and tools (brushes, paints and papers...)

The book is very good, but the brushes are of poor quality. Most of the other supplies are good. I will have to replace one or two of the brushes to use this kit.

This kit includes all of the items you need to get started. This kit, along with the book, The Chinese Brush Painting Bible: Over 200 Motifs with Step-by-Step Illustrated Instructions will make you proficient at Chinese Brush Painting.

This kit is great. I bought it and the Brush Painting for Animals so that my kids (7 and 11) and I could do some art together. The inkstone, ink, paints and brushes are really cool, in the words of the 11 year old. The instructions are good, and all you really need to add is a pad of newsprint paper ($1.59 at Hobby Lobby). As an introductory kit, this is great.

I was thrilled when I received my kit. It has everything you need to get started and specific details to help you along the way. In painting a flower, it even details how the brush stroke should look, which direction, how much pressure. All you need to complete a beautiful piece of art is yourself and some fun! Definitly recommend for beginners looking for help and ideas.

A top notch baking book that fuses European pastries with Asian ingredients: Imagine the richness of French desserts mixed with ingredients like green tea and ginger? This is a cookbook like no other.

Young Mo Kim began his adventures in baking when he was 17 years old. His passion brought him to pastry arts school. Before he was 30 years old, he opened his first bakery in Seoul, Korea. Currently, he has four bakeries and one cafe. Not only does he teach baking at culinary schools as well as to home bakers, he is also a celebrity chef on television. He is currently the president of the Korean Bakers Association. This is his third baking book, and the first one in English.

Not only are there fantastic photos of the finished product for each recipe, but also photos of each stage of creation, totally over 1000 photos! I find this extremely helpful when trying a completely new recipe.

Young Mo Kim's experience at teaching home bakers is quite evident. He explains the method to each recipe so well, anyone can try these recipes.

Chapters included in this book are: Simple Delights (cookies, pound cake and more); A World of Bread (croissants, scones, bagels and more); Fantastic Desserts (tarts, souffles and more); Cakes for Special Occasions (genoises, sponges, cheesecakes and more); Valentine's Day (chocolate); Holiday Treats (yule logs, fruit cake and more); ingredients; and equipment.

One of my favorite recipes is: Pumpkin Cake. It is very different from what we usually see. The cake is a layer cake with the cake part made of a pumpkin genoise. Instead of a cream cheese frosting, the cake is filled with a pumpkin mousse. It is topped with chantilly cream. The entire outside of the cake is covered in genoise powder and then utilizing a jack o lantern stencil and cocoa powder, there is a jack o lantern on the top of the cake!

Another tidbit about this book is that there are Dream Character characters that offer tips and ideas throughout the book. It's like getting a tiny bit of anime on each page!

For the home baker that is wanting an easy-to-read book that offers new ideas to baking your repertoire. This is a wonderful book!

UPDATE: Winner of a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2006 Best Desserts Book in the World on May 21st, 2006.

A COLLECTION OF FINE BAKING: THE RECIPES OF YOUNG MO KIM has recently been selected as the recipient for the 'Best Desserts Cookbook' category from Gourmand World Cookbook for 2005 - and it's easy to see why. Here are luscious-looking cookies, cakes, pastries and breads which pair beautiful professional color photos with a touch of professional style cooks at home can easily achieve. And herein lies the difference between A COLLECTION OF FINE BAKING and most competitors: most baking books are either geared for home cooks and lack professional finesse, or for pros - and lack accessibility by home cooks. A COLLECTION OF FINE BAKING easily straddles the line between pro and homemaker to provide both audiences with tips on how to produce professional results from a home kitchen. It's a 'keeper'.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

I've been a very serious home baker for last 7 years and enjoy baking very much. I'm a fan of this author and own all of his books. His first baking book was published in 2002(in Korean only!). Now, `A Collection of Fine Baking', is a brand new book and it is published only in English. I read from the Korean Daily article about this book and it said that it will be published in Korean sometime next year. I've already tried many of the recipes in this book and results are just incredible! Every recipe shows the step-by-step photos and demonstration from beginning to the ending. It was so easy for me to follow. This book explains each recipes in detail. you'll not make any mistakes when you follow these recipes. I just have to say... it is definitely a five star baking book and enjoying them very much.

A friend of mine bought me this book to prove to me that even I can bake! She is an excellent baker & I would never even try because I was always intimidated by her baking skills. Well, it turns out - even I can bake! This book or should I call it a baking road map helped me so much. The format of this book is great - it is inviting and does not scare the heck out of you when you open it up. Usually I say, I can't do this stuff. But this book is easy to read and understand. Each baking instruction has a corresponding picture to illustrate the steps. When I go through the recipes I feel like I have Young Mo Kim in the kitchen with me - teaching me - guiding me - helping me along the way. The characters were also very helpful providing tips & guidance & very funny at times. A cookbook with humor - what a concept!! I recommend this book highly and will probably give this as gift to my baking challenged friends and family.

My girlfriend bought this book for me after I said I wanted to try baking at home, and I was a little intimidated at first because all of the pictures looked so professional. But as soon as I dove in, I found that the recipes were very easy to follow, and my cakes ended up looking (almost) as good! But more importantly, they tasted phenomenal. The ingredients are always very specific, they don't want you to use just any old kind of flour. But I'm sure you could and it would still taste great! Anyway, I've made about a dozen of the recipes so far with very little trouble (any omissions were my own I'm sure)and I can't wait to try some of those delicious looking holiday cakes. If you love baking, do yourself a favor and buy this book. If I can use it, you can too!

This book is wonderful if you are going to get a tattoo of a certain Kanji it has tons to choose from. I use this book almost everyday.. this is by far one of my best purchases.

What a great book! The presentation of multiple styles definitely caught my eye as I fanned through the book the first time; I was hooked! The introduction is very well written, and each page thereafter imparts a wealth of information that is simply a joy to read.

I love "power" words - single words that encompass my thoughts and feelings - and kanji characters are a beautiful way to express them. I found 'Designing with Kanji' in my effort to design my next tattoo. When I did not find exactly what I was looking for in the book, I contacted Leza and she promptly responded with the characters I needed. Great book - great woman!

I have been an admirer for Oriental Culture, and willing to understand Chinesse and Japanese writing. This book is an excellent source which explains a lot of Kanji symbols, and has several notes about interesting facts about it. I recommend it to all people looking to introduce themselves into this enigmatic and wonderful language.
Antonio Sobalvarro

Easy to read, follow, and use right away. Shows formal, modern, flowing, and stylish character sets. Describes the root, meaning, and nature of common Japanese words and phrases. The calligraphy is excellent. I only wish it was longer and more encompassing. Among other things I use this book as a supplement to Write Your Name in Kanji text by Nobuo Sato to write the characters more elegantly.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

We had recently seen "The Last Samuri" so I was in the frame of mind to learn more about Japanese history and culture. I found this book on the Breakfast table one recent morning. The introduction and explanation of Kanji was clear and concise. This book provided a great beginning to the subject of how a culture influenced a language and how a language influenced a culture. I couldn't put it down for an hour or so. I'll refer to it often.

Mr. Kiesling is of course famous for his notable letter of resignation at the beginning of the latest Iraq adventure after which he left a 20 year career as a diplomat. Hearing the backstory of his departure alone would have been interesting enough reading. But, surprisingly, that story is only the introduction to the real book.

Diplomacy Lessons ends up being a tour-de-force about the modern craft of international affairs, a book that transmits both the soul of the profession and the technical details that make up getting along in a world transformed by globalization. Befitting the archaeogical background of its author, the book delves into international relations with a much more sweeping view, starting with Greek democracy and projecting into the future. Diplomacy Lessons goes beyond the shallow headlines of our news sources into what's really going on - not just back room details, but simple stuff like "Hey, there are reactionary nationalists in EVERY country." You get the immediate sense that this is the backstory you need in order to understand current events.

Not that it's an easy read. Probably to the reader's benefit, the book has not been overly edited to meet mass appeal. The text can be quite dense at times, and the organization can seem a bit haphazard. Then again, to leave much out would detract from the value it provides.

The author also adds choice phrases that can only come from a man never again considering a career in federal government such as "the flies gathered in swarms like defense contractors." Who knows if a big publishing house would have let such zingers go - but it adds to the color.

If you follow the news AT ALL, then BUY THIS BOOK.

I recieved this book as a Christmas present. It is certainly the kind of book I'm fond of reading. This was no exception. As a career diplomat, Kiesling sees the importance of projecting American inflence, but as the subtitle suggest he is "realistic" is how far this influence can go. However, his presenation gets repetitive in places and is needlessly wordy. For example, he included, as an appendix, his letter of resignation. You can see in the personal document that his natural writing style is rather verbose. Some of that style made it way into this book. Still an important addition to the bookshelf library. Four stars.

Kiesling's cogently and convincingly presented lessons are a useful read for anybody who takes an interest in foreign policy, but all our politicians, of BOTH parties, ought to read it. Unfortunately, very few of them will.

This is the BEST BOOK I have ever read on real world diplomacy. The combination of his feet on the ground experience and clear eyed view of American diplomacy is most powerful. I started writing down pithy, pertinent quotations as I read it through the second time, but I filled up too many notebook pages. Perhaps it will be best to read it yet again! Here are a few: "A politician who obeys the dictates of a hostile superpower is toast." "..local nationalism and resistance to outsiders trumps the call of ideology or religion." "Someone whose ego has been sandblasted by the humiliations of learning a language successfully from scratch as an adult is bettter at risking the reciprocal vulnerability required for relationship building."

I bought this book after seeing Mr. Kiesling speak about it in a bookshop on PBS. I was impressed by his sincerity and knew, from the chaos of our involvement in Iraq and elsewhere, that his insight was needed. As a career diplomat, he's seen first-hand how diplomacy has been shunted aside in favor of blundering military might. He isn't just defending his own field, however, since he demonstrates how arrogance actually loses ground for the U.S., both by making us more of a target and destroying our credibility with potential friends. While he's on-target as far as he goes, Mr. Kiesling stops a bit short in his criticism of the Bush administration. He sees it as incompetent but basically well-meaning, rather hastily dismissing any ulterior motives. I suppose this is due to residual loyalty, but the more credible doubts about the administration's motives should eventually be attended to.

As a teacher of the gifted I find reader's theatre a creative avenue for teaching literacy and creative dramatics. Aaron Shepard does a great job providing interesting, well organized scripts with a rich selection of myths, folktales, and legends. I greatly appreciate this valuable resource!

I love all of Aaron's books. As a future teacher who believes today's students don't know enough of the world's folktales, I know I will be using this book in my future classroom. I especially like the story of "The Sea King's Daughter." It is a wonderful story and Aaron Shepherd has done a wonderful job of adapting it and the other stories in this collection for readers' theater. I can't wait to see what he will do next.

Do you want an engaging activity to use with elementary students that fosters reading, performing and listening skills? Aaron Shephard's book is a wonderful resource for K-8 teachers to use in the classroom. This book has a variety of texts adapted for Reader's Theater from all parts of the world. It has been a great addition to our reading lessons!

The grade and school where I teach stresses folktales, legends and myths. I also wanted to try to get this in a "Reader's Theater" format. This book does just that! Bravo!

As a teacher of children with learning disabilities, I rarely find an activity that relates to the standards, a child's IEP, and is one that students rave about. This is entertaining as well as educational.

A brutal and unflinching chronicle of house-to-house fighting in the Cholon
District of Saigon during May 1968. A grunt's eye-view of war. Extensive interviews with 9th Infantry vets add depth and a 'you-are-there' feeling. Another great job by Nolan.

Well written. Readership for Vietnam War may be flagging due to focus on Iraq. Key characters well portrayed but minor characters sometimes appear to be confusing as if author is attempting to acknowledge absolutely everyone he has interviewed. The result is a need to reread some pages to straighten out the narrative. Some tendency to be negative about higher ranking seniors who may simply be doing their jobs but may have, in the process, offended those who are excessively critical of them.

This book provides an excellent overview of a little known battle during the Viet Nam war, Mini Tet. It is, however, more than a simple account of a battle; it provides one of the best explanations I have read on why the battle occurred and why the North Vietnamese were successful in winning the all important "hearts and minds" battle for the citizens of Saigon. The book was particularly interesting to me as a soldier who took part in the battle. Many of the names and places were familiar to me, but like many "grunts" I knew very little of what was actually going on. This book finally explained what I was doing and why.

Well written, well researched and best of all an accurate and not pretty description of what we all know was an very ugly war.
I was there. Dustoff Freddy

As one of the battalion commanders at the Battle of the Y-Bridge, I can attest to the fact that Keith Nolan got it right. He has to rank as the foremost historian of the Vietnam War with this, his eleventh book on that war.

Nolan has done a masterful job of pulling together accounts of this battle from hundreds of sources, and producing a very readable story. He did so with great sensitivity and yet told the good and the bad, which is what war is. His transitions from the actions of the various units made for a smooth and continuous story, rather than a bunch of choppy events.

As a participant in this action,I may be prejudiced, but I think this book is better than his previous book on the Vietnam War - Ripcord - and, having read the Maraniss book "They Marched Into Sunlight", House to House is as compelling an account.

I highly recommend this book as a vehicle for discussion of leadership from the small unit to the Division levels of command.
The situations encountered in this book are as applicable to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they were to the war in Vietnam.