Asia Books

Jeffrey Paine has written an amazing book, which is both sophisticated in its analysis and insightful in its perspective. Yet, the narrative is racy and easy to read - possibly because of his background in journalism.

Paine traces the careers and Indian adventure of eight well-known persons who were either Westerners or were Indians influenced by the West to begin with, but later became deeply influenced by India. Yet in the process, they also influenced India itself. The list includes Lord Curzon, Mahatma Gandhi, E. M. Forster, Shri Aurobindo, Mira Behn (Madeleine Slade), Mother (Mirra Richard), Carl Jung, V. S. Naipaul and Annie Besant, all well-known figures in India and outside.

In the process he weaves a magical yet sophisticated tapestry showing why India exercised a near-fatal charm for these people and how it changed them. He also adds a lot of tid-bits about their personal lives, and idiosyncracies, their struggles, their failures and their successes. Surprisingly, and without noticing it, by the time you finish the book, you would have developed a pretty good perspective on how India has affected and deeply influenced Western world through these people. A remarkable intellectual feat indeed.

His handling of each character in the drama is confident and skillful. He has a definite format to follow, and this adds rigour to a book, which could have become a maudling, sentimental journey otherwise. The connections he makes with other contemporary characters and happenings are simply astounding and marvellous.

However, he becomes less sure of himself as he comes closer to the present, possibly because the processes are still going on, and the advantage of hindsight is not available. As a result, his handling of the chapter on Shri Aurobindo and his spiritual companion, the Mother, is less deft. He also fumbles with the conclusion, possibly because India is an incredibly complex phenomenon and Paine is after all a mere mortal.

Notwithstanding this slight blemish, an excellent book, worth the time and money, for anyone interested in understanding India and the West.

A paperback edition is also available in Penguin India under the plain title 'Father India'.

I never would have thought of the theme of this book, but once immersed in it, found it totally engrossing. India has been the great seed bed for many Western thinkers. This is an exciting way of seeing the relationship between India and the U.S...and a well-documented account of it with fascinating stories.

I admit I may have been mildly intoxicated before I read this book - intoxicated on Western Buddhism and New Age philosophies that legitimize themselves by associating themselves with Indian religions. This book sobered me up. Paine indicates that much of what many of us have mistaken for pure distilled India is really a hybrid mutation of India and its European interpreters and visitors. I honestly feel I came away with a much better understanding of characters like Madame Blavatsky, Krishnamurti, and Ghandi. There is also a great deal of material addressing individuals who adopted a homosexual lifestyle including E.M. Forster and Christopher Isherwood. I might wonder if Jeffery Paine is himself practicing homosexuality given the amount of time spent on the topic. (In fact, if he isn't, it would be a bit annoying.) The representation of this group seems a bit disproportionate but it may indeed be the case that a disproportionate amount of the Europeans experimenting with India in the early 1900s were of this group - well at least the ones that got famous. (In which case I shouldn't be so annoyed).

Certainly India has played a part in our present culture albeit in a roundabout and almost covert way. Paine's book suggests that it was more as a catalyst than a direct effect. A place to which people embarked on holy quests and often did not find what they expected. If you have read a few new age books that swear allegiance to Indian philosophy and religion and are feeling a bit tipsy, or if you have an interest in the psychological history of the waning British empire and India as the British empire waned, I highly recommend this book.

The book delves into the feelings, emotions and travails as felt by some of the administrators, writers,social activists and reformers who have ';experienced ' India at close quarters.Curzon, Annie Besant,EM Forster, Chris Isherwood and finally Gandhi's experiences are chronicled in detail.The book tries to provide the reader with an understanding of India that is gleaned from the spiritual and pyschological processes of these visitors and tries to enunciate a depth of feeling. These 'outsiders'twist and turn at every corner in India and the reasons for their doing si might infuse an Indian to think more deeply , and accord the foreigner with a more intimate view of the seething cauldron that answers to the name of India.

This is a wonderful exposition of the power of direct action to effect social change. Mr. Elmer does a great job of showing how a typical, suburban, middle class kid can end up burning draft records and sitting in a tiger cage for the summer on the capital steps. He makes a convncing case for the efficacy of direct action for those closed out of the political process. In effect, while very few decision makers will directly change their position because of sit-ins, protests, hunger strikes,etc., they have the power to change public opinion. As he explains, 10,000 young people may not have had the votes to elect anyone, and certainly didn't have the money to play politics in the usual way of making campaigndonations, etc., what they did have was the power to show that the only way to fight the Vietnam war was to send tens of thousands of middle class kids to jail--something thqt this country ultimately was not willing to do (at least, given the reality on the ground created by the Vietnamese themselves, and the international climate).

Where Elmer over sells his case is in arguing that non-violence is always an appropriate (and seems to argue that it is always the best tactic). It is hard to believe that this would ever work in a society such as Somalia, iraq, Cambodia (under the Khmer rouge), etc. It is one thing to ask masses of people to risk a short (or even long) jail sentenceas the price of civil disobedience, It is quite another when the price is immediate death, and the torture/murder of one's entire family. In other words, civil disobedience assumes a certain level of commitment to law and openness which simply is not present in all societies at all times.

One final criticism--Elmer confuseses non-violence as a tactic for mass mobilization with pacificism as a way of life. While the civil rights movement certainly won great victories using nonviolent protest as a mass protest strategy, it is unclear that those demonstrations would have been possible but for a committed core of people who were commited to self-defense--including resort to violence. The civil rights workers we all know about--certainly including Dr. Martin luther King, Jr., himself, were constantly protected during the most dangerous days of the movement by body guards. Especialy in the deep south, it is not at all clear that anyone would have surived long enough to lead a voter registration drive without the armed protection of men with guns. Certainly, it was the risk of outright war that motivated the federal government to intervene.

One must ask, reading Elmer's account, where today's activists are. Is there a cause today for which you would be willing to defy the wrath of the entire federal government and spend years in prison?

I've long known that during the '60s and '70s there were many protests against the Vietnam War. But my knowledge, I confess, didn't go much beyond that. Thanks to this entertaining and informative book, my embarrassing ignorance has been greatly reduced.

Elmer's book opened my eyes to the many forms that protests took, such as the destruction of records at draft boards across the country. I also learned about the kinds of personalities involved in protest actions, and about their motivations and philosophies. Those who called themselves pacifists varied in their views. When it came time to issue statements to the press and public, words were chosen carefully. Participants in covert actions didn't always agree on whether and how to reveal what they'd done.

The book raises many questions I'd never thought about, such as whether destroying draft records is a violent act, and many questions I haven't thought about enough, such as why so many people who feel strongly about something fail to take action. Elmer ties his experiences in with other pacifist movements, such as Gandhi's, and explores ethical issues in a very accessible way.

This is a personal history book that's well worth reading. Elmer faced many tough questions and decisions in his life and took many risks in the service of humanity. The book is inspirational and often moving. When Elmer was being interviewed as he applied for a license to practice law in Rhode Island (and legitimately worried that he might be rejected due to his "criminal" past), his interviewer said, "My brother was classified 1-A when you [destroyed draft files in Providence]. You probably saved his life. I've been waiting 20 years to thank you. You're approved."

In a time when discussion of a national draft has surfaced once again in election "town halls," Jerry Elmer's new book, Felon for Peace, responds to a timely debate. If there are any young people out there who don't know how they'd respond if ever a draft were reintroduced, now is the time to arm oneself with knowledge.

Set in the same location where F. Scott Fitzgerald's great literary work The Great Gatsby took place many years earlier, Jerry Elmer's new non-fiction book, Felon for Peace, has successfully portrayed life in the 1960s and 70s in Great Neck, a highly-educated Long Island community, during the rise of America's War Resistance Movement.[...]. Of course, Felon for Peace goes well beyond Elmer's coming-of-age story in Great Neck, and moves on to the national scene.

Perhaps the book's greatest strength is that it poses the ethical questions of the time in a sophisticated way that challenges the readers of today. At the same time, Elmer is self-deprecating and draws the reader in, right from his elementary school days at the Kensington-Johnson School, through his days at Great Neck South High School and well beyond.

Felon for Peace could be a great resource in teaching the history of the Vietnam War era; it reveals with clarity what was happening on the larger domestic front at that time. In addition, the book could provoke interesting class discussions for student teachers, who are planning to teach high school; the book gives an excellent sense of the capabilities of motivated and highly intelligent high school students. I recommend it as an animated discussion-starter for over-50s book clubs as well. Felon for Peace is an excellent read.

Jerry Elmer's excellent memoir of a Vietnam-era draft resister provides an insider description of the American peace movement between 1965 and the present. Its historical contribution is twofold: (1) a personal discussion of some of the key players in the nonviolent movement for peace, such as Phil and Dan Berrigan, activists whom the author knew well, and (2) an anlysis of the effectiveness of nonviolent direct action.

Outrageously honest and funny, Elmer packs every page with important facts that will engage ordinary readers and academic historians. In addition, he examines the psychology of activism: the commited "activist proceeds from the unspoken (and perhaps even unconscious) assumption that his or her actions can and do make an important difference in the world."

Besides considering formative school-age experiences, Elmer looks back at the significance of his lifetime of activism, using his broad knowledge, international experience, parfticipation in many social change campaigns, great wit, litigious mind, and excellent memory to bring history alive.

What a shame. This book gives a good outline of the events of the war and what happens when politics, not military know how runs a war.

I wrote 'Fiasco' and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was done as an audiobook. I actually listened to it on my commute and enjoyed it. I recommend it highly.

This book provides a good analysis of some of the mistakes the U.S. made in the war in Iraq. I would classify the problems he describes into two main mistakes. First, the Bush administration imagined that WWII is a good analogy for the threat that the U.S. faces from the mideast. That wouldn't have been a particularly unusual problem in a war if they had corrected their worldview when they saw evidence of enemies using a very different strategy.
The biggest and least excusable problem was that the lack of anything clear enough to be called a military strategy. It almost sounds like Bush thought the sound bites used to market the invasion to voters amounted to an adequate description of military goals. This left various parts of the U.S. forces pursuing conflicting strategies that ranged from attempts to aid Iraqis in building a democracy to attempts to conquer Iraq for its Al-Qaeda connections, leaving U.S. forces to a confused pursuit of conflicting strategies that guaranteed increased Iraqi hostility toward the U.S. without accomplishing much else.
This book suffers somewhat from a narrow scope and an over-reliance on opinions from within the U.S. military. Ricks and his sources seem to be too optimistic that they've learned a strategy that has some chance of working if U.S. voters are patient enough, but they show no familiarity with the analysis in Robert Pape's book Dying to Win which suggests that the strategy advocated in Fiasco will perpetuate the conditions under which suicide bombings increase.
The book implies that a sufficiently wise set of leaders could have produced a strategy with a reasonable chance of success, but I'm left doubting that any U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein could have produced a good result.
The book is mostly cautious about historical events that the author can't verify, such as Bush's motives, and the extent to which U.S. policy was manipulated by Iran.
I'm curious why Fiasco doesn't devote much attention to the current Iraqi government. Possibly it is sufficiently tainted by its association with the U.S. that it is irrelevant, but if so I would have expected an argument to that effect.

I commute 64 miles a day by car and this CD made my commute fly by. The narrator helped me keep all the general straight-- all of whom were saying in one way or another: "This isn't going to work" or "What is Plan B once Plan A fails?". I sat in my office driveway listening to "Fiasco"!
I highly recomend it..........now I need to buy something else.....or wait for Tom Ricks to write a follow-up.

I visit Taiwan at least once a year, and always make it a point to do as much birding as possible. The main problem I have faced in the past has been finding a good English language field guide. I have always used James Wan-Fu Chang's "Field Guide to the Birds of Taiwan" (ISBN-13: 978-0917056437), and Wu Sen-Hsiong's "A Field Guide to the Birds of Taiwan" (ISBN 957-9578-00-1). Both books are very good, and highly recommended. However, each has its drawbacks. The main one being that both are written in Chinese, although Chang's guide does have very brief descriptions of range, habitat and status in English. In addition, both books are a bit out-dated.

The MacKinnon & Phillips guide addresses these drawbacks. For starters, it is written entirely in English. The paintings are generally of high quality, and differences between subspecies are indicated. Range maps are also shown on the page facing the paintings. The descriptions of many (but not all) species are fairly well detailed, and the ranges for subspecies is also described.

The guide does have some minor problems, which are probably unavoidable. Because of the large geographical size of the area covered, and the number of species described (over 1300), the guide is quite bulky - and somewhat expensive. In addition, the descriptions are in the back of the guide, rather than on the page adjacent to the paintings, making it somewhat inconvenient to use. As I have alluded above, some of the species descriptions, particularly those of the Taiwan endemics, seemed to have been glossed over (perhaps to save space in an already sizable guide). And although most of the paintings are of high quality, not all were. Overall, I think they are slightly inferior to those of the Wu guide. That being said, no field guide is perfect. Putting a field guide together requires a lot of patience and a great deal of hard work. I, for one, really appreciate the dedication and effort of the authors.

All in all, this is the best field guide to the birds of China available. I would highly recommend this guide.

This field guide is a well done book introducing the birds of China to its readers. It is fairly standard as far as field guides goes in content. The book contains 128 color plates depicting the birds of China with the corresponding range maps opposite the plates. Next, the descriptions of the 1329 species are given. Herein lies the major problem with the book, the descriptions are not adjacent to the plates; however, had the book been arranged in this manner, the number of pages would have at least doubled and the book is already a bit cumbersome for use as a field guide at its present size.

A couple of other bits of useful information in this book include a map detailing vegetation type and an introduction to the region. Also, a list of protected and endangered species is included. For researchers, a nice bibliography is also included. Whether you just want to look at birds from a country you never plan on going to, or if you intend to go birding in China, this book is for you.

This book is absolutely essential for any birder who plans to visit any of the regions covered in this guide. The plates are very good and the descriptions are detailed. This is probably the most up-to-date guide for the region. The taxonomy is based on Sibley and Monroe, and nearly all subspecies and their ranges are listed. There is even an edition in simplified Chinese available in China and Hong Kong. However, covering such a broad region has its drawbacks, and at least in Taiwan, I recommend that this book be used more as a reference than field guide. A bird's voice often varies across its range, and the status of a species in one location can be completely different in another. For example, the White-bellied Green Pigeon, described by the book as "very rare," is in fact common in Taiwan. The quality of the plates is sometimes inconsistent (e.g. the geese and swans on plate 7 look very small!). Also, errors I've noticed include where the range map does not correspond with the descriptions (e.g. Eurasian Jay, plate 67), the bird number on the plate does not correspond with that of the range map and descriptions (e.g. Varied Tit, plate 88), and some typos (e.g. Pygmy Wren Babbler subspecies, plate 105). Although Appendix 2 lists the species endemic to the region, it left out at least three species from Taiwan (Yellow Tit, Collared Bush Robin, and Taiwan Whistling Thrush). In general, this book is excellent and highly recommended, but I do hope a new edition will be published in the future that fixes the errors and include new discoveries made since publication (e.g. Chinese Crested Tern, Taiwan Bush Warbler).

A Field Guide to the Birds of China is a must for any traveler who wants to identify birds in China. De Schauensee's earlier Birds of China is not really a field guide although it provides useful background reading. A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan includes a lot of the species occurring in eastern China, and the Beijing area is included in most of the range maps, so if you don't have the MacKinnon-Phillips new guide, this is second best.

All species of known regular occurrence somewhere in China are illustrated in excellent drawings by Karen Phillips, all but a few in full color. Colored range maps are on the page facing each of the 128 plates. The text for each species provides a detailed description, voice, distribution and status, habits (useful), and in some cases a note on taxonomy.

I used this book for more than two weeks in China during October 2001 and confidently identified every bird I got a decent look at. (Regrettably, eastern China is not exactly overrun with exotic birds, but you can find some interesting species even in the cities.)

The most noticeable problem with this book is its sheer bulk; at 256 pages of plates, 586 pages of text, and some front material, this monster tops out at well over 800 pages and won't fit in most fanny packs, not to mention pockets. So taking a utility knife with a new blade, I sliced the spine following the last plate and taped the last page to the spine, creating a book of front matter, 10 pages of introduction and all the plates and range maps--a tad over a third the thickness of the whole book. A few species are illustrated in black-and-white in the text, so I xeroxed those (with their black-and-white range maps) and pasted them below the range maps of appropriate plates. I left the text home.

The book is not without minor errors, of course. For example, the range maps on plate 35 mistakenly call the Red Phalarope the Red-necked Phalarope, with the same error in the scientific name (although, curiously, the Chinese name appears to be correct). Both species are illustrated. On plate 56 the illustration of the Red-throated Loon is mistakenly marked with the species number of the Common Loon (which is also illustrated and correctly numbered on the same plate). On plate 72 the female Japanese Paradise-flycatcher is so marked but the symbol for the male is missing. Most users can figure out such slips.

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It's good to see it all down and organized in the way you have in a single book. Makes history very readable, especially for those of us who got almost no Philippine or Philippine-American history in our American education of 2 & 3 generations ago.

This is a great book (a must reading for all Fil-Ams). It looks like a time capsule with details. It will make a good gift to friends and the young Filipino Americans.

I admire the exhaustive and authoritative historical contents,the substance, style and layout of The Filipino Americans. It isfluid, easy to read and above all very informative. It deserves to be in every home library of families who love history.

Laced with reproductions of paintings and photographs from various sources, this fact-filled volume provides readers, in the early chapters, with a fascinating view of the always exciting, sometimes poignant, and too often tragic history of the Philippine archipelago. For many Americans unfamiliar with the mercurial nature of United States policy towards the Philippines following the Spanish American War, there will be surprises. Read carefully the content of letters from foot soldiers to their schoolmates and families back home. The author's many chapters on the distinct periods of Filipino immigration to Hawaii, Alaska, and the contiguous United States are colorful and informative. The reader discovers that it is the rich heritage of diverse customs and traditions that make the Filipino presence an especially welcome addition to the American scene. This is a book that everyone will enjoy.

As a pilot, I could identify/sympathize with Mr. Morley-Mower's flight training. A down to earth book that tells it like it was. This is a tale of an unasuming hero. A must follow on is his first book, Messerschmitt Roulette. Thank you Geoffrey.

Great heroic story! Fascinating records of army and air operations over the treacherous terrain of the Afghan border. Shortly after the war, a pilot fights to keep his flying carrer with his appeals to King George VI! Does he win his? I'll save that for you!

I could not put this book down. What I found remarkable about FLYING BLIND is that Geoffrey Morley-Mower has already written one of the most engaging and insightful memoirs of any veteran of the Second World War, MESSERSCHMITT ROULETTE. Yet FLYING BLIND is, in many ways, an even more satisfying book. Here, in the second volume of his memoirs, we meet the man and the pilot on the cusp of living his dream: flying for the RAF on the distant edge of the British Raj. Morley-Mower's self-deprecatory wit, his elegant and understated prose, and his gift for narrative sustain FLYING BLIND with a verve rarely found in fiction, much less in military biographies. The men who fought the good fight in the Second World War are fading from us, but this book reminds us of their honor, valor, and above all, their humanity, in ways that few other books have. Geoffrey Morley-Mower's second volume of his memoirs, like the first, is reminiscent of William Manchester's outstanding remembrance of serving in the U.S. Marine infantry in the Second World War, GOODBYE DARKNESS. Like Manchester, Morley-Mower has no room for bombast and plenty of room for reflective, highly-charged prose. FLYING BLIND is a must-read for anyone interested in great writing. For military scholars, it is a jewel, as so few of the iron-backboned RAF heroes are still alive. Thank God Geoffrey Morley-Mower wrote this book, bless him. And, as Hemingway once said, good books never suffer in the re-reading. FLYING BLIND is richer in the re-reading. Enjoy.

This account of army and air operations over the Afghan border in the last days of British rule in India will intrigue a wide audience, from those interested in books on early plane and biplane flight to readers of military accounts. The author joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1937, two years before World War II: his experiences in an antique plane provides a fine account of his adventures and close encounters.

This book is incredible. First, the photography is excellent, beautifully portraying most of the recipes. The book begins with a complete listing of all of the ingredients used. It is about 6 pages of pertinent information, including pictures for some of the most obscure ingredients. The recipes cover a thorough range of the basic recipes that you may be looking for. I am Indian and am thrilled with the list. Just about every recipe is critical, they appear back-to-back and have several pictures. I will probably cook every recipe in the Indian section. That section alone makes it worth the purchase. However, it covers seven other asian cuisines in a very similar manner. It also offers enticing "melting pot" menus, mixing the cuisines. You will get the recipes you want, that you can make, with a little commentary and exquisite pictures. This is one of the best cook books I have ever seen.

All recipes are well described and illustrated. Everything is clear and easy to understand.

It is soo good !! I tried the eggs curry from Indonesia it is so yummy !! Also the have menu suggestions so that was real helpfull since I do a lot of parties !!!

Picture of Singapore's famous food example spicy satay,laksa,chicken rice...

Starting with Mary (Kiddie) Ruggieri's departure from Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California she takes the reader on a journey across the ocean to Japan shortly after World War II and back home again. She wrote about her onboard quarters and activities on her ocean voyage as well as the family she left behind.

As a member of the 8000th WAC Detachment that arrived in Japan in October 1946, Mary saw a whole new world open to her eyes. Having a penchant for photography she certainly used her hobby to intertwine her storyline in this book. She wrote of her first sight of the Japanese people and the land that would be her home for the following months. She provided descriptions of the women's quarters compared to where the men were living and to where other WACs were living within the country itself.

From a non-travelers point of view this was a very interesting book. It included more than 485 photos and facts that accompanied each segment of the author's journals, letters and memories. Mary brought her photos to life with her entries. She wrote about the soldier she met and fell in love with along with the things they did for fun. But I was still amazed at how much sight-seeing time she seemed to have while in Japan. I was also surprised to read about and see photos of Nagasaki since Mary was there just a couple of years after the USA had dropped an atomic bomb on it.

Throughout this book Mary takes the reader to places most of us have only read about or never heard of before this. She introduces the reader to the sights, sounds and smells of Japan following the war. When her time was finally up Mary returned to the USA aboard another ship. Again she wrote of the activities aboard the ship. She was a very happy woman once she stepped foot on US soil in May 1948.

This book is well worth reading.

Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebeccas Reads (3/08)

"From Japan With Love" is a wonderful memoir illustrating what life was like in Post-War Japan through the eyes of Mary Ruggieri, a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC). The story of the era is told through a composition of journal entries, personal letters to friends and family, and photographs. Throughout the book there are also boxes explaining some of the historical figures, places and events of the time period.

Tech sergeant Ruggieri's journey began in October of 1946 when she boarded the Army Transport Admiral Sims headed for Yokohama, Japan. The luxury of the trip with "maid service and swell meals" was a far cry from what was to await her and her shipmates when they arrived in the distant land. When they pulled into the harbor they saw the destruction and devastation that the country had suffered at the hands of war in the form of sunken ships and the impoverished manner in which the native people were dressed. Their living quarters for their occupation in Japan were Quonset huts which were void of any luxuries. Each woman had `8'9' of space into which to place a cot, a foot locker, and a wall locker." While the accommodations were less than welcoming, the American GIs that were stationed there made up for it by treating the women like royalty with barrages of parties and assistance. One of these GI's the author became especially fond of and started dating.

Ruggieri's time spent in Japan was definitely not all work. On the weekends she had the opportunity to take some incredible trips and see some amazing sights. While the travel to and from these destinations was not always the most pleasant journey, the experiences that she had more than made up for any hardships along the way. The book contains over 400 photographs which definitely enhance the story that she tells. There are pictures of the Quonset huts, Japanese people, the hotels they stayed at on their trips, Mount Fuji, and plenty of the author herself and other members of the WAC. Even though Ruggieri is very skilled at writing descriptive passages, the multitudes of pictures really provide you with a complete picture of everything that happened.

To have saved all of these letters, journals and pictures from over sixty-years ago and to be able to compile them to create a book as complete as "From Japan With Love" is incredible. The memoir is well-written, thought-provoking, and insightful. Her writing is so descriptive that you truly feel like you are there with her and her humor and straightforwardness will definitely keep you entertained. "From Japan With Love" is an excellent book and I highly recommend it!

Offering a fascinating, informative, personal, and unique perspective of live in post-war Japan through excerpts from the letters, journals and photographs of Mary A. Ruggieri, an American college girl stationed in Japan from 1946 to 1948 as a member of Women's Army Corps as part of the American military post-war occupation , "From Japan With Love" takes the reader from an army hut encampment to some of Japan's most memorable shrines and august temples. Ruggieri writes eloquently of the Japanese people and culture, her falling in love with Japan, as well as meeting the American soldier who would become her husband. Remarkable for her articulate eyewitness account which is peppered throughout with her black-and-white photography, "From Japan With Love" is as engaging as it is informed, making it very highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the post-war Japan reformation, mid-twentieth century Japanese culture, and the transition of Japan from a defeated nation to its nescient emergence as a western style democracy..

This is a warm, rich, charming, evocative, and often humorous memoir of life and love in post-war Japan, with many rare photos of the era (certainly including the photo of the bridge from Takeishima Island, page 118), which makes this tapestry of reminiscence such a uniquely delightful and easy read.

The "Rules Of The Road" posted in the Central Tokyo Police Station, in 1947, are hilarious.

The letters written by the author are sometimes poignant ("Never do I forget how wondrously fortunate I am to have you. . ."), sometimes funny ("My interview consisted of a major asking me how much clerical work I had done, and my telling him that I did very little and didn't like it, so of course I got a clerical job..."), but always fun and insightful.

It is a wonderful book.

Now in a newly revised edition, From Plassey To Pakistan: The Family History Of Iskander Mirza The First President Of Pakistan tells the complex saga that intertwines one family's story with the inception and development of an Islamic nation. Humayun Mirza is Iskander Mirza's only surviving son and brings a special and personal expertise to the violence-tainted partition of Indian by the colonial British Empire that resulted in the creation Pakistan. A superb contribution to International Studies reference collections, From Plassey To Pakistan is a vividly informative and very human account which deftly combines extensive research with personal remembrance.

As a descendant of the author's great-grandfather, I had grown up hearing many contradictory accounts of this family's history. This carefully researched book was very helpful to me in trying to sort out the tangled roots from which my side of the family grew. The author confesses his view is partisan, but nevertheless he does not try to hide the existence of his ancestor's various affairs in England, his marriage to an English chambermaid (his fourth wife and my great-grandmother), and treats those aspects of the story both objectively and sympathetically. Very readable!

Most of what we in the West read and hear about the Indian subcontinent comes from the British perspective. Humayun Mirza, son of Pakistan's first president and descendant of the royal Nawab Nazims of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, brings a thoroughly researched, enlightened, and deeply honest perspective to his family's story, and by extension the history of India and Pakistan from the 1700s to the present time. Because of his unique insider's perspective, Mirza makes his historical figures come alive.

Although he is talking about his own family--even his own father--Mirza shows a principled unwillingness to tamper with the truth, even when the truth is not flattering to people he clearly admires. The rich human complexity of these powerful personalities, warts and all, is one of the things that make this book so exciting.

If you're interested in the history and politics of the region, this is a must read. If you just like to learn interesting history, it's also a treat. I'm waiting for the update covering the current situation in the region!

From Plassey to Pakistan chronicles the lineage of Humuyan Mirza, the author and only son of the first President of Pakistan. The book provides personal and well-researched historical insight into the ruling class of India, of which the author is a direct descendant.

The author's father, and principal subject of the latter part of the book, is Iskander Mirza, a highly educated and respected citizen of India worked for the British Government of India. Upon the end of British rule in 1947, the country of Pakistan was formed and Iskander Mirza emerged to become a leading public figure ("the strong man") and eventually the first President of Pakistan.

The author offers excellent insight into his father's rise to the presidency and the subsequent challenge to bring order and democracy to the newly formed country, one fraught with political corruption at the governmental and military level combined with a high level of illiteracy within the population. Despite Iskander Mirza's well intentioned efforts, instituting the type of democratic government he envisioned would prove too difficult in this environment. His presidency was usurped by a military coup in 1958. Military control has presided over Pakistan for many of the subsequent years and remains in power today.

The author goes on to revisit his own life as a descendant of India's ruling and princely class as the son of the first president of Pakistan. Like his father Isakander, the author was educated at prestigious schools while growing up, ultimately attending the Harvard School of Business and subsequently working in various capacities for the World Bank. The author currently lives in the United States.

Toward the end of the book, the author offers thoughtful suggestions that address Pakistan's current political and economic situation. Above all, the author believes a very strong leader of Pakistan is crucial to help unite the country and its divisive factions. He truly desires prosperity for Pakistan.

The book is insightful and well written. I highly recommend the book for histroy readers and those interested in current events. Given the recent tumultuous events taking place in and around Pakistan, this book is even more relevant.

Rarely can a book change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but everyone who reads Craig Barber's text and looks at his magnificent photographs will never look on Vietnam the same way again.

With gentle intensity, great compassion, a brilliant eye, and great skill and talent to realize his vision, Barber returned to Vietnam 28 years after having served as a US Marine at the age of 18 and photographed what he saw.

Thank you Craig Barber for letting us in on your very personal journey. Each photograph is like a little movie that grows and becomes richer and deeper every time I turn the page and return again.

Barber's photographs are masterpieces.

This book is exquisitely printed and put together, bravo to the publisher, Umbrage.

A must have and the perfect gift for lovers of travel, history, or just beautiful photography.

Craig Barber reminds us of the magic and importance of documentary photography. After all, it is real! What a gift.

This is an incredible book! The photographs are not only sensual and beautiful, but they are incredibly powerful, coming from a place of depth... I highly recommend this book.

Mr. Barber has spent many years developing his artistic vision with the two-lens, large format pinhole camera. In reviewing his first book, "Ghosts In The Landscape", I am moved by the personal depth of his aesthetic investment in creating a contemporary view of Viet Nam that borders on the mystical. I believe that if this view had been available in the 1960's, we, as a country, may have been unwilling to cause so much death and destruction. This is one of the most important post-Viet Nam era accounts I have encountered. I strongly recommend this book of deeply felt photographs.

I came of age during the Vietnam war and so have had many preconceptions about Vietnam and how it might be depicted. Craig Barber's images and words, and Alison Nordstrom's essay replaced any old memeories and preconceptions with evocative elegaic landscapes that one lingers over and remembers. A beautifully wrought landscape of the mind. A stunning book in every way. Thank you, Craig and Alison.