Asia Books

Each poem of Stonehouse is a meditation in itself, each seeming as lines written after a satori while sitting on his mountain-side. Here was a true Nirmanakaya of Zen, no attachment, all needs provided by chance.

Red Pine's notes can be helpful, but don't worry about them unless you have a question about what you just read. Otherwise, reading the poem then referring to the notes may cause you to be distracted from the insight Stonehouse is attempting to relay to you.

I finally have my copy of this wonderful volume. Why do I say that? I first ordered the book new on Amazon in August 2005, with a note saying 2-4 week delivery. After monthly alterations in delivery dates, Amazon unilaterally cancelled the order in January 2006. So I ordered again. Again, monthy alterations in projected delivery date. So I looked into the matter. Turns out other companies cannot supply the book. Even the publisher has no copies. This realized, I ordered a used book from an individual listing on Amazon, at a reasonable price, and finally have this valuable document in June 2006.

This is not a review, just wanted you to know that the Editorial Review listed for this book "The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a Fourteenth-Century Chinese Hermit",
is for a completely different book... thought you'd want to know & couldn't find any other way to tell you.

Another great treasure of poems translated by Bill Porter. I believe this could be the best of the lot. These poems are tough, gentle & uncomprimising. I've gone through them several times always at ease and also alert.They truly come from the void, the Tao, whatever that is or isn't. Like notes from shakuhachi: soft ,dim slow quick, sloping, climbing. This man was a teacher of many and yet also a true recluse shutting or opening his brushwood door. I have read many poets from this period and used to wonder why Stonehouse was somehow considered one of the very best. On successive viewings their depth and clarity really begin to show them selves in comparison to some others. This ,of course, explains such an opinion

I don't think I can adequately express my love for this book, so I will just tell a little about the contents. Stonehouse is the English translated name of the Chinese Ch'an (Zen) poet Ch'ing-hung who retired early from being a temple abbot (he pleaded old age) so he could return to his beloved mountain retreat and live a peaceful, reflective life in nature. This great Zen monk whose medium of instruction was poetry also gave brief but potent Zen talks which are included here. Burton Watson's commendation on the back cover is correct about Pine's translation of the poems, noting that "...Red Pine has devised and unusual translation style that not only captures much of the flavor of the Chinese originals, but at the same time works splendidly as English." Yes, so splendidly that in reading a few to a friend, she began weeping. As if Red Pine carries in his chest the heart of the original poet, he expresses each poem sensitively and perfectly into English for us.

Here's what else I love about Red Pine's works: he has thoughtfully accompanied every poem with notes explaining contexts, references, and doctrinal backgrounds. The poetry carries you back to a beautiful wilderness in fourteenth century China and awakening a love for simplicity, return to nature, and Zen mind. Six pages of introduction to the monk provide very good backdrop for his poems. This volume contains three parts:
Book One: Mountain Poems
Book Two: Gathas
Book Three: Zen Talks
I read excerpts of Stonehouse for an incense game called Kodo, and a Zen monk attending exclaimed, each one is like a meditation!

From the books of Zen I've read, it always seemed to me that only the ancient writers have had the most impact. See if you will agree by reading this insightful book. It also includes a fascinating biography of this humble man.

I love this calendar. Every day that I look at my calendar by my desk, I long to be back in China again. The photos are gorgeous and the text is quite informative, especially because the calendar doesn't just focus on the most famous places in China. In fact, when I took the calendar down temporarily, I got complaints from my office mates that they missed the China calendar--and not one of them is a sinophile like me. Don't buy it if you don't want your wanderlust awakened. It will make you discontent sitting in your cubicle when you could be out exploring the Chinese countryside.

Reviewed by Barbara Strother, author of Moon Living Abroad in China (Living Abroad).

This is the second year I've bought this calendar. Likely, I will buy it every year. It's gorgeous with great tid-bits about China. As a mother with 2 children from China, it is a nice addition to the play area.

We got this calendar to get us excited for our trip to China next year to adopt our daughter. There are tons of beautiful pictures of all different regions. Very nice.

For anyone who has been in China or for anyone who wants to go, this calendar is a marvelous display of nature and daily life in China. Lisa See's texts are as lovely as the photographs by Keren Su.

I purchased this calendar last year and was pleased with the photos, and this years calendar is just as good if not better. Each month features a province in China and then each day has a smaller photo which would also be perfect for photos for your child's lifebook because the photos of temples, objects, countrysides and people. The provinces featured in this year's calendar are: Guangxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shanghai, Shanghai, Sichuan, Shandong & Shanxi, Zhejiang, Beijing which is for the month of August to celebate the 29th Olympic Games and it's slogan - One World One Dream. There is only 1 photo in this month that is of the Millennium Monument and is a small photo. Guizhiu, Anhui, Xinjiang,Yunnan finish out the year.

Lisa See write information on each province and there is also a small black outline of China that shows you where this province is located in China. Keren Su who is the photographer for all of the photos did a fantastic job! I am planning on using the photos of the calendar for photos for my daughter's lifebook. And if your child is from one of the provinces mentioned about you have a nice write up on that province.

The book was very good from the standpoint of showing an uninformed family what the plane I flew in as a combat gunner was all about. Even though he left out a lot about my squadron and slighted us for other units it did not deminish my interest in others who were justly remembered. There are a lot of people who knew nothing about Navy heavy bombers and the book certainly introduced them to our war. Thank you. I have purchased a lot of these books as presents for my family and friends.

Both of his books on this part of the war are more than excellent. There are no more superlatives that can describe the accuracy of the events depicted. Great reading

This is one of the most informative and telling documentation I have ever read. I highly recomend the reading of this book. It would be a great addition to any historian's library. Every page is loaded with personal accounts of what it was really like to fight above the ANGRY SEA! Mr. Carey has captured the true essence of life on a PB4Y. If Spielberg could get a hold of this book, there would be a great movie made.

Mr. Carey has written a great book on a little known aspect of U.S. Naval History. He clearly brings out the suffering and bravery of the combat aircrew that served with Navy B-24 squadrons. His interviews of veterans and the multitude of photographs captures the spirit of fighting above the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

Alan Cary has followed up his earlier book (We Flew Alone)and if possible he has surpassed himself with this second volume. I must admit to being a bit prejudiced since I was one of those Navy men who served in the old B-24 that the Navy called the PB4Y1. Prior to these books, the story has only been reported occasionally and not always accurately. These two books by Alan Cary are exceptionally well done.

As one who was there during much of the time that he describes I can testify to the accuracy of his book. He has accurately captured the feelings, the fears, the loneliness, the pride of the men who performed these missions. Almost always a single airplane at the maximum range of the aircraft and over "an angry sea" that was a final resting place for too many brave men.

For anyone who is interested in this phase of the war in the Pacific, these two books are absolutely essential. There are many fine photographs, including many combat action shots and many of the stories are in the actual words of the men who performed so gallantly.

Thank you, Alan Cary and God bless America.

I used this book for my own motorcycle travels - it, along with Asia Overland, was the only reference I truly needed. It was fantastic for both pre trip planning and for during the trip.

Chris highlights all of the things you need for a successful and fun journey, and provides enough excitement to build your motivation to buy & equip the bike and get on the road. If you think that you might like to do this the future - watch out, a few months after reading this book you may find yourself on a dirt track in a country you didn't know existed....

Just the sort of book the rapidly increasing band of motorcycle explorer-adventurers need. If you like the feeling of long-distance independent motorcycle travel and want to take in more of the planet then this book will answer many of your questions and provide plenty of welcome advice.

Most of the practical information is geared towards exploring the more challenging parts of the world rather than the comparatively simple Western countries. Every adventurous touring motorcyclist is likely to benefit from reading this thoroughly.

Highly recommended.
David French, Chairman, Irish Motorcyclists Action Group

A very helpfull book indeed. It gives you prcatical advice and touches all possible subjects that involve a motorbike trip. It even reminds you of the possible failure, or that one should reconcider the possible departure date. Very usefull are short stories written by teachers, workers etc who have done a long overland journey, even in a short time (as like most of us they have to get back to work! ) Most travels books are nice to read, but unfortuanetly we all cannot take months off from work. This really helps anyone planning a trip

If you want do a overland journey, this is a MUST !

This book is the best way to find out what it is like to ride your bike around the world without actually doing it. Great practical tips on bike setup, routes, what works and what doesn't. The last quarter of the book is full of interesting stories from those adventure bikers who have actually put the principles of this book to the test, including some great color pictures (my favorite image is one of Helge Pederson dragging his BMW through the Darien Gap in Panama). The appendix has a good list of Web sites and related readings.

You'll find updates for this book, latest trip reports from readers, a discussion forum and a whole lot more atwww.adventure-motorcycling.com

A newly married couple set off to follow the trail of Marco Polo. Along the way they visit places described by Marco Polo, as well as places Marco Polo never got to, such as the Hunza Valley.
In lands of foreign languages, the Shors encounter a variety of people from kings, queens and Shahs, to
villagers, guides and yak pullers.
After meeting in China where they both worked and lived, Jean Bowie and Franc Shor were married, although Jean wouldn't have know otherwise as the service was in Chinese. The Shors, both seasoned travelers, soon are honeymooning across parts of China. While on their honeymoon Jean, an ardent follower of Marco Polo, is reminded of his explorations.
After Franc is willing to make the trek, the couple start leaping the hurdles. They overcome numerous obstacles, impossible with todays traveling systems and security. While preparing to leave and traveling through Europe, Franc adopted a necessary maxim, " After we leave here we won't get anything good to eat." This he would recite anytime they both dined at a restaurant with appealing delicacies. " He says it in New York before we leave for Paris, and in Paris before Rome, and in Rome before Cairo." Mrs. Shor says, " The grass is always dead on the other side of the street."
After all preparations are finished, so they think, the Shors set off on an eight month exploration through the Middle East, following Marco Polo's footsteps and just like him, trying to make it to China.

I'd recommend this book for children or at least middle school. Written about tracing the steps of Marco Polo, the best part was the end where they slide with their yaks into the valley of the Hunzas in Northern Pakistan. The Hunzas are people who love in a mountain suntrap, with no written language, lots of apricot oil and no cancer. Fascinating. I'm sorry the authoress didn't write more books.

Just after WW II when the world's inhabitants were still resting from their efforts and the Chinese Civil War was in a lull and westerners, especially Americans were welcome almost anywhere, a couple set out to see the remote areas of High Asia where few westerners had ever gone. They managed to travel in a time of relative safety compared with now.
I remember the days of hippies in the sixties riding local buses across Turkey, Iran snd Afghanistan on their way from Europe to Nepal. And the rivalry between the US and USSR for influence with the Afghan government and people. We and the USSR were competing with aid projects including modern mapping, road building, dams and other infrstrucure projects. There were even guidebooks detailing routes to and ancient monuments at Herat, Balkh, Kandahar, and elsewhere.
Whst makes these remarka relevent today was the relative safety of travel on the besten paths in the fifties and sixties.Then the world's interest in the "Roof of Asia" was inspired by the msny articles in the National Geographic in the forties and fifties. I followed the adventures of Franc and Jean and was saddened by their subsequent splittng up. I had even hoped to go there some day, especially to Tibet, but by the time I graduated from university, the Chinese Reds had long since closed the area east of the Wakhan to westerners. I had eagerly read Lowell Thomas's Tibet articles in the SEP as well.
I first read those articles in "real time" as a young lad in the forties and have retained an interest in the area ever since. I was never fortunate enough to travel to high Asia on mapping expeditions when the Army Map Service was working in Iran. I came to work at AMS too late to go to the field. In a few years oue field men had either been expelled or finished the work in most of the countries involved.
This book is not a scientific study but an impressionistic account of one couple's journey during a window of opportunity which will never come again, at least in the relative safety of the late forties.
The book is based on the articles that originally appeared in the Geographic magazine.

Wonderful travel book about a very volatile part of the world. Franc and Jean Schor travel through China after WWII on their honeymoon when Jean gets the idea to follow the route of Marco Polo after reading his account. After much planning with the National Geographic and cajoling of governments to issue the necessary visas they embark on an adventurous trip through much of South West Asia.

The more interesting accounts are of their meeting and befriending the Shah of Iran. They come to spend quite some time with him and his family. He even flies them himself in his converted B-17 over the "hot Desert" of Iran. They come away seeing the Shah as an enlightened leader who will modernize the country. Just to show you what a small world it is they meet Chief Justice William O'Douglas, at a dinner party in Iran. He seems to have spent allot of his spare time exploring in that part of the world as a hobby. At the dinner party he says, "I would much rather set precedent than follow precedent." In Afghanistan they get to meet King Mohammed Zahir, (who is 93 and presently in exile in Italy), by using a letter of introduction given them from the Shah of Iran. King Zahir grants them permission to travel through the Wakhan corridor, a very dangerous desolate area bordering China. They are the first "westerners" to travel this part of Afghanistan and write about it since the 19th century. The descriptions of abject poverty and their dealings with "duplicitous" Afghans still rings true today by all accounts we see in the news.

This is an enjoyable book describing the people and treacherous terrain of South West Asia. Franc and Jean Schor become intrepid world travelers who did many stories for National Geographic. As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy I reccomend the book highly.

Written by a woman who was not a professional explorer, but rather an individual with a keen sense of adventure, and history. A modest and beautifully written work that flows so easily that it can be enjoyed in just a few sittings. It takes place in the period just after WWII before the world was over-run with cell phones, satellite photos and email. A true aventure from a simpler time...

What a wonderful idea for a book!
The brothers Jodha have excelled themselves...this is a thoughtfully conceived, well-shot, well-written and nicely presented books.
It makes one think...

After visiting South India (Dec. 03 - Feb. 04) and buying a lot of books about country, politics, demographics and landscapes, I looked for something that represents India as a whole. "Ageless Mind" is an excellent in-depth mirror of the Indian society in all its dimensions. Not so much the photos but the texts-interviews of the people are unveiling Indias magnitude and tragedy.
Highly recommended for some who would like to understand the dynamics and roots of "future coming world power".

I have recently picked up this book and read it only in bits and pieces but I must say that I am enjoying it immensely. I am not much of an expert on photography and can't speak about the technical aspects of this book but I must say that the photos with matching oral histories make this one a really absorbing affair. Some of the stories are quite hilarious, such as a patriarch who is bit of a tyrant as well an expert on time pieces, having written many books on the subject including a dictionary! He has got his own wife, his sons and their wives, and the grandchildren into this subject and so you have this extended family living with an unbelievable collection of watches and clocks. There are clock fashioned inside a banjo and a guitar, and there are these five-foot high, giant alarm clocks. It is also a very fascinating insight into the whole extended family system that you find less and less in neighborhoods today. The old patriarch says that nobody grudges the watches and clocks taking away all the space in their small flat because this was the condition "I put before my own marriage and then before the marriage of my two sons." So you have this photo of this eight-member family living in this one room tenement with these 2000 watches and clocks.

Photography on serious themes like homelessness, HIV, old age homes are always being done in that grabbing shots/reportage style which work very well in a newspaper context but don't have the same effect when put out in the form of a book. This book however goes in the other direction, taking the large format environmental portrait route more common to celebrity portraiture. More importantly, both in terms of the pictures and the narrations accompanying them, it addresses its theme with a lot of thought and patience. Just as well, since the book deals with the theme of ageing. Although, it has its share of celebrities, I could recognize only one - Pandit Ravi Shankar the famous sitar player, what makes it more interesting and valuable is its focus on the unknown, the forgotten or those who are simply down and out.

In another important change from the work done with such people and such environments, this one lets the people do the talking for a change, even when they don't seem to take very kindly to the book's writer or photographer. In the process this book highlights a world that even when far removed from ours, has human connections and concerns that are universal. The optimism, as one lady in this book puts it, "the years are like sugar in your tea cup. The last sip is sweetest," or the pessimism, as a traditional toy maker puts it, "what is a long life worth for those with limited means?" Then there are characters with their own peculiarities, a 100-year old soldier who thinks his teeth are coming back or a Chinese newspaper publisher, (that India also has a Chinese population was a revelation), who feels that the motto of the young is, "go for the cupboard keys first, then just say bye-bye."

The most inspiring person I came across among the 130 in this book was an eye surgeon who has been going around to really far removed places that have no hospitals and treating people for free. He has done more surgeries than anybody else in the world and has been at it for last 50 odd years. To me he seemed to be like Dr. Sheiwitzer who spent all those years in Africa and was immortalized in Eugene Smith's photo essays for LIFE magazine. But unlike the missionary-doctor this one wears his achievements lightly and says, "I am just an ordinary man and will serve as God wants me to. My instruments are my prayer and the operating room is my temple. My work has therefore been my pilgrimage."

Photography on serious themes like homelessness, HIV, old age homes are always being done in that grabbing shots/reportage style which work very well in a newspaper context but don't have the same effect when put out in the form of a book. This book however goes in the other direction, taking the large format environmental portrait route more common to celebrity portraiture. More importantly, both in terms of the pictures and the narrations accompanying them, it addresses its theme with a lot of thought and patience. Just as well, since the book deals with the theme of ageing. Although, it has its share of celebrities, I could recognize only one - Pandit Ravi Shankar the famous sitar player, what makes it more interesting and valuable is its focus on the unknown, the forgotten or those who are simply down and out.

In another important change from the work done with such people and such environments, this one lets the people do the talking for a change, even when they don't seem to take very kindly to the book's writer or photographer. In the process this book highlights a world that even when far removed from ours, has human connections and concerns that are universal. The optimism, as one lady in this book puts it, "the years are like sugar in your tea cup. The last sip is sweetest," or the pessimism, as a traditional toy maker puts it, "what is a long life worth for those with limited means?" Then there are characters with their own peculiarities, a 100-year old soldier who thinks his teeth are coming back or a Chinese newspaper publisher, (that India also has a Chinese population was a revelation), who feels that the motto of the young is, "go for the cupboard keys first, then just say bye-bye."

The most inspiring person I came across the 130 in this book was an eye surgeon who has been going around to really far removed places that have no hospitals and treating people for free. He has done more surgeries than anybody else in the world and has been at it for last 50 odd years. To me he seemed to be like Dr. Sheiwitzer who spent all those years in Africa and was immortalized in Eugene Smith's photo essays for LIFE magazine. But unlike the missionary-doctor this one wears his achievements lightly and says, "I am just an ordinary man and will serve as God wants me to. My instruments are my prayer and the operating room is my temple. My work has therefore been my pilgrimage."

Minnie Vautrin died at 55, by her own hands. Today we would call it post traumatic stress syndrome. Sometimes people have seen too much and given too much and they can't carry it all. Today Minnie Vautrin is remembered for the hope in Nanking she gave when all seemed lost before world war II as the Japanese invaded China.

Imagine being a simple school teacher from the Mid West, sent as a missionary to China to teach. Suddenly your school becomes a haven for 10,000 women who seek shelter against the invading Japanese Army. Vautrin could not even finish a meal or sleep a night without going out to fight off Japanese soldiers intent on hauling off Chinese girls from the international compound that had been declared a safe haven. She was slapped and pistol whipped. She was threatened repeatedly. She went without sleep. She went repeatedly to the Japenese authorities to protest. She even grabbed girls from the clutches of soldiers.

In the broader story, twenty four foreigners, including a Nazi German named John Rabe, saved 200 hundred thousand Chinese from extermination in a 3.8 km square safety zone in Nanking. The foreigners could have walked away. Instead they broke up rape attemtps, were pistol wiped, beaten, threatened at gun point. Unfortunately another 300,000 Chinese were killed, and at least 20,000 were raped, including grandmothers of 80 and girls as young as nine.

American missionaries in China have a mixed record. Those who stayed and saved the Chinese at Nanking have earned a special place in China's history. This book explains this history. If you want to understand China, this is worth reading.

With Iris Chang's Rape of Nanking, this book is essential reading for those who would like to know about the Chinese Holocaust: many millions of Chinese murdered by the Japanese during the Second World War.

Minnie Vautrin was a lady with compassion. She devoted her life in bringing education to Chinese women and girls in 1920s to 30s. She was well remembered not only by the people of Nanking but also by all Chinese people. During the Rape of Nanking committed by the invading of Japansese military in 1937, she risked her life in protecting over ten thousand women and girls in her campus. This book showed her courage. It was a remarkable story of the female over the male, the weak over the strong, the peace over violence. However, over the past sixty years, not many Americans know of this woman of humanity and internationalism. In 2001, I had the good fortune to attend her memorial at Shephard, Michigan with a small group of friends and her relatives. I delivered a brief paper on behalf of the citizens of Nanking for their respect and love to her. Dr Bates, another international team members son of 1937 delivered the grave site prayer.
As Americans, you should not miss this woman of the greatest generation. In December 13 2002, a statue will be set up in Naking to honor this American to China.
In 2004, Missouri House, City of St Louis and City of Overland made Proclamation on her birthday as Ginling Forever, Minnie Vautrin Day. In 2005, Illinois Governor honored her on her birthday and called for citizens of Illinois to follow her example. In September 27 2006, California Congressman Mike Honda introduced her on the floor for a Celebration Resolution - a significant gift for her 120 years birthday!
In 2003, with a group of friends, we set up Friends of Minnie Vautrin Scholarship Project to raise funds to honor her and her mission of Chinese women education in her Ginling College through United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. [...]

I first heard of the Rape of Nanking back in the year 1998 when I came across Iris Chang's _Rape of Nanking_ Since then I have read every book that I came across on the subject. Dr. Hu's book tells us of Minnie Vautrin an extraordinary woman who spent most of her life in China trying to help the Chinese people through education in religion. The book goes on to tell how Miss Vautrin risked her life day after day protecting thousands of Chinese women who seeked sanctuary at Miss Vautrin's college, Ginling.
Dr. Hu does a wonderful job giving the reader a backdrop of information, so the reader knows Japan and China's relationship with each other and the circumstances that led up to the Rape of Nanking. Dr. Hu also gives very detailed information in a short section about the history of American missionaries going to China. Wonderful book and an extraordinary woman.

Author Hua-ling Hu presents the deeply moving biography of an American educator/missionary who remained in Nanking to help thousands of women and children facing death. I could not set down the book until I finished it, then I started again in order to gain a keen appreciation for the thorough historical scholarship using sources that have not been available until Hu brought them to our eyes. This book should be read by historians, by missionaries, by anyone interested in fascinating biographies -- it is a compelling story with exceptional historical scholarship as the backdrop.

Osprey books are the greatest, though they're a bit pricey. The color plates are magnificent. (Incidentally, the cover shown here on Amazon isn't the actual cover of the book. The spelling of "Volunteers'" has been cleaned up, and the actual painting shows the collision of Parker Dupouy's Tomahawk with the Ki-43 Hayabusa flown by Lieutenant Okuyuma of the Japanese army 64th Sentai.) In this case, they're supplemented by many black-white photographs, most of them taken by the late R.T. Smith, including some never published before.

Here's a first rate addition to the literature on the original Flying Tigers.

It's exactly what the title promises, a thorough treatise on AVG colors and markings. Surprising how much these varied. As such, it's an excellent reference for those who like to know what those historic planes looked like. Note that this volume is listed in the Osprey Ace series, probably due to its picturing many of the a/c flown by ace pilots. Incidentally, the profile art is among Osprey's best, showing camo colors in scale effect (not full strength as in paint color chips) with realistic rendering of wear and tear on those well-used planes.

The text on such a subject could be dull. Not this one.

The author's long standing association with AVG veterans not only led to his expertise on the subject, it yielded many anecdotes and observations. These warm the text with the human element as well as adding bits of history.

Even tho' AVG history in general could be over-exposed, I'd expect that the freshness of the original material in this work will surely add up to heightened appreciation for this justly famous and prideful group.

The Osprey website says another volume on AVG Aces is in the works.

American Volunteer Group Colours and Markings
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #41 © 2001
By Terrill Clements


This may become a continuing refrain - "just what we need, another book on ..."

It's my hope that, in each case where that question comes to mind, I'll also be able to provide they answer, "Hell YES we need this book!" I'm pleased to say that this book on the often-covered American Volunteer Group - the AVG - is needed, welcome and very well done. And I say this as one who's got at least a dozen good books on the AVG, from biographies by Scott and Boyington to the recent and superb "Sharks over China."

I'm glad to be able to report that, once again, I'm finding that a new book - new to me, anyway, though it was first published in 2001 - that explores new aspects of even an often-explored subject is well worth having. In this case, author Terrill Clements interviewed several surviving Flying Tigers, and in the process, brought new insights into this well-reviewed topic. For me, this was a page-turner, with new insights into a well-traveled story, and lots of useful-to-modelers photos, drawings and pilot commentary.

Most students of things military will recognize the AVG - a group of three squadrons of mercenary pilots in the employ of the Nationalist Chinese government. Always under-strength and under-manned, these brave soldiers of fortune - themselves often cast-offs from the pre-war US Army Air Corps and the US Naval Air Service - blazed a trail of glory across the skies of Southeast Asia for barely six months. From their first combat on December 10, 1941 until July 4, 1942 when the AVG was disbanded and reconstituted as the 23rd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Force's China Air Task Force, the AVG destroyed nearly 300 Japanese combat planes in the air and on the ground, losing just 20 pilots and perhaps 35 or 40 aircraft in the process.

Not surprisingly, the AVG - the Flying Tigers - have been covered widely, in everything from a piss-poor John Wayne wartime propaganda movie to a series of books, articles, seminars and websites. Did we need another book? Surprisingly - especially if you're a modeler or you want to know more about the people who made up the AVG - the answer is a resounding YES!

The book is a godsend to modelers like me who have a "thing" for the American Volunteer Group - for instance, it has a dozen-page chapter that probes almost excessively (if "excessive probing" into AVG markings is possible) into the color schemes and markings of the group's 99 remarkably historical Tomahawk fighters. Not only are very specific details of even the smallest markings spelled out, but in many cases the author is able to say who painted on those markings - when - and where he bought the paint! In focusing on the people who painted and serviced and flew these Tomahawk fighters, the author swings back to further coverage on the markings: asking - then answering - specific questions such as "who created the various versions of the shark-mouth," for instance, and "how the squadron and personal markings evolved over time." For "marking nuts" (and who, among those who model the Flying Tigers, isn't something of a "marking nut" at heart?) this book is a "must" for your hobby bookshelf.

A personal aside about my fascination for the AVG's Hawk Model 81 Tomahawk - the primary mount of the AVG, which also flew a few USAAF hand-me-down P-40Es late in the Group's abbreviated lifespan - this AVG Tomahawk is a beaut! Not exactly a P-40, the AVG Tomahawk was built to a British Lend Lease contract as an offshoot of their Tomahawk Mk. II. These aircraft were then passed on, again through Lend Lease, to Nationalist China to help in their ongoing war against Imperial Japan. Other Tomahawks from the same production run were Lend-Leased to the Soviet Union, and amazingly - since the fall of the Soviet Union - a few of these Tomahawks have recently been discovered and are currently being restored to flight status or for museum displays.

The aircraft from this particular production batch is really an amalgam of the P-40B and P-40C, with features from both aircraft. However, when taken into the USAAF at the time the AVG disbanded, the plane was referred to "officially" as a P-40C. No matter what it's designation, to my eye the AVG Tomahawk is not only the most elegant and attractive P-40, but also the most deadly-looking.

Sure, later models of this Curtiss fighter had more powerful armament - six wing-mounted .50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns as opposed to the Tomahawk's two nose-mounted .50s and four wing-mounted .30 caliber Brownings - and these later models also had the ability to carry and drop bombs. They also had heavier armor and better gunsights - and very likely improved self-sealing fuel tanks, too. No question that the D and E models (the Kittyhawks) and the later F-model through N-model Warhawks were, in most cases, technically more capable warplanes. But the Tomahawk looks deadlier (at least to me), and because it wasn't weighted down with heavier armament and extra armor, it may well have been a bit more maneuverable - that judgment is really up to the pilots who flew both in combat, and this book didn't address that issue.

Speaking of judgment, one AVG pilot - a former US Navy F4F-3 Wildcat pilot - felt that the Tomahawk's firepower was superior to the Wildcat's. No question that four .50s had a more potent punch than two .50s and four .30s - but against lightly-built, unarmored Japanese aircraft, the higher volume of bullets from those six guns (and the .30s' inherently higher rate of fire) proved decisive in those brief on-target instances in combat.

Confirming this, one of the Japanese Imperial Army Air Force's leading surviving aces - quoted in the book from a recent TV documentary - referred to gunfire from the Tomahawks as a "rain of bullets" that never seemed to stop. He should know - hit by two .30 rounds from an AVG Tomahawk, he barely survived. Hospitalized for months, he didn't return to combat until long after the AVG had become the 23rd Group of the U.S. Army Air Force's China Air Task Force - and long after the fast-shooting "transition-era" Tomahawk had been replaced by later-model P-40 Kittyhawks with their harder-hitting but slower-shooting six .50 caliber machine gun battery.

Part of my preference for the Tomahawk - and therefore part of my interest in the AVG - is my fascination with what I call "transitional-era" aircraft. The P-35 and P-36 were the US Army Air Corps' first all-metal monoplane fighters with retractable landing gear, enclosed cockpits and heavier armament than the two rifle-caliber machine guns that had been common in all air forces from 1916 to roughly 1936. The early P-40s - the Tomahawks - were little more than re-engined P-36s, and were still what I consider "transitional" fighters. They didn't carry or drop bombs, they still had a mixed armament that included light rifle-caliber machine guns, and their radios sucked on toast.

However, the more robust P-40E had completed the transition. With heavy armor, decent radios, six .50 caliber heavy machine guns and the ability to drop bombs, the P-40E was fully the conceptual equal of the second-generation monoplane fighters such as the P-39 Airacobra (which some might consider a "transitional-era fighter, too" - that's open to debate, at the very least) and the early Allison-engined P-51 Mustangs. They were also the equal to other "evolved" planes that started out as transitional-era fighters, including the cannon-armed Hurricanes and the Daimler-Benz DB-601-powered Bf-109 E fighters. While these later P-40s might be better fighter aircraft - hell, they WERE better fighter aircraft - they had lost some of the distinction I think all those first-generation "modern" monoplane fighters shared.

When it comes to modeling, I prefer the transitional era fighters (this also applies to the jet era - I really like those first-generation jets, as well as those awkward hybrids like the Ryan Fireball) - and because I find the Tomahawk the most elegant of the breed, I'm particularly pleased with this book. For the Tomahawk modeler who likes the AVG, this book is sensational!

Along with this superb narrative are fifteen pages of color plates - including 1941-1942 color photos - and dozens of contemporary B&W photos. The photos are interspersed throughout the book, and accompany a narrative that focuses on the personalities - the pilots and ground crewmen - who made up the Flying Tigers, as well as their oft-reported combat operations.

While the book focuses more on markings than on aerial combat, it does note that in exchange for the loss from all causes of 20 combat pilots, the AVG racked up a confirmed kill rate of 296 Japanese aircraft, including many victories over Ki-43 Oscars (the equal, in speed and maneuverability, to the better-known Zero) flown by some of the premier fighter jocks of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. To all causes, the AVG lost about 70 of their 99 original Tomahawks - though more were lost to training accidents than to combat, and most combat losses were either planes bombed on the ground or shot-up Tomahawks that brought their pilots home before being turned into spare-parts bins.

At a time when the Japanese were clearing the sky of Allied planes over Hawaii, the Philippines, Java, Singapore and Western Australia, the relative handful of AVG Tomahawks - and an even smaller contingent of RAF Buffalos and Hurricanes - stood up to the largest aerial armadas to be seen in the Pacific before the start of the great Carrier battles of 1944, and gave better than they got. Much better!

In many cases during the defense of Rangoon, a dozen or so AVG Tomahawks and another dozen RAF fighters - including the often-maligned Buffalos - would rise to fight air fleets of 150, 200 or more Japanese fighters and bombers. While the Allies were too few in number to inflict losses sufficient to deter the Japanese - who seemed to have a near-endless supply of replacements - these AVG and RAF forces inflicted damage all out of proportion to their numbers, and lived to fight another day. And another day. And yet another day - in the case of the AVG, for six long months.

Even if you cut their victory numbers in half - an unjustified move, in my opinion, since so many AVG kills were confirmed by wreckage that fell in Allied territory or into occupied China were loyal partisans eagerly confirmed the victories - the AVG scored in combat at a trade-off rate that wasn't matched by the Allies until Hellcats and Corsairs took to the skies in overwhelming numbers more than two years later. With vastly superior numbers - and vastly superior combat planes - it's relatively easy to rack up impressive victory totals. When outnumbered 10-to-1 - or even 20-to-1 - while flying against combat-tested veterans ... when flying planes the world considers obsolescent, if not down-right obsolete - survival alone is remarkable. But to score a 5-to-1 victory margin over a confident and skilled enemy at the peak of his strength and power is all but unbelievable.

But, in the case of the AVG, the unbelievable was all in a day's work.

This detailed, superbly-illustrated 96-page book is pure Osprey, which in this case is a good thing - Osprey has a strong track-record of producing books that add real value to both the amateur historian and the avid modeler. Since I have a particular affinity for modeling early-model P-40s, this book has proven especially interesting and useful - but anybody with an interest in the Flying Tigers or in modeling the Tomahawk will find real value in this book.

I am a AVG fan from Taiwan, the Republic of China!! The history of the American Volunteer Group showed us the friendship between our two nations. The Cutriss P-40B(C)/Hawk-81A Tomahawk and P-40E Kittyhawk were really beautiful!! I can tell you the P-40s flown by AVG were the most colorful aircrafts in the history of the Republic of China Air Force. I decide to translate this book into Chinese for AVG fans in Taiwan!!

Here's a first rate addition to the literature on the original Flying Tigers.

It's exactly what the title promises, a thorough treatise on AVG colors and markings. Surprising how much these varied. As such, it's an excellent reference for those who like to know what those historic planes looked like. Note that this volume is listed in the Osprey Ace series, probably due to its picturing many of the a/c flown by ace pilots. Incidentally, the profile art is among Osprey's best, showing camo colors in scale effect (not full strength as in paint color chips) with realistic rendering of wear and tear on those well-used planes.

The text on such a subject could be dull. Not this one.

The author's long standing association with AVG veterans not only led to his expertise on the subject, it yielded many anecdotes and observations. These warm the text with the human element as well as adding bits of history.

Even tho' AVG history in general could be over-exposed, I'd expect that the freshness of the original material in this work will surely add up to heightened appreciation for this justly famous and prideful group.

The Osprey website says another volume on AVG Aces is in the works.

Buying this terrific Angkor temple guide book does not mean you shouldn't hire a licensed Khmer guide (not to be confused with a driver, who are not allowed to take tourists inside the temples) because the guides are schooled in the history of the temples, are fluent in a particular foreign language, able to advise on shopping, touring the countryside, cultural tours, but can take you to see temples when the light is best, the crowds the smallest & then explain what you are seeing. Buy this book, figure out what temples you want to see, read the history section & the sections on the temples you're going to see. Once you return, reread the sections on the temples you've seen, as it will give you a greater enjoyment of the incredible artistry & majesty of Ancient Angkor. This book does not replace a licensed guide, it enhances the experience. I also recommend Dawn Rooney's book because she writes about remote temples that are not in this book & in more detail, but I found her floor plans confusing.

This book will guide you step by step (literally) through the magnificant temples of Angkor. And even if you weren't planning to go, you will want to for sure, after viewing Michael Freeman's superb photographs and reading Claude Jacques' expert commentary.

No matter where you wander on the very large site of Angkor, Freeman and Jacques are right alongside you, suggesting places to look and explaining what you are looking at. There are maps and temple plans, a glossary, and an index. For visitors with limited time, the suggested itineraries (from one to seven days' length) will let you make the most of your visit.

The book is especially helpful for photographers. Freeman, who has photographed professionaly at Angkor for over a decade, describes the best vantage points and subjects, suggests the best time of day to shoot, and provides itineraries that take you to each location just when the light is best.

The book is well designed and contains many helpful features. For example, a cross-referenced list of architectural features and mythological scenes makes it easy to locate temples that contain whatever the visitor is most interested in seeing.

In short, carrying this book with you is like having an expert photographer and historian as personal guides during your visit to Angkor. You probably won't even need to engage an actual guide, unless you want to pick up a bit of local color; everything you need is right there in the book.

This book is a fantastic combination of pictures and facts for people wanting to visit the Angkor temples. The pictures stir the imagination and the text provides the facts to go with the pictures.

In fact I recently used this book as my guide while visiting Angkor. It provides a section for each of the most-visited temples and will also give you information on suggested time to put aside for each visit and the best time to go. In fact, my guide at Angkor said this was the best guide book he had seen, and I saw other people using this same book to guide themselves around the temples like I did.

This book provides suggested itineries to the temples and the best times to visist for photography. whether you can actually manage to combine the two is debatable on a short visit. The books main downfall is not its content, but its weight which is quite heavy because of the good quality paper used.

The climate (extremely hot and humid - air conditioning is a worthwhile investment) can make visiting these monuments as trial at times, but they are worth the effort. All the buildings are unique, covered in exquiste carvings (which books can only hint at) and original. Some are still partly swallowed by the jungle. Straight out of indiana Jones.

Get this book, let your imagination wander and visit these amazing ruins if you can before too many other tourists turn up - for they are a world wonder not to be missed. And don't forget your camera - these are places begging to be photographed.

Claude Jacques is an expert on Angkor, and has studied its history for 30 years. Photographer Michael Freeman has been taking pictures of Angkor for over 15 years. Together Ancient Angkor is the product of a partnership that has yielded over 350 color illustrations, and a well-written guide to the ruins of Angkor.

Included are detailed plans and descriptions,[even of lesser known temples not found in other guides]. The book is well thought-out -with suggestions of various itineraries, and information on hotels and other items pertaining to travel . This serves not only as a great tourist guide for travellers planning a trip to the ancient ruins but also a great book for armchair travellers with lush color illustrations and meticulous descriptions.

A lovingly prepared compilation of superb color photographs, maps, history and scholarly explanations of the major world monument that is Angkor Wat. The authors thoughtfully include suggested itineraries ( ranging from one to six days ), sites ranked by interest, peak times and locations for photographing and even helpful suggestions for accomodations. A must for planning a visit to Angkor Wat or for preserving memories.

It was great to go along for this exciting ride through Asia with a writer whose personal experiences bring destinations to life. The author's narrative is never over-bearing yet she still manages to get deep inside this wonderful continent.

Around Asia in 1 hour is true to its title. This new travel book by Yeoh Siew Hoon takes its readers through a whirlwind tour of Asia without missing a beat. It covers all aspects from temples to nightclubs and other drinking holes. It reveals what only an insider knows and it is fun to read. An exceptional experience by an exceptional writer.

From a normally logical perspective i find myself illogically drawn to Asia. So when I read this book it encapsualted a view from an insider but made an outsider like me feel perfectly at home. The images created are vivid and very real. This is a good read without too many complications. It leaves you feeling good and anxious to explore even more. The author clearly knows her stuff and comes across very credible. If you ever wanted to visit Asia - read this book and then explore, as an individual.

Written in her usual natural yet compelling style this book is a must for those who want an insiders view of the foibles and fashions, in the human sense, of south east Asia. Siew Hoon "finds the parts that others fail to reach." Delightful!

This is not your normal travel book. Siew Hoon is an insider who gives us a feel for Asian destinations with a few deft literary strokes which speak volumes. Siew Hoon's easy style and intimate knowledge of the destinations will be much appreciated by anyone who wants to get to the very heart of the matter in the minimum time.