Asia Books

We have frightening problems in our country (USA) and the world. When you read about the family in this book, our obstacles in life don't look so perilous. It is well written, captivating, suspenseful and touching. It needs to be read to or with children about ten and older, and some discussion with the reading will help children understand the setting. I believe you "Can't go wrong with de Jong!"

It was great to find this. My husband read it as a boy and wanted to find a copy to read to our sons.

This is a touching story written from the perspective of a little Chinese boy and his journey home through war raveged territory. I've read it over 5 times (including each year to my 5th grade class) and it's sweetneess still brings tears to my eyes.

I read this book aloud to my sixth grade reading class. They loved it, and always wanted to hear more. Its also a great way to introduce students to some of the history of China, Japan and US involvement in the war there.

I read this book as a child and, in turn, read it to my children. It has a permanent place in our hearts. It is the well written story of a young Chinese boy and his beloved pig, "Glory of the Republic", who get separated from his family and caught behind Japanese lines when Japan invaded China in the late 1930's. It has some very scary moments. It also has tragedy. I think your child should be about 5th or 6th grade to be able to fully appreciate it. But the book will open your eyes as to what it might be like as a child to be caught in a war. The boy does get reunited with his family, but have your kleenex handy. As a parent you will definitely need it at the end.

If you're sick of the usual "Japan is a country of opposites"-type schlock that appears in mot travelogue about Japan, then "Looking for the Lost" (or Booth's other book, "The Roads to Sata") are wonderful antidotes.

Through simple, real-life observations and exchanges -- no grandiose oversimplifications and cliches here! -- Booth presents the complexity, silliness, friendliness, biases, perspectives, history, modernity, antiquity and culture of the Japan beyond the big cities.

As a Tokyoite for seven years (transplanted from NYC), I can say without equivocation that Booth's two tomes are the most accurate, truest, loveliest texts you will ever read about the country.

Looking for the Lost chronicles three independent walking trips the author made through the Japanese countryside, each inspired by a famous historical journey. The first trip retraces novelist Osamu Dazai's journey through his childhood homeland in his autobiographical work, "Tsugaru." The second trip recounts Alan Booth's efforts to follow the trail of the celebrated rebel general Saigo Takamori as he struggled to escape the Emperor's armies at the end of the failed Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. The third trip is of Booth's own devising, a walk from Nagoya to Taira through Gifu province, along one of many paths that legend claims the remnants of the imperial Heike clan followed after their defeat by the Genji clan in the 12th century.

Booth was a British expatriate writer who moved to Japan to study Noh drama, became disillusioned with it, and ended up a permanent resident of Japan despite that. Looking for the Lost's central theme is the dissonance Booth experiences in his journeys when he attempts to reconcile the Japan of his dreams with the nation he travels through. His portrayals of the people he encounters are sometimes cynical, often humorous, and always insightful. When Japan fails to live up to his expectations, he does not hesitate to poke fun, and the reader is often left with the sense that he feels personally let down by the nation. But allegations that Booth did not like the Japanese ignore that he is as quick to turn his pen on himself as on a passerby. Several particularly memorable segments of the book focus on Booth embarrassing himself! Moreover, Booth balances his cynicism with sympathy: when the author meets a person or place that contains the pieces of Japan he seeks, or a human being he can relate to, his heartfelt joy shines through in his writing. It is in these moments that Alan Booth reveals the most about Japan, and about himself.

The book begins with the "Tsugaru" section. Despite Booth's affection for the region he is traveling through, he never really warms up to the subject matter. He represents the novelist Dazai as an unlikeable fellow, and characterizes the region's connections to Dazai as touristy and lacking authenticity. While the descriptions and people are interesting, the reader is left wondering why Booth felt it necessary to reenact the journey of someone he spends so much time sneering at. The second and third sections of the book are much stronger. "Saigo's Last March" interweaves Booth's thorough knowledge of the general's history with a journey that sometimes daunts even the veteran walker. Here, and in the final section, "Looking for the Lost," Booth finds more signs of the Japan of his dreams.

This was Alan Booth's last book, published posthumously in 1994, the year after his death.

I have read many books on Japan, and I hope to share some thoughts on of all of them in time. But this is one of the few that moved me. Having lived in Japan for two years, I read this book during my last six months on the JET Program and even managed to complete one of the journeys that Booth himself travelled - as I was reading this book. I often found myself laughing out loud or shedding a tear in secret. For those that have not spent some serious time in Japan, much will be lost. It is better for those living there or who have lived there. Alan's insights cannot be perceived easily or quickly from the typical ten day vacation. In following his foot steps, I felt as if I was walking with his ghost. This book, as others have stated, is very bitter-sweet. I too, wish that Alan were still alive today, for I would very much would have enjoyed drinking with him.

Highly Recommended

Booth is a master at bringing words to life. You can't help but feeling like you are right there with him as he travels through Japan. Seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, feeling what he experiences. In "Looking for the Lost," Booth reveals the subtleties of the Japanese people, their culture, and their land that at once demystifies Western stereotypes of Japan and envelopes the country in a totally different kind of mystery. I found nuggets reminiscent of my own visit to Japan. A delight to read!

Alan Booth followed in the steps (pun intended) of numerous previous travel writers, and was better than most. He had a ready wit and an excellent sense of humor, and bore the hardships of his chosen method of travel well. He also liked to drink, an asset when traveling on foot in Japan.

He describes three different walks, each with a distinctive theme. The first follows the trail of Japanese novelist Osamu Dazai's 1944 tour of his home region, Tsugaru, in Northern Honshu. The second follows the path of General Takamori Saigo's retreat from the Battle of Enodake, in Kyushu, which ended the Satsuma rebellion in 1877. The third follows the possible track over central Honshu of the remnents of the Heike clan after their defeat at the Battle of Dannoura in 1186.

Along the way, between descriptions of his blisters and complaints about the weather, he weaves bits of history in with reflections on literature and drama, Japanese society, his own life, and the merits of various alcoholic beverages. He enjoys the Japanese, but doesn't necessarily like them, pokes fun at them constantly. Not that the Japanese, like any other nationality, don't deserve having fun poked at them. But one sometimes wonders why Booth spent so many years living in a country and learning the language of a people for whom he seems to have had so little respect. He acknowledges this indirectly even in the title of the book, "Looking for the Lost", which implies that he is looking for a Japan that may never have existed.

His comments on the Noh are interesting, but perplexing. He was a trained actor, went to Japan to learn about the Noh, and became disillusioned with it very quickly. From the little I have read and seen of Noh drama, it is based on quite different assumptions from European, especially Shakespearean, drama. It was "pickled" from the very beginning, an esoteric art form invented for the nobility, nothing "popular" or "alive" about it. Booth seems to have taken that difference personally, as if the Japanese had played a trick on him, rather than seeing the Noh for the quite unusual dramatic form that it is.

His announcement at the end of the book that he has colon cancer is terse and matter of fact, in some ways like Dazai's attitude toward suicide. One thinks of him writing this book with death looking over his shoulder, which perhaps explains the bittersweet feeling one gets while reading it.

Related works:

Basho - "The Narrow Road to the Deep North"
Isabella Bird - "Unbeatan Tracks in Japan"
Ezra Pound and Ernest Fenellosa - "The Classic Noh Theatre of
Japan"
Mishima Yukio - "Five Modern Noh Plays"

These are not nearly as much fun to read as Alan Booth.

Highly recommended.

I don't review a lot of products but just wanted to throw my two cents in on this one. Every meal I have made from this cookbook has been a huge hit with the entire family. If you're looking for a good gift for a foodie, a cook, or someone looking to try a new plan for getting healthier, you can't go wrong with this cookbook. And get a second copy for yourself!

I bought this book because I wanted to feed my family better and reduce our risk of heart disease, etc. The recipes are EXCELLENT! I am not someone who goes in for eating pineconey "health food" but I LOVE Japanese & Vietnamese food, and my husband LOVES Italian food as well. This book is the perfect combination and IT'S ACTUALLY GOOD FOR US!!

the recipes and eating plans are fine, even healthy. They make a point to emphasize that its more than just a diet, it is a lifestyle. But I must say that I was disappointed to find such heavy reliance on studies that have been thoroughly debunked from Ancel Keys and The China Study. There is so much better data out there to support this way of eating then from epidemiology studies where the populations were cherry picked to support the conclusions.

I like this book a lot. While the first half of the book may not be for everyone, I found that the background info there along with the refresher material on the type of fats, etc was good for me. I also liked the fact that the authors bolster what they say by scientific studies, all of which is documented should anyone want to investigate it further. The recipes (pgs 143-298) are straight forward. My only real criticism is I would have liked to have seen each recipe include caloric content with a breakdown of fats, cholesterol, sodium, protein, etc. The only other niggly I have is I was surprised to see recipes for soy hot dogs and burgers in a Mediterranean and Asian cookbook. I think these could have been safely omitted. Don't let these details sway you though. It is still a good book to have on the subject.

From: www.BasilAndSpice.com

Book Review: The Mediterrasian Way: A Cookbook and Guide to Health, Weight Loss, and Longevity, Combining the Best Features of Mediterranean and Asian Diets and Lifestyles

Authors Ric Watson and Trudy Thelander (Wiley '07)


Why is it that members of some specific cultures live long healthy lives? Seeking to answer this question, from Down Under comes a phenomenal first book by New Zealanders Ric Watson and Trudy Thelander--The Mediterrasian Way. It is a model of how to live healthily in the modern world using the time-tested cuisines and lifestyles of the Mediterraneans and Asians.

The Mediterrasian Way incorporates the most recent studies regarding nutrition, diet, exercise, and relaxation. Over 150 delicious recipes and beautiful photos of prepared dishes are included. A 14-day meal plan and the MediterrAsian.com website tie-in are also lifestyle change boosters.

Writing from his own experience, author Ric Watson explains how his tragic motorcycle accident altered his physical well being. The road to recovery was long and difficult, but by changing his diet from the standard meat and potatoes to traditional Mediterranean meals, he began to regain his health when doctors believed it was impossible.

The daughter of physicians, Trudy Thelander recalls her family relationship with her sister-in-law, a Chinese-Malaysian, who taught the author her own Asian cooking. Finding similarities between the two cultures, Ric and Trudy researched the basic elements of these 5,000 year old lifestyles. Both cultures include daily physical activity, a base diet of whole grain carbohydrates, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, olive or vegetable oils, and vegetables. Both consume daily water, tea, and wine in moderation.

Further cutting-edge scientific research cited in their groundbreaking book includes The Seven Countries Study, The China Study, The Lyon Diet Heart Study, among others. The authors developed The MediterrAsian Balanced Meal System (MBMS) based on this background, showing how the Mediterranean or Asian meals are easily prepared, and allow for a greater volume of food with less caloric intake. More importantly, they demonstrate how the MBMS enhances the body's functioning with its use of vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, and lean protein (poultry, seafood, soy products).

A best example is p. 95 of the book:

Western Style Meal: 1 quarter-pound burger with cheese, 1 large fry, 1 large soda, 1 ice cream sundae (1,679 calories)

Mediterranean Style Meal: Sicilian salmon and pasta with roasted red pepper, zucchini, basil, and pine nuts, 1 slice crusty whole grain bread drizzled with ½ T extra virgin olive oil, large salad with tomatoes, olives, romaine, and red onion, served with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, 1 glass red wine, bowl of mixed berries served with a scoop of sorbet (860 calories)

Asian Style Meal: Bowl of fragrant broccoli and mushroom soup, rice paper roll stuffed with chicken breast, snow pea sprouts, and peppers and served with a soy-sesame dipping sauce, Cantonese shrimp, cashew nut, and mixed vegetable stir-fry served over steamed long-grain rice, 1 glass cold beer, fresh fruit salad with mango, lychees, and pineapple (810 calories)

Each meal is generous portions, includes a drink and even dessert. Amazingly, calorie counts for the Mediterranean and Asian meals are about half that of the Western meal.

Living and eating the Mediterrasian Way can help prevent alzheimer's, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and heart disease. It can lead to weight loss, increased energy levels, and a strong immune system; in essence The Mediterrasian Way is the secret to a longer and more enjoyable life.

The reader of The Mediterrasian Way will not just be able to try new recipes, but will understand why it is important to eat these foods. This book is not a diet book, it is a way of life, and should be in every American home for reading, tasting, and experiencing.

These books are great fun. the move very fast with great action.
I have read all of them and do not know how many books the series will have and i do not like this! The web site does not have it and the books read very fast so now I am waiting for Mouse but starting to tire of this.
B

I'm a librarian and I started purchasing this series for my grandson about 3 years ago. Everytime I asked him, he hadn't read them yet. I was sure if he started them, he would like them. This fall he had to have a book to read in school that represented his interests so he took the first one, reluctantly (hates to read). He was about halfway through the book when he called me and said,"Grammy, would you mind getting me the rest of the Five Ancestors books? They're awesome!" He's now reading the second one and looking forward to the rest of the series. He's 11, turning 12 in May. I would reccomend this series any time for boys who think they don't like to read.

Book 2 of Jeff Stone's 'Five Ancestors' series, Monkey really deserves a reading of Book 1 for a smooth transition - and be aware, this is a projected seven-book series - but the action- packed martial-arts story set in 17th century China will win fans wherever they begin. Five young, orphaned monks specializes in a different style of kung-fu reflecting his personality: here Malao faces his temple's destruction and an encounter with a band of wood monkeys who save him and introduce him to a wilder side of his soul.

I think the book was better than hope for. You need to read the frist book first than you will get the story.

The Five Ancestors series by Jeff Stone is an exciting series about five young monks from an ancient Chinese temple called Canghzen, or, literally, Hidden Temple. The books are the same story, but from different views, because they split up. I think these books are a great adventure, and I also liked Tiger.

The book arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition as promised. Thank you.

Hardcover edition. My mom bought this book for me after I wouldn't stop raving about it after checking it out of our local library. Chinese culture has always fascinated me and this book gave me an overall idea of the culture. Great recipes of traditional food, a variety of craft projects for kids of all ages, and tales of how the traditions started. It also includes an overview of Chinese holidays such as the Chinese New Year, the Dragonboat Festival, and the Festival of Lights. *Mom's footnote - My daughter was born in the year of the Dragon.

We are in the long wait for an adopted sister from China and this book has been invaluable for communicating to our son what his soon-to-be sister's culture is like. It is beautifully illustrated and great for teaching him and preparing him for the holidays we will be celebrating. Very informative with great crafts and recipes. The festival introductions are great as well. We have actually made a few of the crafts. The puppet show was a huge hit!

This book is full of activities; stories and recipes--we will be using this book a lot in keeping the some of the traditions of China alive for our adopted daughter.

A nice book full of pictures and stories about the various festivals. There are craft items to make and food to cook. A good idea for those who are trying to incorporate chinese culture into their family life.

This story mimics many of my experiences working with the VietNamese people...I'd recommend also reading, "The Sorrow of War"...by Bao Ninh for a perspective from the other side.

I have difficulty relating to and with some VietNam combat vets who experienced little of the culture or realities of the VietNamese...My life and world view changed dramatically and forever in the 23 months I spent in VietNam. Our country seems to have learned little from the experience...and still fight wars for all the wrong reasons...and for big money's sake.

3 to 5 million dead in SE Asia...for what?

Well written book...I was a 19-21 year old with way too much power in VietNam.

I first read this in the late 80's. As a child who didn't remember the Viet Nam War itself, I mostly learned about it afterwards.

I find myself coming back and rereading this about every five years. I'm currently rereading it after reading a c.1966 book about Vietnam political history, and following up via various web pages (yay for Wikipedia!) on different subjects.

As I reread it, I find that what I had thought were just side-comments are really quite illustative of both his situation, and the policital situation there--how little the S. Vietnam govt really cared about the people, for instance.

I heartily concur that this would be a great assignment for high school students. it is a good read, and would open up discussions about what was actually happening, without just being memorization of facts and figures.

I think I probably read the first printing of Once a Warrior King and that was probably over a decade ago now, but David Donovans account of his time in Vietnam still remains one of my favourite accounts of the conflict.

I read this four years ago as a junior in high school for my American History Class. The course was offered for college credit and I used to get frustrated by all the books my teacher made us read, not to mention the essays we had to write in response to what we learned. Near the end of the year she assigned "Once a Warrior King" and I was so impressed that I never forgot the impact the book had on me. It was a vivid statement from the point of view of a man fighting in Vietnam and I could feel everything with accuracy as if I had gone through the same trauma. He was a warrior king and it was a classic.

This book brought back painful memories for me. As a young sailor on a River Assault Boat in River Assault Division 92, I participated on "Operation Barrier Reef" in January 1969, from the MACV compound described in this book. Although this book does not cover boat operations and the part that Mobile Riverine or River Patrol Units played during this period of time, it is an excellent description of the warfare of the period and operations in a remote area of Vietnam without fire support or air support. Those of you that want a graphic description of
river operations in that area, read the prologue from Brown River, Black Berets, a description of a firefight on the Dong
Tiem Canal, that I participated in January 1969. Both books
are excellent background sources for river warfare and the
seldom covered special unit operations.

This was a very well-crafted and informative book, which I would recommend reading to those who haven't yet. For those who have, and who enjoyed it like I did, I would recommend Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival, which George Kennan's account of his travels around eastern Siberia on dogs and reindeer sleds.

In The Other Side Of Russia, author Sharon Hudgins takes the reader along on her Trains-Siberian Railroad adventure through Siberia and the Russian Far East, an area that was closed off to Westerners (and most Russians) prior to 1990s and the collapse of the old Soviet Union. Here the reader will be treated to a unique travelogue that will take them from the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, to feast with native Siberian Buryats, the food markets and "high-rise villages" of Vladivostok and Irkutsk, Christmas celebrations, New Year's banquets, Easter dinners, and Siberian festivals. The Other Side Of Russia dispels the myths and misconceptions about the Asian part of Russia which extends across eight time zones between the Ural Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Offering a window of observation into this land of harsh winters, vast uninhabited spaces, friendly people, strange cuisines, and thriving modern cities, The Other Side Of Russia is a welcome, informative, and highly entertaining read which is especially commended to the attention of armchair travelers and students of Russian culture and history.

The Other Side of Russia is part travel narrative, part social history, part memoir, part food writing. All these parts come together to make a terrific book.

Sharon Hudgins and her husband Tom spent a year and a half in post-Soviet Siberia teaching business management for the University of Maryland's overseas program. As peripatetic ex-patriates, they were familiar with unfamiliarity. But they were still not prepared for what Siberia had to offer them.

Join Sharon and Tom as they picnic with the Russian Mafiya, try to teach in an educational system that discourages questions and independent thinking, and ponder why a herd of horses is tangled in downtown rush hour traffic.

In "Absurdistan" it is just one perplexing thing after another. The electricity and water in their poorly-constructed apartment building work only intermittently. But in spite of such challenges, they make friends and entertain regularly. Cultural differences mean that the same friends who swoon over delicacies such as wafer-thin horse liver slices rolled with layers of horse fat, are unable to enjoy a Hudgins Tex-Mex feast.

Hudgins's previous work as a food and travel writer are evident here, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that she writes fiction as well. The narrative is effortless and the stories she tells are by turns engaging and frightening.

The Other Side of Russia emerged from Barbara Hudgins experience of living in Siberia for a year and a half, from 1993 to 1994. Working as the onsite program coordinator for the University of Maryland University College in Siberia and the Russian Far East, she worked and lived in Vladivostok and Irkutsk.

Hudgins book is the first book about Siberia I'd come across written by someone who spent extensive time in Siberia. This gives her a depth of understanding that adds a lot to her memoir.

The structure of her memoir is unusual. She's divided the book into two sections. The chapters in part one focus on place - Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Lake Baikal, etc. - and the chapters in the second part focus on aspects of life and culture in Siberia - housing, education, food and festivals. Hudgins supplemented her first-hand experience with extensive research. This offers readers an in-depth source of information about many aspects of Siberian place and life.

What's lost in this non-chronological format is Hudgin's own adaptations and reactions over her time in Siberia. She does insert some feelings and personality, but the focus is on the topic, rather than on her personal experience or characters who change and develop over the period.

Hudgins seems to have thrown herself into Siberia with a remarkably open mind. She expertly captures the small details of Siberian life and renders vivid pictures of feasts shared with Russian friends. For those who have been to Siberia, this book will take you back there. For those planning on going, The Other Side of Russia provides a great overview of the life and culture.

In THE OTHER SIDE OF RUSSIA, the University of Maryland University College has established a joint undergraduate degree program in business management with the Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok and the State University in Irkutsk. In the summer of 1993, author Sharon Hudgins and her husband, Tom, packed off to Siberia and the Russian Far East to serve as teachers in this cooperative venture, while the former was also Maryland's on-site program coordinator in both cities. This book chronicles their experiences from their arrival until their departure in December 1994.

Whether she's describing the immensity of pristine Lake Baikal, the problematic living conditions in their high-rise apartment, local customs and food of the Buryat people, the vagaries and perils of shopping for household necessities, maddening water and electricity outages, local festivals, the growing pains of a free-market economy, the university students' learning ethic, or the conviviality and generosity of their Russian friends, Hudgins has a keen eye for small details, as when describing an open air market:

"An Uzbek woman ... sold raisins and nuts in small paper cones made out of official forms from the Irkutsk Municipal Water Department ... In one part of the market, a pretty teenage girl, wearing a garish, flower-printed dress and a thousand-yard stare, held a handful of peacock feathers and sipped a can of Dr Pepper, while in another section two older women, both drunk, tried to punch each other out in a fist fight."

I haven't been so engaged by a travel essay about Russia since Hedrick Smith's 1976 bestseller, THE RUSSIANS. My only criticism is the relative lack of photographs - only a couple at most per chapter. Luckily, Sharon's poetic prose paints pictures almost as effective as snapshots, as this from her vantage point on the Trans-Siberian Railroad:

"A profusion of wildflowers carpeted the meadows, like an Impressionist painting exuberantly expanding beyond the limits of canvas and frame: undulating shades of yellow, gold, and blue, maroon and magenta, soft pink and pristine white, the pale purple globes of wild onions gone to seed, thousands of red-orange tiger lilies, whole fields of dark purple Siberian irises, and occasionally a single red poppy or two, like a stubborn symbol of politics past. Outside Chita a small lake glistened under the midnight moon."

For me, a travel narrative is all it can be if it makes me want to go there myself. THE OTHER SIDE OF RUSSIA accomplishes that. Well, maybe for just a brief visit, perhaps, because I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

I read this as part of a spiritual path, but just the story -- in and of itself -- carries every bit of 'flavor' that any great story always does. In a lot of ways, it's a pure adventure, albeit with monkey gods and man in all his worst behavioral situations. People are hit, cut, betrayed, loved, and supported by those around them in ways that are surprising, saddening, frightening, and just plain good reading.

It's the story of Vishnu -- one of the three forms of God -- coming back to earth to kick the butt of a really nasty demon. When I say nasty, I mean nasty -- not bedside reading for the 8 year old at home. The reason Vishnu has to show up as a man is because only a human man can bring an end to the destruction (one of those 'curses of the gods' things). So Vishnu shows up as the "Tiger of a man" named Rama. And rama kicks butt as he was supposed to.

It's impossible not to draw comparisons between the story of Rama and the story of Christ, although the former comes (in the most conservative guesstimates) 2,500 years prior to the time the Bible was written. Three forms of God, incarnation as a human who is in direct contact with the father/divinity and carrying a message of hope and forgiveness. And there's plenty of table turning in both books.

Having read a couple of translations of this ancient classic, with their stilted and archaic English, it was refreshing to read this version. Dharma has certainly adhered closely to the original text, but has presented it in a very enjoyable style that in my view nicely brings out the mood of the epic. His words carry quite a poetic flourish that really does justice to this work, which, after all, was originally written as a poem. His descriptions are graphic and his characters are lucidly portrayed, helping the reader enter deeply into the action. He also manages to skilfully weave in the spiritual messages of the work. This in fact was the main aim of the author of this epic, the sage Valmiki. His desire was to show the majestic opulence and divinity of Rama, whom he accepted as a divine incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Thus the text carries a profound spiritual import that Dharma has obviously been at pains to preserve. For my money he has a done a good job. I found myself in tears many times as I read this book, feeling moved at a very deep level. I also felt frequently uplifted and edified by the wisdom it contained.

Apart from all of this the Ramayana is a great story, as its enduring appeal proves. Followers of the Vedic tradition claim it is hundreds of thousands of years old, and many versions of it appear in nearly all the Asian cultures. But no matter how old it may be, its message remains entirely relevant, and its story is as fresh and engaging as anything churned out by the fiction writers of today. Perhaps there are some typos, as one reviewer here has remarked, but I can't say I noticed them. I was enthralled by this book and will certainly be reading it many more times.

The Ramayana is an ancient epic, one of the oldest in the world. It tells the extremely engrossing tale of a man named Rama, who is an incarnation of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The events that occur early in the story (even if they seem irrelevant) all come together at the end, culminating in a massive battle with the forces loyal to Rama on one side and Ravana, a rakshasa (demon) king, and his warriors on the other. The story in itself certainly deserves five stars, however the edition had some flaws to it. It was written to be watered down so it would be more accessible to a larger audience, and in this the author certainly succeeded. My only complaint on this point is that it seemed to fall slightly short of what it could have achieved. The real problem I have with this edition is the amount of typos and spelling errors. Once or twice the error was so severe that I was not sure of the intent of the sentence. The book is definately worth buying if one just wants to know the story, however if one wants a better understanding of the epic and the culture invloved, I would suggest a looking for a different edition.

I understand why the Ramayana is such a popular and beloved story even today, but overall I really found that I liked Vishnu's avatar as Krishna better than his earlier one as Rama. Rama's being Vishnu incarnate wasn't really a big part of this version, and because he was depicted as such a great human being and hero, acting in very specific roles as an overly obedient son, devoted husband and brother, and finally heroic warrior, it was easy to lose sight of the fact of his true identity. With Krishna, I find it easier to not lose sight of the fact that he's Vishnu in a human body, and in the Krishna story, he's depicted in so many different roles (e.g., baby, lover, best friend, sneaky little boy, enlightened teacher) that one can easier relate to him as more than just some exemplary human being and a deity made mortal, which Vishnu does only when the balance of evil in the world overrides that of good. He had to take on a human avatar to kill Ravana, since he was so evil that no one could kill him, and he also had a boon from Brahma which entitled him to protection against being killed by one of the gods, many of whom had a long list of grievances with him. The gods know that it will be almost impossible for an ordinary human to kill Ravana, so Vishnu takes on his seventh avatar to rid the world of his evil.

I know that in comparison to other versions of this famous ancient tale, this one doesn't tell the entire story and is more like a brief retelling of each important event that happens along the way, like the abduction of Sita, Hanuman leaping to Lanka to scope things out, Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita going into exile, and the important battles in the war Rama, Lakshmana, Ravana's little brother Vibhishana and four of his friends, and their huge army of bears and monkeys wage against Ravana and his evil Rakshasas. No matter how condensed it might be in comparison to the actual full-length epic tale, it still conveys the same sense of romance, mystery, love, adventure, and human emotions that a much longer version does. It's also different from other versions because of the depiction of Sita's ordeal; some versions have her immolating herself and dying, but this version has a twist on it. (How far we've come; Rama's accusations of infidelity, in spite of the curse prohibiting Ravana from raping a mortal woman and in spite of how he only accused Sita of infidelity to test her, are not only highly un-PC now but just insulting! The woman was kidnapped and held by an extremely evil man and his cohorts for nearly a year; it's not like she ran off with him of her own free will!) This version is also missing what I find to be the most moving part of the Ramayana, when Hanuman, the noblest of the monkeys, literally tears up his chest to show that his devotion to and love for Rama and Sita are so deep and strong that their names and images are literally written on his heart.

As illustrated by Sita's ordeal towards the end, and along with some other things in the story, there is a strong sense of a time, culture, and place which is very far from how people live today. But in spite of how Rama is overly obedient to his father and his later treatment of Sita, or how Lakshmana won't even look his brother's wife in the eyes, the overall story is timeless. I don't usually like books with battle scenes, but the battles fought here are so well-written and captivating that they're nothing like the usual fare of endlessly describing battles. I can't wait to read some other versions of the Ramayana to compare with what's written here.

Ramayana must rank as one of the most loved and revered books of all time. A part of India's ancient Vedas, it is a beautiful story of romance and adventure. It recounts the history of Rama, said be an incarnation of the Godhead, and his divine consort Sita. Filled with magic and mysticism, it entrances the reader and stirs deeply moving emotions. At the same time its profound spiritual messages leave one feeling uplifted and enriched. This is a novelisation of the classic. It contains all the essential narrative of the original Sanskrit poem, but written in a contemporary style. Whilst adhering closely to the original, I have tried to make it as readable as possible, using the techniques of character development and dramatisation to draw the reader into the action. By weaving in other spiritual commentaries on this sacred text, I have also tried to offer the reader the benefit of the wisdom of India's seers and sages. As I am sure you will discover when your read the book, that wisdom is as relevant in today's stressful world as it was thousands of years ago, when it was first written.

It was my love for this wonderful book which prompted me to write my adaptation, and I hope I have been able to share that love with others. Whether you enjoy it simply as a great adventure story, or you enter deeply into its spiritual meaning, you will surely find it an engaging read. All in all, I would say that this is as authentic and complete a version as you are likely to find outside of scholarly translations, but it is a lot easier to read. If you enjoy this, then you might like to try my novelisation of the Mahabharata, the other great Indian epic, which is also published by Torchlight.

Krishna Dharma

Semper Fi is about all that can be said. This was the life of the grunt. No amplification or heroism that was not there. This is the best book I have ever read discribing the life. Also the excerpt on page 299 and 300 "These Good Men" by Micheal Norman is the first and only explanation of all of us that have ever served and our feelings forever to our comrades. I wish Micheal could write another book, I don't think he will. It was all in this one.

Excellent book about Recon operations in Vietnam. I served with Mike in OCS before Vietnam. I highly recommend the book.

Michael Hodgins captures the real spirit of the place and time. As a former Marine who served with the 1st Recon Bn, I can testify Mr. Hodgins presents a true and vivid picture of life in the bush, on an OP, and in Camp Reasoner. With all the distortions about Vietnam presented in the movies and on TV, as well as the anti-war prejudice of public school history teachers, this book should be required reading in the high school cirriculum. I hope someday someone will write a book that will tell us more about Lt. Skibbe, Lt. Rathmell, and Captain McVey who gave lost their lives protecting their troops.

This book is an outstanding account of recon battalion actions in Vietnam. It is well worth reading. I served with Mike before the war. He was a straight shooter then, and a straight shooter in Vietnam

Reading Reluctant Warrior was like stepping through a door into the jungle. For just a little while I was on patrol again with 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company. I saw and smelled OP 425, ran through the jungle and listened to the 46s coming to extract our team when we got in the "S__t Sandwich". My friends lived again---Thanks Mike! Chuck Fenwick HM3 1st Mar Div, 1st Recon, 3rd Plt, "C" Company, RVN 69-70.

I was living in Cambodia when I came across this book, following the recommendation of one of my English friends. I bought the book, opened it... and could no longer put it down! This book came as a complete eye-opener to me, on both how America had conducted its war across Indochina, but also on how Cambodia's history had/has been so intimately intermixed with Sihanouk's.

If you are into learning the backside of what we could all dub "official history", then this book's for you. You will no longer look at Kissinger, Nixon or Westmoreland with the same candid, obedient and servile eyes after reading it. Packed with previously unheard-of accounts, reports, testimonies, following a clean, highly intelligent argumentation methodology, Sideshow acts as a real bulldozer on the reader, repeatedly confronting him/her with loads of devastating illustrations of unsound decisions, hidden political actions, secret wars of influences etc. It is certainly one of the punchiest, journalism-based historical account I have ever read, whatever the subject.

It shed a completely new and intense light onto the poor -though touching- little country I was living in then, and forever changed the way I looked at politics, diplomacy and intelligence.

Shawcross gets into the minds of Kissinger and Nixon so well. His is a book to be read over and over again to see the working of the U.S. Government and how it can destroy a country. He talks about the 25 pound shark at the bottom of a swimming pool full of children -- and we understand how the USA's leaders destroyed a country. It is a lesson to be learned over and over again as we go about destroying other countries. This is one great read - worthy of the time it takes to understand it. A victory for the author over Mr. Kissinger.

This book has managed to live on, which is perhaps unfortunate - historically speaking, it's far more relevant to contemporary geopolitics than it should be.

In any case, SIDESHOW has managed to stand as one of the better books on Cambodia, and America's involvement in Cambodia (Elizabeth Becker's WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER is a must-read as well). One could debate Shawcross' perspectives, but his research is meticulous and has withstood many attacks, and his depiction of the machiavellian darkness that can creep into foreign policy is chilling and ruthless, and - for better of worse - makes for hypnotic reading, all the more frightening as it's drawn straight from history, research, the Freedom of Information act.

Now more than ever, this is essential reading.

-David Alston

On Junior Day, 2006, I would recommend SIDESHOW by William Shawcross. It contains information about the twentieth century that could be applied to situations that America faces in the world in 2006. The global superpower naturally thinks that everything will be resolved by the application of hyperpower, as Japan suffered a humiliating defeat at the end of World War II when it discovered that the United States was not just fighting a war against Japan, it would nuke their cities to bring about whatever result it wanted. When American troops openly invaded parts of Cambodia, Congress responded by imposing limits which were still in place on April 30, 1973:

"The justification for bombing Cambodia had been to protect Americans in Vietnam. Since October 1970 the Congress had included in every military appropriation bill a proviso expressly forbidding bombing in Cambodia except for that purpose. By the end of March 1973 there were no American troops left in Indochina. Still the bombing of Cambodia increased. The administration now based its case on Article 20 of the Paris Agreement. Rogers now claimed that American withdrawal from Vietnam did not affect the situation in Cambodia, and that Article 20 legalized the bombing `until such time as a ceasefire could be brought into effect.' " (p. 277).

One of the strange things about the invasion of Cambodia was that Nixon made an announcement on April 30, 1970 which attempted to keep all previous secret activities secret:

Ignoring Menu, Nixon began with the lie that the United States had "scrupulously respected" Cambodia's neutrality for the last five years and had not "moved against" the sanctuaries. This falsehood was repeated by Kissinger in his background briefings to the press. That same evening he told reporters that the Communists had been using Cambodia for five years but, "As long as Sihanouk was in power in Cambodia we had to weigh the benefits in long-range historical terms of Cambodian neutrality as against any temporary military advantages and we made no efforts during the first fifteen months of this administration to move against the sanctuary." The next day he said of Sihanouk's rule, "We had no incentive to change it. We made no effort to change it. We were surprised by the development. One reason why we showed such great restraint against the base areas was in order not to change this situation." (p. 146).
In his announcement of the invasion, Nixon stated that his action was taken "not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam"; he would give aid to Cambodia, but only to enable it "to defend its neutrality and not for the purpose of making it an active belligerent on one side or the other." (p. 146).

Currently Iran has a militia of five million, and if Iran were to officially enter a war in Iraq as a result of bombings by Israel, as urged by Vice President Cheney, to remove Iran's nuclear capabilities, even if a bomb based on plans provided by the CIA wouldn't work, Iran has other ways it could strike back. Being subatomic is very much like Cambodia was in 1970, but we shall soon see what issues are about to be submitted to the UN security council, and if it helps or hurts. A blockade created by Iran so American supplies might have more trouble reaching Kuwait and Iraq; oil exports from the region could end; American dollars could fall; the interest on bonds could rise so high that the U.S. government couldn't balance a budget; and some of the world's banks might then be alarmed.

SIDESHOW by William Shawcross is the only book I have in which I can look up Lon Nil in the index. Lon Nil might well be Cambodia's forgotten man. His brother, Lon Nol, declared himself Chief of State as well as Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces when he dissolved the Assembly in October 1971 and assumed emergency rule. (p. 229). In December 1971, an American psychiatrist in the U.S. Army found "his close associates indicate his mental faculties have deteriorated markedly as a result of his February 1971 stroke" (p. 208). On April 1, 1975, at the urging of his brother Lon Non, Lon Nol took half a million dollars and moved to Hawaii. (pp. 357-358). But for me, the best picture of events in Cambodia is the final page of Chapter 8, The Coup, in March 1970, when Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk, using the hostility of the urban elite and military officers to Sihanouk to justify a power grab by a former Minister of Defense who "had been the principal scourge of the Vietnamese Communists while privately profiting from the thriving covert business that they brought through Sihanoukville." (p. 113). Sihanouk responded by forming a government recognized by Peking on May 5, 1970, shortly after the American invasion announced by Nixon. Sihanouk had flown from Moscow to China on March 18, 1970, but Lon Nil was still in Cambodia:

Rioting broke out in several provinces; opposition was strongest in the market town of Kompong Cham, Cambodia's second city, fifty miles northeast of Phnom Penh. After Sihanouk's radio broadcast, the town filled with peasants, fishermen and rice farmers from the neighborhood. The townspeople refused the government's orders to remove the Prince's portrait, and they burned down the house of the new governor whom Lon Nol had appointed. Demonstrators gathered in buses and trucks to march on Phnom Penh. They were halted by an army roadblock, and after that . . . About ninety people were killed or wounded. (pp. 126-127).

The most vivid display of anger against Lon Nol occurred, again in Kompong Cham, when peasants seized his brother Lon Nil, killed him and tore his liver from his stomach. The trophy was taken into a Chinese restaurant, where the owner was ordered to cook and slice it. Morsels were handed to everyone in the streets around. (p. 127).

Really bad decisions made by the Nixon administration toward Indochina and the Vietnam War are now fairly obvious. However, we must remember how difficult this type of investigation would have been back when Shawcross did his intensive research back in the late 70s. Here Shawcross builds a very hard-to-dismiss case against Nixon and Henry Kissinger, in terms of how their problematic military and diplomatic strategies at least indirectly led to the hideous destruction of Cambodia (in fact, one of Nixon's documented strategies was to make the Communists think he was a madman, assuming they'd get scared and give up).

During the earlier years of the war, Cambodia was a relatively tranquil nation that was trying to remain neutral. But the country was being used as a hideout by North Vietnamese soldiers, leading to bombing by the Americans. Here Shawcross shows how Nixon and Kissinger made use of political trickery and overhyped threats to keep the bombing going to an extent that was far more destructive than necessary. As a bonus, this book also documents the wire-tapping paranoia and unconstitutional shenanigans in the Nixon White House. Shawcross is especially tough on Kissinger, finding that he disregarded the integrity and safety of Cambodia (which he had only ever visited for four hours), in favor of short-term political advantages and unyielding ideology. The relentless bombing destabilized Cambodian society, leading indirectly to the hideous genocide and societal destruction enacted by the Khmer Rouge a few years later. It is difficult to argue with Shawcross' heavily researched conclusions, and the hellish wholesale collapse of Cambodia (of a type never before seen in modern history) becomes all the more poignant as a result.

Be sure to get an edition of this book from 1986 or after, in which Shawcross adds materials from the political firefight that the book ignited. Kissinger was obviously upset and went to great lengths, through articles written by his lackey Peter Rodman, to try and disprove Shawcross' assertions. If your copy of this book contains these articles, you'll be quite bemused by Rodman's evasive, dissembling, and downright condescending rebuttal attempts, which are easily shot down by Shawcross. This war of words in itself proves that Kissinger had, and always will have, a lot to answer for. [~doomsdayer520~]