Asia Books

I laughed, I cried, and came out wiser from reading "Tragedy in Paradise". I only wish there were another Doc Weldon out there, somewhere, who would write the sequence to the plight of the Lao people in Laos, be they Lao Loum, Lao Theung, or Lao Soung.

I met Dr. Charles "Jiggs" Weldon several times many years ago. He was somehow related to my mother (I am ashamed to admit that I haven't kept up with such things, until recently). I only wish that I really knew enough about the man at that time to sit and talk with him about his experiences in Laos, I really had no idea. Jiggs Weldon has written a fantastic book about the struggle in Laos and the futile efforts to support the Laotian people in their battle against the communists. He goes into detail about his experiences taking care of the civilians and soldiers. It is basically a collection of short stories that pieced together tell the story of his time in Laos. They had to battle the communists and fight the U.S. Government for adequate funding. This is a must read for anyone having interest in the events of Southeast Asia. Ultimately when the U.S. left Viet Nam, Laos was abandoned to the communists and the Royal Laotians were butchered by the Pathet Lao and their mentors, the North Vietnamese (who were financed and equipped by China). It was clear that Dr. Weldon loved the Laotian people and was heartbroken by the outcome. I always figured that is why he never came back to the U.S. and died in Thailand in 2002.

An amazing disclosure of the real facts of the American secret war in Laos. Dr.Charles "Jiggs" Weldon died recently. He,no doubt, deserves a prayer of gratitude from all of us for the gift of his compelling memoir.

Charles Weldon (``Doc'' to most) has done us and the future a favour by writing his account of what surely was one of the most heroic, saddest wars of the 20th century. A legend in his prime during the height of the conflict in Laos, ``Doc'' Weldon paints a highly personal, sometimes emotional picture. The book is one of the few public recollections by the small group of men and women who participated in the Laos war of the 1960s and early 1970s. Tragedy in Paradise is extremely readable.

It is a series of short chapters, each detailing an event in the Weldon tour of Laos. It details how he fought for aid money from skinflint Washington, and worked to establish a health system in a country which had nothing but a desire for one. The central figure is the crusty but kindly doctor, a caregiver by choice and administrator by order of the penny-pinching bureaucrats. Most them don't really care too much about Laos or its people, so long as the regulations are followed and the career tickets are punched. A main figure is one of those Laotian legends, Edgar ``Pop'' Buell, who could have been the model for the Ugly American. Buell made a deserved reputation as a dedicated friend of Laos, its people and particularly his beloved Hmong.

In short, though, the book describes, in startling detail, how this tragic little war was lost, in the eyes of the men and women at the sharp end of the stick. It shows the duplicity of the senior Americans involved.

Doc Weldon is one of the truly heroic and most-beloved figures of the war years in Laos. He once again serves all Americans well by recording the events of his time and reminding us what it means to be an American. Great things can be accomplished even in pursuit of a lost cause.

This guide was all you need for trekking in the Annapurna Region. The maps were great as were the recommnedations on guesthouses, trekking times and food. People with other trekking guides (IE LP) asked to read my guide as they realized how good it was.

I bought this fantastic little guide in a bookstore in Kathmandu. I used it during my trek around Annapurna and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Much better than the LP guide, and small enough that it doesn't get in the way.

This is definitely the best guidebook to carry while trekking in the Annapurna region: loads of maps with most of the teahouses labeled, accurate times for both directions, interesting cultural information, small so as to make it more portable, and fairly up to date. I used it in November 2007, so there are some changes as one would expect, but still is excellent. Highly recommend!

This guide is all you need for the Annapurna. Beats the pants off Lonely Planet. Great maps, highlights, places to stay, etc.; small and lightweight; good gear list for preparing, info on when to go; bits on Kathmandu and Pokhara. We hiked the entire circuit and used Bryn several times each day.

I did the Annapurna Circuit trek (Around Annapurna) last September with this book. I was my bible.
The book has very good chapters about Nepal in general, Kathmandu and Pokhara but it's strength lies in the trail maps and text.
The maps are very very detailed (you can't get lost...), they indicate where is the next steep climbing and how much time does it takes to the next village. In the text you can find recommendations for eating and lodging (that never miss...).
The book covers all the popular treks in the Annapurna region but also offer side treks for more adventrous trekkers.

The bottom line : Worth every Penny!

I started learning thai with the AUA series and have gone through the three books. All build on each other in an orderly fashion, you really have the choice of just focusing on speaking or you can incorporate the reading/writing too. The only negative is that the vocabulary is often times not as useful. "A cow is smaller than a water buffalo" I combined this series with the Colliquial Thai course and the combo addressed each others weaknesses.

I've been learning Thai on and off for a while now. When I was in Chiang Mai, I took courses at the AUA there (they were very good), and they roughly followed these books for the classes. From looking around both here and in Thailand, they are really the ONLY comprehensive set of books that teaches english speakers how to speak thai. I also believe that the few college courses in america that teach thai also use these books.

The books were published a long time ago, but they still work fine. We had a laugh in book 2 during one of the exercises where they were arguing between 8 baht and 9 baht for a taxi ride (a.k.a. 18 cents or 20 cents nowadays)

I started with book 2 because I was already partially conversational. The books include vocabular, tone exercises, dialog practices, reading for comprehension, and how to read and write the thai characters. Each book contains perhaps 20 lessons. The lessons are not especially subject oriented (i.e. chapter 8 foods), but rather they are more a progression of words and sentance structures that are used most frequently.

Anyways, buy them, go to thailand and take the classes, have fun.

I studied this couse while in Thailand and can attest to it's effectiveness. As there is only one other review I thought a second might be helpful to an aspiring Thai learner. This course is for serious students though. Expect to spend about 100 hours+ per book and cassette pack. By the way... you must study with the tapes. It starts out with subject matter a little less useful than a guidebook because it presupposes that you are in it for the long haul and will pay your dues in order to REALLY learn Thai! But like I said "you need the tapes!" so here are the addresses if you can't find them on the net:U.S.+CANADA SEAP Publications, East Hill Plaza, Ithaaca, NY 14850 AUSTRALIA+NEW ZEALAND MIP Publications P.O. Box 416 Chatswood N.S.W. 2057 AUSTRALIA and from all other places THAI STUDIES DEPT> AUA Language Center 179 Rajadamri rd Bangkok 10330 Thailand

This book is the first in a 6 book set that starts from very basic Thai right through to upper intermmediate/experienced. The major reasons that make this set of books the best I've seen and used are as follows: 1, very well structured logical progression. 2, Use of IPA phonetics 3, Use of Thai script from page one 4, Use of useful language (you can actually use it!) 5, Use of colloquial Thai (book 4 'Small Talk') 6, Use of many styles of hand written Thai and not only typed script. (very useful!)

If you are looking for a book on Thai language this is definitely the book I would recommend. When I picked up this book I knewonly a couple of words in Thai, now I am quite fluent.

This is a great course. It is as good as "Pimsleur's Thai" but A.U.A. has more substance. This fairly short course teaches basic Thai. But instead of just giving you the vocabulary (like many other courses I have tried), it gives you a lot of practice exercises and drills. Because the chapters are so short, a smart person can master one chapter everyday. For the average person, it might take 2 to 4 days to master a chapter. Though reading and writing Thai is taught, the emphasis of this course is on speaking and understanding spoken Thai.
Which leads me to the major draw back of this "BOOK." If you don't have the Cd's that go with this book, than it is probably not worth using. Without the Cd's or tapes to listen to, it will be extremely hard to learn Thai using this course. What is worse, (as far as I know) Amazon does not sell them.
You can buy the course with Cd's form Cornell University at http://www.lrc.cornell.edu/sales/catalog/thai. But it is very expensive.
If you can afford the whole package, this will be a 5 star course. If not... Then, forget about it. Don't waste your money by buying just the book.

I know very little about pottery but I have spent a lot of reading time studying Buddhism and specifically Zen and its underlying life philosophy. I found these essays to be especially beautiful in showing the way for artists and craftsmen to embrace 'no-mindedness' in their creative efforts, effacing their own egos and personalities in order to let nature flow through them in the creative process.

'Objects born, not made' is an especially humbling concept to consider. To think that the objects are 'born' through nature and the craftsman is mostly a mere vehicle for that, his signature on 'his' work completely unncessary, the object itself being the 'signature'.

I was pleased to see in the next to last essay in this collection, the author's references to the 'Way of Tea' and its demonstration of the same principles embodied in this work. I strongly recommend 'The Book of Tea' by Okakuro Kakuzo as an adjunct to this material, amplifying his ideas and further reflecting the beauty of Zen.

My only objection, and this is really minor, is this work's subtitle 'A Japanese Insight into Beauty'. As many Japanese are not Buddhist and do not embrace the Zen philosophy, nor understand it, this insight is not so much 'Japanese' as 'Zen'. Thus the finer subtitle could have been 'A Zen Insight into Beauty'.

This remarkable, must-have book is half superb pictures of various Oriental objects of manufacture become recognized as quintessentially "unselfconscious" objects of art (the one of the "top" teacup in Japan alone is worth the book's price), and half short but very eye-opening essays on various dimensions of beauty, creativity, and the aesthetic experience.

MUCH generally accepted superficiality (and downright phoniness) in the field of art appreciation is solidly debunked here (read the other reviews for more on the author's qualifications, plus some relatively piddling criticism from a few experts).

The pieces on the degeneration of the so-called "classic" Tea Ceremony and the cult of deliberate "beauty of ugliness" will provide much food for thought. Anyone interested in beauty and its representations will do very well indeed to acquire this truly irreplaceable read.

I too wish the book were 10 times as long! I believe it was out of print for awhile -- great to see it available new from Amazon at a reasonable price.

Oh -- on second thought, DO just buy this title, rather than borrow one first -- my copy is so heavily marked up that it would have been agony to have read a library copy....

This book was written by the father of the crafts movement in Japan, Yanagi Soetsu. He encouraged the Japanese to appreciate their national arts at a time of modernization and Westernization in Japan. The book covers areas of craft such as cermaics and lacquers.

Yanagi's words are so dense, packed, and rich with meaning. He has keen insights into what real 'seeing' is, and how necessary it is in discerning beauty. But Yanagi's words run beyond insight, and have some of that deep ring of eternal 'Truth' to them. I highly recommmend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about what true 'seeing' is, and how it relates to the perception of beauty.

Soon after getting into custom furniture and cabinetmaking as a profession, I had come to that point where I began to tie my sense of self-worth to what other people thought of my work. Even worse, I began to feel that I was in a competition with my fellow woodworkers. Not only did I want their approval, but I thought I must strive to be better than them or I wouldn't achieve distinction (and therefore success). Then, via my explorations into Buddhism, I came across this book. It presented me with a heaping, much-needed serving of humble pie by telling me things like:

"A beautiful work of art...is the work of a man who is not (bound to) either beauty and ugliness or even to himself."

Yanagi was talking about the craftsman of Japan's past who, working with "total disengagement", created some of the most beautiful art objects the world has ever seen. This work was never signed because these were the products of craftsman who "made no effort to express their individuality through the medium of things; (instead) they produced things through the medium of man". As my understanding of Buddhism deepened, so didn't the import of these words. The bottom line was that I relaxed, I let myself enjoy the process and I let the objects I made speak for themselves. Humble pie never tasted so good.

Usagi Yojimbo is the kind of quality work that transcends time, genres, demographics, and even age groups. It crafts a delicate and beautiful balance between honor and savagery, cute innocence and dark brutality, simple heart-warming stories and multi-part epics that shape a dense continuity. Whether or not you've ever been a fan of feudal Japanese culture, furry anthro characters, or independent, non-superhero comics, Usagi Yojimbo is a comic that can't help but impress even the harshest critic.

Prior to this volume, Usagi was a fantastic character. Yet, as a seemingly flawless samurai both in spirit and in combat, I always found him a bit hard to relate to. Usagi always did what was right, and he always won. This is perhaps exhibited best in "The Bridge," the first story in this volume. It's my absolute favorite of the early Usagi stories in which he faces an impossible antagonist and not only wins, but wins with great dignity.

However, the four part "Circles" storyline, which begins part way into this volume, blows all of this out of the water. It begins with Usagi, whose premise has always been centered on his warrior's pilgrimage, deciding to finally go home. In attempting to do so, so much of what we've known of Usagi and his back story begins to shatter. From the return of his long lost sensei to a jaw dropping reunion with Mariko and, most importantly, a ground shaking revelation that has its roots in a mistake Usagi made years earlier, it becomes clear that Usagi will never be the same again. Once this volume concludes, he is a far different, more flawed, and far more human protagonist -- the kind of character you can root for while profoundly empathizing with him at the same time. In "Circles," the character of Miyamoto Usagi finally finds his soul.

Additionally, the introduction of Jotoro and the profoundly disturbing return of Jei add to an already thoroughly compelling story while building upon the Usagi Yojimbo universe at the same time. These are two of Sakai's greatest characters, and those qualities shine brightly even in this early adventure.

While Usagi Yojimbo is a title that continually gets stronger through the years, "Circles" is perhaps the earliest adventure that I return to on a regular basis, still absolutely holding its own in comparison to all the amazing stories and developments that came after.

If you ask me, anything touched by Stan Sakai is good, Usagi Yojimbo is my favorite comic, because of the consistency and depth in Stan's story telling. Don't be scared off by the animorphic animals, it just sets the book apart. This is a genuinly good comic, just like every usagi Yojimbo book.

I think this volume is one of the most important turning points in Usagi's universe. You can miss some others but not this one as it says many important things about long-eared ronin. And much, much more..
Stories in this volume evolve about the symbol of homecoming when "heroes meet their past and see how far did they go". Each story is excellent. But the one that stands above others is "Duel" - maybe for the fact that it is absolutely believable story. "Duel" in some whiles overshadows even the ending of this volume where sadness of almost inevitable decision moves my heart every time I read it.
I highly recommend this volume. It is compact with atmosphere, it is foundation of later story arcs and it is truly masterpiece.

To this point, (Shrouded Moon was just published) this is my favourite in the series. Not only are the stories strong, but the book provides a good look at where Usagi has come from and where he is going. Other than beginning the series at Book 1, this is the best introduction you could have to Usagi's world.

There are stories about characters that figure large in Usagi's life. His sensei Katsuichi, his love Mariko, his rival Kenichi, Kenichi's son Jotaro and Usagi's nemesis Jei (what is with Jei!?). There are also a couple nice stories that stand alone well, including "The Duel" which I think is one of the most poignant stories I've seen in comic format. It doesn't include anything about Gen, Usagi's friend and sometime companion, but to make up for that, the next book is called "Gen's Story" and deals almost entirely with him.

Sakai does a masterful job as usual and the stories will have you turning pages as fast as you can read until the end. I stumbled across this book at the library a while back and now I own a complete set. If you can't find Book 1 easily (no surprise, it's been out of print for quite a while), this may be the best way to check whether this series is for you before spending all that time looking for the out-of-print books.

Of all the collections of "Usagi Yojimbo" I have, this one is my favorite, second to volume four (which includes the "Samurai!" storyline). Volume Six has everything that makes Usagi great: tales of derring-do and honor, stories about ghosts and demons, and the return of Mariko, Usagi's long lost love. Stan Sakai's art and scripting can't be any better as he spins an epic tale of a Japan that never was, but really should have been. Plus, it's got bunnies with swords. How can you go wrong?

My son loves these books. They are a bit violent for my taste. My older son was interested in this series when he was younger - maybe 12 or so? Now my 11 year old is "addicted". He reads them over and over. It was delivered quickly and was brand new.

Stan Sakai's "Usagi Yojimbo" has no shortage of fans, many of whom can do this book greater justice than I, so I'll keep this review brief. I've been a fan since 1998 when I first read "Daisho," and this latest installment just shows how Sakai's skills have improved over the years. I can't recommend this book highly enough, if just for the deeper look into the life of Tomoe.

I have all the previous volumes so i knew what to expect out of it, i love the saga and the charachters. Nevertheless I found it more enjoyable then ever in some aspects and the plot is fantastic. My only suggestion is to start from the beginning of the serie ( I mean volume 1, 2 etc.) because it's a long long long story that developes and continues in every book!

I'm a fan of all the UY books, and this one is no different. However, I wish it was a LITTLE different: this is another "Usagi and friends foil conspiracy" story.

I've read Usagi Yojimbo ever since volume 1 til now, volume 21. They're all an excellent read. I especially liked the story about Jotaro when Usagi finds out he is the father of Jotaro in the previous volumes. But this volume does not talk about Jotaro at all except to say that he still hasn't told Jotaro that he is the father, which is fine, I'm sure Stan Sakai will bring him up again in the future volumes. This volume is all about Usagi and Tomoe. The story is interesting and keeps you going as usual. I do not want to ruin the story so I won't elaborate on it but to say it's a good read and am looking forward to the future volumes.

This is an excellent book, well written. I learned of this book from a close friend who is mentioned and show in a photo depicting The Alamo in Vietnam.

Being a veteran of Operation Pegesus and a former member of the 1st Battalion 2nd Marines, I highly recommend this book. It's very well researched, thoughful, and easy to read. However, I was disappointed that the authors didn't describe or write how the siege was actually continued (contrary to the media) even after the departure of the 1st Air Cav and the 26th Marines. After moving out of Con Thien in early April, my unit (2/1) spend 77 days at Khe Sanh, until we finally destroyed the combat base and moved to the coast. During that time, the NVA did attempt to overrun the combat base on Ho Chi Minh's birthday May 19th, which the authors Prados and Stubbe have failed to mention. It was the pinnacle moment of the siege. If the NVA had overrun the combat base, it would have shocked the politicians in Washington and further the disillusioned the American public. Only by a strange set of circumstances and the enemy mistakes were we able to overcome their plans. Meanwhile, the surrounding hill fights were still continuing and being fought by the 1st Battalion 1st Marines. If a person is interested in reading about these engagements and the continuing siege, he or she can read my book, "Arc Light," by G.V. Short.

Moreover, the authors didn't seem to understand the strategical meaning behind the Tet Offensive or the NVA's battlefield tactics. But what I did find very amusing about their book was that after conducting their thorough research, the authors obviously discovered how flawed the offical accounts have been in describing the campaign.

As a Marine who was in the trenches at Khe Sahn, Mr. Prados and Ray Stubbe have done all of us an immeasurable service. Ray's recollection of places, people and events is phenomenal. As a "grunt" PFC then, I certainly lacked the macro-knowledge provided by Mr. Prados. They have succeeded in helping me,(and many others, I'm sure), construct a better picture of why we were there and what we did. There are a few defects, generally due to information not then available to the authors. However, until something better comes along, this book is, in my opinion, definitive.

In Valley of Decision, The Siege of Khe Sanh, the authors chronicle the trials of both the Marines and the North Vietnamese who fought there. Both sides attempted to turn this remote outpost on the Laotian border into a decisive campaign that would ultimately determine the outcome of the war. Both sides failed in this attempt despite their best efforts.

After reading this book I find Khe Sanh to be the war in Vietnam in microcosm. The problems of differing perceptions held by Westmorland, Marine General Walt, the CIA, Special Forces, Marine Force Recon and the Bru tribesmen who occupied Khe Sanh illustrate the violations of the principles of war of objective and unity of command. Hovering above it all was the President of the United States exercising personal control of a battlefield from his office, 10,000 miles away.

In retrospect, Khe Sanh was a victory in a sense for the U.S. An isolated U.S. garrison that blew reville and raised a tattered American flag each day despite the inevitable mortar/artillery barrage it drew, told the Bru tribesmen and the North and South Vietnamese that he U.S. was still in control despite being outnumbered significantly. Almost unlimited American artillery and air support helped make the point.

Reading this book, one almost feels the fear, frustration, and misery the garrison endured there. Yet the reader senses the fierce pride that only combat soldiers doing a dirty, thankless job can feel. You can also imagine the rage felt when they were told simply that Khe Sanh was no longer important and to simply walk away.

Valley is essentially a foxhole level analysis of this campaign that shows how decisions emenating all the way from Washington and Saigon impacted the lives of the men on the ground. They were indeed the bait that lured thousands of North Vietnamese to their deaths. Like elsewhere in Vietnam, they were left with nothing to show for their heroic efforts.

VALLEY OF DECISION BY PRADOS

Read and take with you to Thailand. This book covers it all. By no means is it a travel guidebook. It is more of an informational book with bright colorful pictures and indepth cultural information.

I finally finished Very Thai and I enjoyed it very much. If you have been to Thailand a time or two it certainly helps explain a lot of things you wondered about.

The book is basically organized like a series of magazine articles on all sorts of topics. The tiny font takes some getting used to. Of course some articles are more interesting than others and there is a bit of repetition between and among some of the articles. The book is well-organized, thoroughly sourced, and lavishly illustrated with tons of photos.

I see there are some copies available now that are quite reasonably priced. I paid a ton more for this book, but I certainly don't regret. If you love Thailand and wished you could better understand the Thais and the things they do this book is essential.

great value, an asset for the home or the classroom as it shows daily living with the ordinary and the spectacular

This book contains many explanations of the apparent vagaries of Thai pop culture, and is profusely illustrated with superb photographs. I have been living here for 7-8 years and have grown accustomed to a lot of this -- and I find a lot of it delightful.

For example, when I moved back to Thailand in 2002 ("Bye Bye Internet Bubble!") I was intrigued to find out that the room out in front of my house was being used as a make-up central and staging ground for Thai ladyboys who were going off to compete in beauty contests! Sometimes the "utterly bizarre" occurred -- a friend or a sister would appear with an urgent problem, and this teenage Thai boy would rush outside to consult, wearing nothing but his underwear and a fully-made up Thai female head!

What may take the cake, for some lingering Puritans, is that some of these "lady-boy beauty contests" took place at temple fairs. In the grounds of Buddhist temples.

Well, when the good folks in Austin, Texas begin holding such beauty contests for the Church Fair, I guess we will have reached some sort of parity! Right now it seems a little hard to imagine. (I don't think the Pope would like it, either. :-) )

But I digress...or do I? One of the salient facts about Thailand is that it seems to be a country which is entirely free of homophobia, at least among Thai families. The Chinese-Thai are a different story. But in Thailand, and in Burma, there is just NOTHING in the culture which is homophobic. I learn from the book under review that the monk celebrated for sculpting phallic amulets (!) recommended carrying the amulet in the right pocket when going to visit a female, and in the left pocket when going to visit a male. (I may have reported that backwards, sorry!)

But other piercing questions are answered: why are those little tiny napkins in restaurants -- why are they so tiny, and why are they always pink? You''ll have to read the book to find out!

Basically, the book is just a feast for people who love Thailand. Lots of details on the Big Bird (Garuda) -- wingspan 12,800 kilometers! Lots of details about Thai hawker food, pop stars, the high-society crowd, and all the other Thai people who make this country such a fascinating place!

Highest possible recommendation!

I have been living and working in Bangkok for nearly three years.

I bought the Very Thai book 6 months ago and was amazed and delighted to find clear and helpful explanations for the sights and sounds I encounter almost every day. What a great book! I helped me to gain a greater appreciation for Thai culture and in particular for the Thai people. The better understanding of Thai culture and people added new enjoyment to my life in Thailand.

I now recommed the book to all my family and friends who plan to visit Thailand in the hope that it will make their visit more interesting and enjoyable. It has worked so far for my American visiors.

At the end of World War I countries shed their kings and emperors. At the end of World War II, countries shed their colonies leaving the United States and the Soviet Union attempting to influence nations of the world to enter their sphere of influence. Vietnam was tailor-made for all these forces to converge in one desperate struggle, and Thomas Boettcher takes the reader step-by-step through the whole tragic process of events that would leave a scar on our national psyche.

The first lesson learned and long since forgotten was the arrival of the US Special Forces to teach the South Vietnamese Army. The army never considered learning the culture. Their green berets and round eyes reminded the Vietnamese of a century of French cruelty that destroyed their universal education system and brought them to a level of poverty previously unknown in their history. With the narrow-minded philosophy that communism would have to be confronted anywhere and anytime, the United States was doomed to the following fifteen years.

This book analyzes the history of Vietnam starting with their fierce struggle against the French and their envoy appealing to President Grant to ask him to make their Eurpean neighbors leave their 900 year old kingdom. Only no one here ever heard of Vietnam. Americans would hear of it under President John F. Kennedy's who first committed American advisors, and also with President Johnson who was told by Kennedy advisors that leaving Vietnam before victory would be a stain on our national honor. The Joint Chiefs of Staff did or said nothing.

The pictures are vivid reminders of those that filled our daily newspapers and Life and Look magazines. The text is interesting with a number of "by lines" such as the plan to destroy the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu with unmarked American bombers, a plan that was defeated by Senator Johnson from Texas, the advent of the M-16, or the story of Lieutenant Colonel Hambledon who was shot down behind enemy lines and rescued after several days who relayed his movements describing stateside golf coure fairways he had committed to memory, the various types of booby traps, the drugs, the life of the tunnel rats, and the last man drafted before it officially ended. (He was given punitive active duty for failing to anwer several notices, and even though we were already in transition to an all-volunteer force).

There is no better account than this one by Thomas D. Boettcher, a 1967 graduate of the US Air Force Academy. This book is in depth and offers a definitive study of the history, the causes, the mistakes, and the lessons of Vietnam.

The parallels to today are, sadly, remarkable.





Dedicated to Robert Norman Norris, friend, 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) Division, Scout Dog Patrol, whose only return was to Arlington.

i certainly cannot improve on the review done by the man from Camp Lejeune, so be sure to read that review. I have not read Stanley Karnow's book on Vietnam although I found his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book In Our Image, on the Phillipines exceptionally good. My only complaint about this book is that it is hard to read straight through since the sidebars don't end on the same page and so sometimes one is reading a sidebar and when finishing it has to go back and find out where one left on in the main text. But if one wants a balanced view of the conflict--probably more critical of the war than some enthusiasts for it--this is the book to read.

When I was in 11th grade (1987), somehow I came across a copy of this book. At that time I wasn't an avid reader (or a lover or history), but this book made me one. It was extremely engaging and a worthwhile read. Boettcher hits it on the head, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

An indispensable book that effectively and efficiently covers the entirety of the Vietnam conflict, from its roots in French colonialism to the aftermath of the war up to, and including, the time of the book's publication (1983). Although Mr. Boettcher provides some very interesting, informative, and moving original material concerning the experiences and insights of some junior officers who actually served in Vietnam, most of the information presented in the book has previously been published in the many books he cites. Each of those works, however long each may be, looks at a fairly limited topic (e.g., Bernard Fall's work on Dien Bien Phu, Hell in a Very Small Place) or time period (e.g., David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest, which focuses primarily on the early to mid-60s). Mr. Boettcher used the best sources available to assemble a coherent picture of the roots, growth, and aftermath of the conflict. The author does an outstanding job of distilling each work to its essence and using it in the way that best contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the issues. Having read a majority of the sources he cites, I was impressed how faithful he was to not only the content of those sources, but also to their context.

Content-wise, the most similar book I have seen is Stanley Karnow's Vietnam. One of the biggest differences between the two books, however, is Mr. Boettcher's extensive use of photo illustrations and sidebars. These devices make the book more accessible to those who have not read extensively on the matter. But the extra material is not there merely for entertainment or diversion, it serves like highly informative and readable footnotes. The sidebars add another layer to the story and the author's judicious use of photos proves the adage about each picture being worth a thousand words.
Unlike most of the other prominent historians of the war, the author has a rare perspective, having served in Vietnam as a young air force officer during 1968 and 1969. At the hands of another writer, that background could have been a constraint, turning the book into a love song to himself or a hate letter to those he felt let him down, but Mr. Boettcher is largely invisible throughout the book. My feeling was that Mr. Boettcher did not write this book about himself, but he may have written it for himself. Like many of his generation, he entered a service academy in the early 1960s with the calls to service of JFK ringing in his ears. The world was very different when he reported to Vietnam four years later after much of the U.S. had turned against the war. Rather than the enthusiastic volunteers who had fought in the early years (such as the troopers in LGen Hal Moore's We Were Soldiers Once, and Young), the war was increasingly being fought by conscripts who questioned the Johnson and Nixon administrations' conduct of the war and whose primary focus was understandably on self-preservation. This book goes a long way towards answering questions that veterans such as Mr. Boettcher must have had upon their return, e.g., why were we there, how did we get there, what went wrong, and how can we avoid the same mistakes in the future?

Despite his personal involvement with the conflict, the author never demonstrates any personal agenda. Unlike the approach of others, Mr. Boettcher does not overly demonize or glorify anyone. He demonstrates a notable respect for the parties involved and an understanding of the forces that affected them. The result is an unusually nuanced picture. We are not given a drama of heroes and villains, but a tragedy of generally decent, intelligent, and well-intentioned people making choices that are only clearly bad here in hindsight. In many respects, that is the most unfortunate aspect of the whole matter; based on the people involved, their strongly-held beliefs, the assumptions they made, and the constraints they operated under, it was almost inevitable that events would play out as they did. Hopefully, Mr. Boettcher's book can help us identify when, in the future, we are making similar errors of thought and action.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, regardless whether this is their first or fiftieth book on Vietnam. The book is well-researched and exceedingly well-written. I enjoyed this author's work very much. I read that his other book (on the U.S. military from 1945-53) will soon be republished under the title Harry Truman and the Military: How the Early Cold War Years and Korea Reshaped the U.S. Military, and I look forward to getting a copy of it.

Those who intend to read only one book about Vietnam should read this one. The author covers this disaster with a unique insight into the flawed decision-making processes of otherwise intelligent bureaucrats who failed to understand the complexity of the situation. War games prior to our massive air campaign had predicted the eventual tragic outcome, yet the results were completely ignored. A combat commander (which I was) usually sees a war from an entirely different perspective than that of government-employed theorists. The theorists may dismiss their mistakes as an investment in the learning process about a problem. The commander is left to count his dead, and write the letters to their families.

Vietnam When the Tanks Were Elephants is one of the rare books written by Americans that genuinely attempt to capture some of Vietnam's realities. In this historical novel Tom Barnes shows his sincere desire to see Vietnamese and a tumultuous period of Vietnamese history from a Vietnamese perspective: the challenge was enormous even for Barnes who lived for five years in Vietnam and who married a Vietnamese lady back in 1977.

Even for a Vietnamese scholar steeped in his/her country's culture and history, writing about the Tay Son period represents a frightful challenge: It was a very short period which saw the final decline of the Le Dynasty, the ruin of the dominating yet vulnerable House of the Trinh Lords in the North, and the rapid decay of the House of the Nguyen Lords in the South, the lightning ascent and collapse of the revolutionary House of the Tay Son, and the unification of the country by Nguyen Anh, the founder of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Like many Vietnamese, Barnes has been mesmerized by the men and women, heroes and villains, braves and cowards, victims and victimizers, winners and losers, kings and bandits of those days, all larger than life, who thrust themselves into the scene, said a few words, made a few gestures, then disappeared in the fumes of generalized bloodshed.

I guess what Barnes wanted to achieve was to bring those men and women to life, mold them individually into less evanescent, more solid and more real figures than those we've received from partial and forgetful chroniclers of that time. Whether he succeeded in his attempt is not as important as the attempt itself. Ultimately one can only admire his courage and his integrity in accepting the challenge.


Andre Van Chau, author of The Miracle of Hope and A Liftime in the Eye of the Storm

This is an excellant scholarly history of events in Vietnam not known to many westerners. It describes the clash of the armies of the southern farmers against the forces of the Imperial government in what is known as the Tay Son Rebellion and took place during the same time period as the American revolution. It is as rich in characterization and detail as Tolstoy' War and Peace, but is infinitely more readable. Barnes makes the story interesting by presenting it in a series of descriptions and commentaries by eight narrators, all Vietnamese except for a Spanish missionary priest and a Chinese general. It is very useful to have capsule biographies of narrators and named characters, a glossary of Vietnamese terms and a chronology of the Tay Son Rebellion.

Those interested in military affairs of the period will find much to learn. Some use of muskets and artillery is mentioned but the principal arms were swords, spears and archery. Frequent use was make of elephants in combat and horses were employed, but infrequently as cavalry. Vietnam then (as now) is terrain suited for infantry warfare and the bulk of the struggle between the opposing forces employed those tactics. Because of the many rivers and long seacoast, however, some use was made of naval forces.

The use of deception, bribery and cruelty as elements to achieve success in the power politics practiced in this atmosphere are not unlike those described by Machiavelli in "The Prince." Realistic depictions of these affairs give this work a sobering air of Asian reality, tempered by the humanity of the narrators.

It is rare to find history presented in this fashion, at once readable and informative. I highly recommend this book and caution that it is best not read at one sitting. Take the time necessary to savor its richness and complexity.

Most of us, the stay-at-homes and world travelers alike, seem to have some inborn fascination with things Oriental. That fascination gets a great feeding in Thomas Barnes' "Vietnam when the Tanks were Elephants".

This is the lively story of real events and people in a 31-year war among rivals for the rule of Vietnam, 1771-1802, told through fictionalized narratives by members of the various sides. The narratives join to make a rich tapestry of the war itself and the personalities who shaped it, their intrigues and betrayals, their acts of cruelty and moments of tenderness, their courage, their folly, their greed - and the sometimes inexplicable consequences.

The story is of the Orient, of minds formed by Oriental thought and traditions; but it is also universal. Here is war-time decision-making as it has been throughout world history, plans shaped by leaders' personal foibles or strengths, campaigns undone by the unforeseen event. Here are men who take power and cannot handle it; here is a great man struck down by no fault of his own. Here are tactics similar to those the U.S. learned in Vietnam. And here the elephants are, like tanks, scary and formidable but vulnerable.

It is useful for Western readers, especially Americans, to be jarred into some sense of the wealth of history in the rest of the world. The struggles depicted here started before the American and French Revolutions and continued after them, but how many in the West would have known about them without Mr. Barnes' book?

The book moves fast; it is not dull history. Nor is it a novel; it is fictionalized non-fiction. Some may object to its many changes of point-of-view characters. But such changes are standard fare in movies; and for that matter, the "Iliad" also shifts its focus frequently and to good effect.

I cannot imagine that anyone other than the unique Mr. Barnes could have written this book. He drew on Vietnamese historical studies that he himself translated. Just as "The Name of the Rose" bespoke Umberto Eco's scholarship, so "Vietnam when the Tanks were Elephants" evinces Mr. Barnes' erudition. He has a profound knowledge of Southeast Asia and is fluent in several of its languages. With that expertise he combines a personal experience of life and war in Vietnam (he is a veteran of many dangerous years there as a U.S. Foreign Service officer) that gives the book its extra insights into how things really happen.

This book could and should be made into a terrific mini-series. Meanwhile, it's a great read.

The Tay Son rebellion in Vietnam in the late 1700's was contemporary with the French and our revolutions and equally traumatic. Anyone interested in learning about Vietnam before our involvement will find this well written historical novel by Mr. Barnes to be fascinating.

Mr. Barnes is a thorough Vietnam hand, truly fluent in the language and with extensive experience in the country. He served there in our Foreign Service a number of assignments, almost all of the time outside of Saigon. He also served in Thailand and Laos, doing well with those languages too. His wife is Vietnamese and an able collaborator in his research.

The Tay Son brothers from Central Vietnam led their rebellion first against the Nguyen rulers of the south, killing off all the family except one prince who fled to Thailand. They then marched north to eliminate the Trinh rulers there. The division between the Nguyen and the Trinh was almost the same line as between South and North Vietnam during our war. Both were supposedly serving the Le Dynasty titular rulers of all of Vietnam. The Tay Son brothers after their victories fell out among themselves, and the dynasty collapsed as the surviving Nguyen prince returned to reconquer using Thai and French support. As King Gia Long he founded a renewed Nguyen Dynasty, which in turn was to fall to the French and then ultimately to the Communists.

It is a tangled bit of history, with many actors, much treachery, and copious amounts of blood. Mr. Barnes has followed the real history closely using the tool of a novel with first person narrations by the principal participants, and with descriptions of gruesome (and real) executions and the sex that comes with kings marrying for political reason and also having fun with winsome concubines.

Enjoy a good read and interesting history. You will know Vietnam much better.

The 18th Century Tay Son Rebellion placed southern peasants on Vietnam's imperial throne. The southerners overthrew Vietnamese dynasties and repulsed a massive Chinese invasion. The Tay Son's influence encompassed the entire Indochina Peninsula and extended into China and Siam. Tay Son is as significant an event in modern (i.e., the last half millennium) Vietnamese history as is the Civil War in the U.S. Surprisingly, despite the intensity of American interest in Vietnam since the war to which Americans refer as the "Vietnam War" and Vietnamese as the "American War," Tay Son has received little attention here.

Thomas J. Barnes, a retired American diplomat who spent five years in Vietnam during the war, here corrects that deficiency. In Vietnam - When the Tanks were Elephants, he has produced a scholarly work -- a historical novel on the period of Tay Son. Tom Barnes carries the reader along with the pace of a Tom Clancy adventure. He employs eight principals in the events to tell his tale: protagonists and antagonists in the rebellion - emperors and a queen, lords, Vietnamese and Chinese generals, scribes and a Spanish Dominican missionary. Evoking Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Barnes' narrators present first-person accounts. Each contributes a distinctive and engrossing perspective.

Let the squeamish be forewarned that Barnes' chronicle of deeds and misdeeds, crimes and punishment, is graphic. Votaries of Robert Van Gulik's Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee will recollect his themes in Barnes' similar attention to the full workings of the wheel of justice. Beheadings, drawings and quarterings, and all the grisly like -- barbarisms to modern sensibilities, but commonplace in the context of the age -- are portrayed vividly in all their gruesomeness. Nor are the narrators shy to confess their concupiscence. Episodes of libidinousness are interspersed into accounts of history-making events.

Compressing the epic events of 31 years into eight narratives within the covers of a 321-page book could lead to confusion in the hands of a less attentive author. Barnes, however, assists his readers with appendices comprising casts of characters, a chronology, and glossaries of foreign words and phrases. The last permits the narrators to speak realistically. Vietnamese interlocutors, for example, use exclamations and colloquialisms of their tongue, lending authenticity to their accounts.

Set aside half a day or a long evening for this book because you won't want to put it down. The reading of it is a delight and an education. You will come away from it with an enhanced comprehension of not only a significant slice of history, but an enriched insight into the universality of human nature.