Asia Books

I could be verbose and describe the virtues of this book in great detail, but the pictures in this amazing work speak much louder than anything that I could write. He was a man who gave his life for his craft, and this book is a powerful tribute to that craft. Absolutely stunning and indispensable to anyone that wants to understand "that war" and the power of the visual image.

Larry Burrows was and still is a benchmark which other photojournalists should strive to attain. Great book. Buy it.

What is a good photograph even in times of war? Look into this book. Larry Burrow gave us a clear message.

An amazing book, incredible images from the great artist Larry Burrows. Although taken 35 years ago, they are as relevant today as they were then.

This collection of Burrows' work in Vietnam is unbelievable. At great risk, he captured photos of American soldiers and Marines in Vietnam -- photos of young men that seem to leap off the page. Nothing like this has come of coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- not because the photos weren't taken, but because of the incredible cowardice and corruption of the American media. This book is a tribute to the courage and skill of one photojournalist, and an imperishable record of the men who fought and died in that war.

How Walter Dean Myers ever dreamed up a picture book of the Vietnam War is beyond me. I immediately wanted to read it and buy it. It turned out to be very good and contains imagery of the scariness of war. It avoids gore but people do die and soldiers do kill. Haunting.

"Patrol" by Walter Myers is a great book. The main charactor doesn't have a name in this book. Anyways, he is in the forsests of Vietnam during the vietnam war. He is slowly walking through the woulds and than he hears gun shots. He dives to the ground and and looks for the opponent. People who would like this book are kids to adults. Adults would like it because they can remember the war that was going on when they were a kid. Kids would enjoy it because a lot of times kids like to play as if they were army men fighting in a war.Thise book is Historical Fiction because the war happend but not this particular scene.

Patrol
Patrol is about a soldier in war looking for the enemy and doing what he is told. War makes the main character relies what he could loose and what he could gain. The captain never let up on the main character and never lets the platoon or him rest. Even when they are fired upon the captain tells them to shoot and keep moving. The main character calls in a bomber and the gun battle is over but that's not the end to the book.

This book has different types of pictures. The pictures are a bunch of picturesf cut out and put on one piece of paper. I think this army book is a great book for kids to understand what it feels like to be in a war.
The writting of this book is also unique because it is a type of poem writting form. This book is easy to read and understand. Kids should read this book if they are interested in war stuff and if they don't like to read long books.

Boom! A granade went off next to my buddy and sent him flying back to his death. Could I be next thought the brave soldier? Patrol is about the Veitnam War and a soldier who is very cautious about his surroundings. This book is very mysterious because you don't know what will happen to the soldier. He is constantly thinking about his family and how his death could come to him.
He is trapped in the middle of the Vietnamise forests and is lost with his buddies. They have a long maze of problems ahead of them including how they get back home. This book is good if you are a follower of this war or if you like stories that always are mysterious and are hard to guess what is going to happen. It is a picture book but that doesn't mean that is isn't good. Patrol is a mix of mystery and heroic. The author, Walter Dean Myers, realy knows how to make a great book for children.
I enjoied reading the book Patrol so I think you will too! Don't get too caught up in the pictures because they are awsome. If you are looking for an awsome picture book to just read then this is for you.

What a trip! This book gives you most of the details you need to get on the train and get an education. Time passes fast so take advantage of each moment. Four men just returned from Beijing to Moscow (August 2008), the trip of a lifetime. Very helpful guide into the cities and scenes along the way. It doesn't tell about all the great people riding the rails with you. Friends forever!

I am leaving soon for a two-week trip in Siberia. This book has been an exceellent primer. I'll know more about how to judge it when I return.

I have not been able to find any single travel book that covers as much useful information as this! I will be traveling the Trans-Siberian rail this summer, and this book has been a constant companion through my planning process. Detailed information on all of the towns and cities along the way along with maps to avoid getting lost while wandering. Definitely a bonus for the all of the information on smaller towns- it's very difficult to find a travel-worthy guide book that covers more than just St. Petersburg and Moscow, not to mention UB!

Can't recommend this book higher to anyone considering journeying the Trans-Siberian Railway!

Because I plan to trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway next year I bought this book hoping to read some advice and tips on how to travel the whole trip, where to stay, how much it costs, where to stay etc.

But his book absolutely surpassed all my expectations!! There are not only those tips on trans-siberian rail, but also "travel guides" for cities like Moscow, Irkutsk and even tips on how to get to Mongolia, where to stay in Ulan-Bator and so forth.

I have no idea how I would plan my trip without this book! It's really amazing how much information (and even with tips from other "ordinary" travellers!!) is in that, for instance bus-numbers from Moscow airport heading to the center of the city ...

The book absolutely worth the money.

For passengers on traveling on all or most of the Trans-Siberian Railway and visiting the cities along it, there are only two English-language travel guides. The Lonely Planet guide appeared in 2003 with a second edition in 2006, while Bryn Thomas updates his guide almost yearly and in 2007 it reached its seventh edition. I'm a two-time veteran of the Trans-Siberian, using the 1st edition of the Lonely Planet on the eastbound Trans-Manchurian route, and the 2nd edition on the eastbound Trans-Mongolian. When I recently discovered Bryn Thomas' guide in the local library, however, it struck me as the guide that I wish I had had on the trip.

The Lonely Planet guide and Thomas' have much in common. Both include a history of Russia in the Trans-Siberian era and general information about culture. They both give sightseeing guidance and lodging listings for the cities along the way. The LP sticks to the three traditional routes between Moscow and Beijing or Vladivostok, but Thomas has now added Yakutsk, soon to be accessible by rail) and other possible rail terminus cities like Prague and Hong Kong.

What makes Thomas' guide real special is his enthusiasm for the train journey itself. Unlike the LP guide, he gives timetables for the route, truly equipping the reader to prepare for the trip without having to look for too much information outside the book. Thomas discusses in detail the layout of carriages, specifics of what the carriage attendant can do for those under her charge, and things to look out for at kilometre markers along the way. The LP guide has little about the journey itself, and what little interesting information it did have in the first edition disappeared in the second.

Thomas' tone is also much more pleasant to read than in the common guidebooks for independent travelers. He doesn't try to sell you places you have already decided to visit with an overuse of words like "vibrant" and "spectacular". I also admire that he succeeds in writing for a general audience. While some of the accomodation listings are pricey, it doesn't feel like he is dismissing backpackers like certain sell-out guidebook lines.

I don't think I will ever travel the Trans-Siberian all the way again. While still fairly low considering the distance, fares are rising and I usually have the three free weeks needed to hitchhike from Europe to Ulan-Ude or Vladivostok. Nonetheless, I'd certainly recommend this to travelers planning a trip that is well-worth doing at least once.

A delightful chronicle of an odyssey back to VietNam, by two unlikely travel-mates. An engaging, funny, at times disturbing account of war, memories of war, and the personal costs of relationships in wartime. Hard to put down, I loved the writing style that seemed to blend Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson.

Educational, Emotional, Entertaining....like spending an evening with a good friend with a great story to tell. Hopefully this is a first of many for this talented writer.

Jim Fallon has an amazing way with words. His writing illustrated his jouney to Vietnam in a way that was clear to the reader.

I must say I did not expect to laugh as much as I did while reading Virga Tears. It is clear the writing has a unique way of telling the truths of his serious jouney, at the same time seeing the humor in traveling in a third world. If you have traveled the world, you will laugh with understanding, if you have not, you will laugh at the reality of his words.

The hard truth of life in Vietnam, then and now was not lost in humor. It was very human.

Great book.

I was surprised to find tears of laughter from a book on Vietnam. This is one that I will read over and over and send to friends for the Holidays.

A new twist and a story not previously told about the war. What a trip what an adventure.

Vigra tears is a delightful story of two men who visit Vietnam 30 years after the war. The author and his brother-in-law, different as night and day, share a most memorable experience in their journey and it gives you a different perspective of the war.
This book is worth reading, very witty and well written. I especially liked the chapter titles and how they related to the text of the book. It is easy reading for those that don't have a lot of time. The events that take place are interesting and informative and give you a sense of the country and people. The author makes you feel like you are right there with them. I didn't want it to end.

If you're interested in Tibetan Buddhist iconography for whatever reason you can't go wrong with this detailed book. The author's original illustrations provide a wealth of examples of images in Tibetan art, and the text provides rich historical and doctrinal background for understanding why the symbols are important. Highly recommended.

Recieved the book promptly and in the condition promised. The book is an excellent source book. It does suffer from being without an index, for which the author apologizes. A source book without index is less than it should be. Still the images are excellent, and I assume the text is accurate. The author has spent a good portion of his working life in preparation: studying with Tibetan artists and craftspeople; and, becoming accomplished at rendering the brush drawings in an authentic manner. A good compaion book, especially as this does not have a index, is the "Handbook" by the same author

It's a more interesting and authoritative reference for this subject matter. This is due to Rinpoche being a qualified (I emphasise the word 'qualified') Lama and Tibetan scholar. Also at no point does Rinpoche compromise Tibetan Buddhism by giving away restricted information.

I love this book. Having found it a few years back at a tattoo shop in Santa Cruz, California, I was only able to look at it for a short time but I was able to gain so much knowledge as to the wealth of designs and deep meaning found in Tibetan art. This book stayed in my mind thereafter. Here it is a few years and a couple tattoos later and the book resurfaced on Amazon. Great price, great condition and prompt service. This book is great for one who has interest in Tibetan art and it's symbolic nature. The concepts are well articulated and with each 'type' placed into a different chapter it makes refrencing quite simple. If you are interested, get this book!

Great book, with lots of details. If you are interested in tibetan handicrafts, here you can get any tibetan design you can imagine.

I loved this story. I hope Emily Wu writes more about her life and what led her to America. This was a beautiful story about how the cultural revolution in China robbed people of there childhoods and destroyed families. I intend to read more from this author.

Emily Wu and Larry Engelmann book "Feather in the Storm", an amazing openess of Emily Wu's life and history of China during the Cultural Revolution. The events that unfold carries the reader from youth to adulthood during a time of hardship and struggle which reminds us why hope and love is so neccessary and reasons to allow history to not repeat itself...

Feather in the Storm is a heart-wrenching and deeply moving story of a childhood lost in the terrors of Communist China. The story opens as three-year-old Mao, as she is known by family and friends, meets her father for the first time - in a concentration camp. Moved from family to family and from city to village, little Mao finds herself striving to learn who she is and where she belongs. Fed by her starving grandmother and protected by her outcast parents, Mao attends school and performs her daily chores at home without complaint, maintaining her hope for a brighter future.

Mao's father, a university professor who studied in America, has been labeled as an extreme rightist by the communist party in China. Cast out of the university apartments, Mao's family is sentenced to live in a tiny village so that they can "learn from the peasants," becoming better citizens. Here, Mao and her family live in a tiny mud house which melts away in storms, leaving the family exposed to the elements. Forced to leave home as a teenager after high school, Mao is sent to live in a remote village on the top of a mountain where she falls in love with a young man she is forbidden to marry.

Throughout all of the trials and tribulations Mao faces growing up, and in every village and town she lives in, she is able to make friends and gain the respect of her teachers and neighbors. With an undaunted courage to survive, Mao teaches the reader that hope can be found no matter what the circumstances. Surrounded by death and destruction, Mao creates a life for herself and embraces those who struggle by her side.

Author Emily Wu expertly captures the essence of what life was like during this tremulous age, and helps the reader experience the drama from a firsthand point-of-view.

Armchair Interviews says: Stunning read.

"Feather in the Storm" is a fantastic book. It is well written, and enthralling. I rarely get attached to a story, but I read it through cover to cover with only one break. I couldn't put it down. I am looking forward to the sequel! It is depressing but enlightening. People are really terrible to one another. There is a whole generation lost to the policies of Chairman Mao in the chaos. This comes to light in this true life story of Emily Wu's struggle to survive.

My wife and I met Emily Wu at SIUE while on her book tour. Her story was amazing, so we had to buy the book to get the details.

It normally takes me about a year to read a book, but this one I devoured in a matter of days. The perspective of the book grows as she grows. In the beginning it is written as though you are only a couple feet tall - the details are in the words she hears, people's feet and the underside of cribs and tables. Later on she gets taller and you start to experience more of the people around her. But, like the limitations put on a pre-teen, she can only see so much and know so much, therefore her story is limited to just what she could see and understand. You feel as though you are a child right alongside her.

Often I found myself trying to figure out what things meant (names of Mao's movements and doctrine), but that just muddled the story. At times you feel like more should be written about the backstory of the Red Guard, but if you think about the fact that she didn't know much about them at the time it leaves it all in that child-like perspective. She writes about what she saw and read and experienced as a child, especially her reactions to how it changed the people around her.

The tempo is well-paced and manages to catch you off-guard. It covers issues like capping and de-capping, the invasion of the Red Guard at the Anhui University campus in Hefei, book burning, cleansing of the "Old" ways, living conditions, food, suicide, female infanticide, arranged marriage, bound feet, class struggles, child-on-child violence and much more.

When you are finished, you will view your life through a new pair of glasses. You won't be able to go 5 feet without finding 100 things to be truly thankful for.

I just moved to Bangkok and have found this map so immensely handy that I had to get another one (my husband kept stealing our shared copy!) Now we have copies of both this edition and the updated one. While this is great, do yourself a favor and get the updated on with the sunset photo on the cover.

I visited Thailand for the first time last year. My first night there, I took a cab from Bangkok, followed the tout cabdrivers advice to to go to a certain hotel "bad mistake". I stayed at an awful, expensive, and overpriced excuse for a room. I was so disgusted by this experience that I left for Pattaya the next day. Pattaya was very nice, but I think I missed out on the true Bangkok experience. I bought this guide before I go on my trip this year, and I am very impressed with it. It has many words of wisdom from an experienced traveler. I enjoy his sense of humor and fun practical map. The graphics are excellent and having locations written in Thai as well as English will increase your chance of getting to your destination. Two thumbs up!!!

I liked this cool and hip guide which told me where to go for bars and clubs. I also liked the fact they had a gay section. The map is laminated so it wont tear or get wet. It is pretty cool and you wont feel dumb carrying it around with you as you tour the city.

This map has all the necessary highlights on sights, restaurants and hotels. The map is laminated so it can take alot of abuse during your travel. It really prepares one well prior to the visit. One of the best maps I have ever used.

I bought this map and guide expecting it to be a cute add-on and I didnt think I would actually use it for real info on my trip to Bangkok. BUT not so! I used this Groovy Guide way more than the guidebook I brought with me. Its packed full of really good info about temples, places to visit, what to avoid (scams and fake tour guides, gem scams and tuk-tuk scmas) what to defeinitely do (best views, best river trips, best massages) and what to eat (amazing street food!!) I totally used this map to bits for my stay and was worth every cent. I would say it was way better than the other guide books and stuff I had and didnt really use. The maps is easy to carry around with you. Highly recommend.

With its clear graphics and its wonderful illustrations, this version of the Art of War adds the element of the various interpretations of the text, set up much in the way that the classic Talmudic texts read. An important work in the history of military strategy and philosophy, this book has much to teach to anyone.

I cannot rave enough about this book. As I'm sure most translators or more authoritative people will point out, the translation quality here is superb. But, from the angle of the guy who knows almost zilch about that, the book offers guidance and discipline. While the original is short and to the point, this book offers a more 'warm' (if I can call it that) feeling, with photographic, smooth paper and various related pictures from the time.

That being said, this book also features commentary by other guys from the time relating to their opinions of Sun Tzu's words. It's definitely interesting to get perspectives from them and not just the author or translator. I felt that was a unique addition that really added to the book. You can read the whole thing of Sun Tzu's words in a couple days or so, but the deep discussion behind it offers a whole 'nother book in and of itself.

book arrived on time and in condition described

This edition makes for a terrific gift for the college graduate. The illustrations and photos add visual interest; the text layout makes for "easy" reading. Although we already own several editions of this classic, this will be added to our personal collection.

This is a classic work on what works and doesn't work it war. It is from the 3rd century BC and cuts through the BS of modern war science. Must reading for all future Presidents, Secretaries of Defense and General Officers.

Of all the tranlations of the Tao, Red Pine's is by far the best. I've read a lot of other Tao translations and none offer the clear interpretation that Red Pine offers. This is a must have book by the most qualified voice on the subject and at a price that cannot be beat.

I have a friend who's library includes some 20+ translations of this work and I have to date, read 4 of my own. Red Pine's TTC with Commentaries is much easier to follow and understand than other translations and the commentaries offer even more ways to consider each verse. To read what other Chinese scholars took from reading Lao Tsu's work will also make obvious that many have had very different understanding of this work, and that maybe, they are all useful.

This translation does, in my mind, further disproves those who so misunderstood Lao Tsu to call him a libertarian and an anarchist and does more to convince me that he, maybe above all the great teachers, was a true spiritualist, truly understanding what he chose not to define, not to personify, or to name...other than to simply call it The Way.

I have only two thirds of the book complete, but have to join those who claim it their favorite TTC so far.

I liked this book. the commentaries are interesting and provide insight into the Tao. I would have liked more commentaries on how to apply them to daily life, but overall it's a good book. I would recommend it.

In Asia, sacred texts like the Tao Te Ching are read with reference to the commentaries of its key historical luminaries. Only in the west is it read by itself, with no guidance. Finally, we have a TTC with key commentaries. Plus, the author has here given a translation that may come as close as possible to expressing the Chinese in English. It is concise, even pithy.
A number of other features make this volume unique and particularly valuable. Pine's extensive introduction covers an intriguing linguistic insight into the Chinese written character for Tao, Lao Tzu's historical background, the usual issues of authorship, etc., and some of the deeper understandings of the important themes of philosophical Taoism. Also, he has provided black and white photos of the famed Hanku Pass and the Loukuantai where tradition holds that Lao-tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. The Chinese text is provided along side Pine's clear and unadorned translation. He utilizes the earlier but more recently discovered Mawangtui texts, and explains his preferences in choosing among textual variants. But most important for me, and for any student of the Tao Te Ching are his carefully selected commentaries which follow each verse. These show how the Chinese have traditionally understood the passages of the TTC in selected commentaries from the last 2000 years. Also, the book provides an extensive glossary of the Chinese terms and the commentators. Highly recommended!

The only language in which the Taoteching could have been written is Classical Chinese, a medium seemingly open enough to accomodate any translation without losing anything at all. But we should keep in mind, as the good book here says, ". . . the Tao in words is not the real Tao . . ." We could say that Classical Chinese could not really, in our day and age, be served up in literal translation, and we can be grateful to Red Pine, once again, that in this fabulous rendering, he does not begin with the words, but rather with the Tao.

Paul Reps once told me that we humans "are on the outside looking in". Like the space between the kanji strokes, as with the Chinese, thus with the Tao, and even the Truth. (Chapter 11: "Thirty spokes converge on a hub, but it's the emptiness that makes a wheel work . . ."
This translation does work. As in his other impressive translations (I especially love his moving early 1990's translation of Bodhidharma - recommended to all who wish to learn more of Ch'an or Zen) there breathes an immediacy which flows forth into the consciousness of our moment, resonant in these teachings. Relatively obscure in the West not half a century ago, they thus have been recognized for their pith, their eternal relevance, their vision.

Each Chapter in this well-bound, well-designed volume is accompanied by a series of commentaries or alternative translations from various sages in the Taoist tradition, a process which itself, once again, reveals the Tao, ever changing, always unchanged.

Chapter 19: "Get rid of wisdom and reason
and people will live a hundred times better
get rid of kindness and justice
and people once more will love and obey
get rid of cleverness and profit
and thieves will cease to exist
but these sayings are not enough
hence let this be added
wear the undyed and hold the uncarved
reduce self-interest and limit desires
get rid of learning and problems will vanish"

I've been reading this book since the early 1960's in various English renditions - this one is far and away my current favorite - a real delight!

From the jump, you are in the action in this book. However, if you don't know military acronyms or can't pick them up quickly, you'll be lost. If you do or can, you are in for adrenalized enjoyment.
The now-obsolete hazardous task of airborne Forward Air Controller is material for a thrill ride of a read. Harrison's memoir exploits the material, but in a good way.
He opens in the action; he's flying a routine mission, putting in air strikes in a spot where the enemy probably isn't to be found. You are right in the cockpit with him when a stray bomb suddenly ignites a major battle. His failure to conclude this combat is a nice simile for the inconclusiveness of military action in Vietnam.
The next section, where Harrison pulls you back into the run-up to the battle, spares us the childhood stuff with his dog, parents, school, ad nauseam. By taking us instead through FAC training, it settles into the Air Force culture of pilotdom and quickly accomplishes the dual tasks of accustoming us to his viewpoint and pulling us quickly back to Vietnam.
Along the way, Harrison shows us both the camaraderie among pilots and the decisions he has to make as a commander managing the pilots and men who work for him.
He segues into flying covert operations for the CIA. When I came to this part, I expected these espionage missions into Cambodia to be comparable to the Raven FAC missions in Laos. Much to my surprise, they were more like the Jedburgh agent deliveries of World War II.
The book ends inconclusively with the loss of his wedding band while boarding his airplane home. It left me wondering if he had received a Dear John.
While this book has no blinding revelations, it is a good-humored modest account of his service with a knack for vivid phrases. Let me give two examples:
On his way home, a clerk exclaims that Harrison has a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a raft of smaller decorations. Harrison's reply is, Hurry up with the paperwork that gets me home.
Vivid phrases: try "Shell holes dotted the base camp like pimples on a teenager."
All in all, a good book. Also, if you enjoy this sort of tale, you might try In the Black by Joe Lerner.

If you are in any way interested in FAC's Forward Air Controllers, LRP's, Air Cav, and Vietnam... BUY THIS BOOK. Superb.

If you are remotely interested in aviation (military or otherwise
you simpy must read this book.
I've read it twice and I am still struck by the courage and bravery
of the author and his compatriots.
I've read practically every first person account of pilots flying
in Vietnam that I can get my hands on and this one remains my absolute
favourite.

Marshall Harrison, my hat off to you sir. You are a true hero.

Very exciting and spellbinding account of an Air Force OV10 pilot and his experiences in Viet Nam. Historically accurate, yet very entertaining style of writing. If you want to know what it was like to fly the OV10 in combat, read this book. it takes you there.

This has to be the best written book on the subject matter. Throughout the book I felt as though I was living his experience and now when I remember the book sometimes I can't remember if it was part of a movie or the book, that's how good the visuals were while reading it. I highly recommend it and hope that the author brings more out into print