Asia Books

I love Jim Corbett, I don't know if any author is better at transporting you back in time & making you feel like you were there. A warning though, once you start reading a Jim Corbett book you will need to find more of his books they are addicting. Also you will be hard pressed to find stories as exciting. This book wasn't as good as Maneater's of Kumaon. If you haven't read any of his books start with that one.

Corbett is a natural writer and combines his knowledge of the jungle with uncanny hunting skills to give us one of the best Indian adventures ever written.

Reading his books is not just following a maneater with a gun - it is a journey into the days of the British Raj where you will be transported into the remote jungles of Northern India, read about the simple people and their unsophisticated lifestyle. There are no villians, no suspicious characters lurking around and nobody to provide humour. You just have village folk trying to eke out a living which is sometimes interrupted by a feline with a taste for humans.

This particular book is about one leopard which terrorised a large region for many years and claimed about 420 lives. To understand what these people must have felt, it must be noted that in those days there were no high security fences, no guns or any kind of technology to track the leopard. Yet the people had to enter the forest to earn their daily bread. There is an unforgettable chapter in the book titled 'Terror' which starts something like this:

'During the day, people went about their lives as usual. Trade and commerce, transport and all other transactions went about their normal way. But as evening approached, there was a marked change in their behaviour. Pilgrims rushed towards their night shelters, businessmen closed shops abruptly and people scurried towards their homes for relative safety. No curfew was more strictly imposed. No orders to remain indoors were observed as faithfully.'

This is one of the books which shows that for writing adventure you don't need weapons or FBI investigations. All you need is a writer with a big heart who loves what he is doing and knows what he is talking about.

If you like adventure literature, you should find this piece really wonderful. I read it while I was alone at home for a week and I started to "feel" leopards all aronud the house at night. Very well writen, hard to stop reading.

This book is available from the Oxford University Press website: http://www.oup.com/

I just purchased a new copy for 12.49 British pounds including shipping to the USA which is just over $21 USD (December, 2003) I don't know why the new/used books advertised on Amazon by private sellers are so expensive.

If it's anything like Corbett's "Man-eaters of Kumaon" it is a masterpiece.

Another excellent book from the corbett library. Its true that fact can be stranger than fiction. And no where is it more evident than in the story of the maneater of rudraprayag.

Corbett is out to kill this very clever and wily old leopard in the second half of the 1920's. The leopard is believed to have made its debut as a man-killer following the influenze outbreak of 1918. Corbett hunts this killer over two years. In an intense battle of nerves between the best shikari that ever was and the wily leopardus, corbett's life hangs by a thread many times. On one dark stormy night, robbed of his defenses, he makes his way back to the village after a failed attempt in an experience that he terms his scariest. Another time the leopard snatches a goat right under his nose and gives him a run for his money! All and many illustrations of man's utter helplessness when a clever maneater turns against him.

In the end, corbett suceeds in putting a bullet where it truly belongs - in the maneater - to end its career. In true corbett fashion he has a soft spot for the old dead leopard, which gave him such a sporty fight. I am sure they both met again in the happy hunting grounds!

A wonderful book by a wonderful man.

Hsu fills in a niche which has remained empty for a long time. Chinese history written by self-styled western experts presents a real challenge for fairness and perspective. In Western eyes, the colonial period is often seen through rose colored glasses and this hampers their ability to present it objectively. With this book we can get a different perspective from someone who has lived the Asian experience from the Asian side. Good work!

This really is an excellent book. Although scholarly it is not dry and one might even call it exciting at times. It remains the definitive work on the period (most Oxford History books tend to have that distinction) and the latest edition (6th, I believe) contains additions and corrections well worth the bump in price.

The only reason I cannot give this book a full five stars is because in spite of the scholarship, it remains fairly light on ideas and when compared to other Oxford Histories such as "Battle Cry Of Freedom" or "What God Hath Wrought" it cannot hold its own.

Nevertheless, this book is a worthy addition to any historical library and is heartily recommended.

I needed a book for my university studies on China, and this was by far the best. It is detailed, sharp and well written. I cannot see much bias either way, or if there is the other side is shown.

A very good treatment on the subject.

This book by Immanuel Hsu used to be my school text 23 years ago! Now in its 6th Edition, I must say is an excellent piece of work. However, there are still certain words which are wrong, for eg, page 100, 2nd Paragraph, "...He was "found" of Adma Schall von Bell, whom he appointed..."
The word should be FOND and not "found"....
I have detected several similar errors in the book.... Otherwise, this book would almost be near Perfect!
Steven Lim. RSTN Consulting (Singapore).

While Spence's "The Search for Modern China" may be currently the most popular survey of modern Chinese history, Hsu's work is indispensable for the student of wants a deep understanding of China and the Chinese. I was fortunate enough to have studied the material covered with Hsu at Santa Barbara, while he was working on the first edition and still using the then only good English language Asian history by Fairbank (+ others) as a text. While I still have my copy of Fairbank's two volumes, which remain useful for Japan and Southeast Asia, it is to Hsu's text I still refer on matters of Chinese history.

~ I first read "Summons of the Trumpet" when it was published in 1978. Interestingly, in his preface, LTG Palmer states "There will be those who claim that history, true history, can't be written so soon after an event...they are correct. The definitive version of the Vietnam War will be published decades hence..." Well, a full thirty years later, it turns out this statement is the only thing he got wrong!

~ For me, this volume was and remains the definitive work on the Vietnam conflict. It is interesting, concise, understandable, and insightful. I continue to re-read it about every five years and just cracked it open again.

~ When I retired from my Army career (as an Infantry officer), I became a high school social studies teacher and I have used "Summons" as one of my main references when teaching my students about the Vietnam War, this time period, our society, and American government.

~ Russell Weigley, a noted historian who I also value, correctly called this book "by far the best synthesis of...the Vietnam War." Thank you, General Palmer, for letting the "Trumpet" sound!

As a Vietnam veteran, I am often surprised at the mythology that surrounds the Vietnam war to this day. This is "must reading" for anyone seeking fresh insight into that struggle. I found this book consistent with my own experiences and observations from my tour of duty in Vietnam (1968 to 1969). For this reason, I highly recommend it to any serious student of history.

This is one of the best books (if not the best) I have ever read on the Vietnam War. The author develops his arguments with such clarity and eloquence that the book is a real joy to read. Palmer does not describe many battles but only those which were characterized as turning points of the conflict, like Ap Bac (1963), Ia Drang (1965) and Tet (1968) but the depth of the political and military analysis is fantastic. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the military logistics of the US forces in Vietnam as well as the role of the air power in the conflict. It is astonishing to realize that the US actually defeated the insurgency in Vietnam and lost the war only because of the persistent commitment of numerous regular North Vietnamese divisions, which were also mauled badly in battle in many cases! The `Ahilles heel` of the US was the Vietnamization program which the communists didn't allow to mature. Very highly recommended!

Palmer's book was one on the first I have ever read on Vietnam, and remains one of the best. It is mostly concerned with overall strategy and campaigns; less with individual battles and operations. The book severely criticizes the Johnson Administration (with a particular venom for Robert McNamara) but is much more positive about Nixon. The author's attitude towards the South Vietnamese government and Army is critical but quite fair, and he gives the North Vietnamese their due. This is not really a book about American military performance, and does not really mention problems within the military, such as drug abuse, racial incidents, massacres, etc., but he does believe that any problems were a result of having a bankrupt political/military strategy. A few OK maps, no photographs or footnotes, but a nice bibliographical essay. All in all, a very good short introduction but certainly not a complete history of the war.

I was looking for a good overview book of the Vietnam War and this really fit the bill. The author put together a well thought out, easy to read and well-written book that does a good job of giving the reader the high points. The author was a solder in the combat and spent a number of years in the military so he has an authoritative position to speak from. He does a great job of keeping the book away from being overly laden with military jargon or the Rambo style of combat writing. The book is focused on the American effort and thus skims the pre U.S. troop entry into the war. If you are looking for a deeper history on the start of the war with the French or the overall American involvement in Asia then this book will disappoint.

The treatment he gave to the major battles was good. He presented an easy to follow account of the battle, what lead up to it and the outcome. He also touched on some of what was happening back home with the politics, but only briefly. I think the most interesting parts of the book for me was the details of the air war, more specifically how the bombing kept escalating and then the final bombing push by Nixon. My only complaint with the book is that it was an overview that was a bit too light on the facts for me. The book was only 270 pages long, and book size do not necessary determine quality, this book could have been a little bit more in-depth. It seemed to me that to get a better understanding a few more pages could have been added without the overview turning into a in depth study.

I have read many books about the cultural revolution but this one stands out amongst them all. The story he tell is a complete one. Finally, we get to hear positive things about communism as well as the negative. I enjoyed reading Zhu's account about what a good communist his father was during his life. I hear the pride in his words. Zhu's father must be thought of as a hero back in China. Usually, you hear about government officials using their position to benefit themselves, but his father believed in the system. Even though I don't beleive in it myself, it's refreshing to hear from those who do. Zhu has a gift with words that I hope he will continue to share with us.

I have read many books about the cultural revolution but this one stands out amongst them all. The story he tell is a complete one. Finally, we get to hear positive things about communism as well as the negative. I enjoyed reading Zhu's account about what a good communist his father was during his life. I hear the pride in his words. Zhu's father must be thought of as a hero back in China. Usually you hear about government officials using their position to benefit themselves. Zhu's father believed in the system. Even though I don't beleive in it myself, it's refreshing to hear from those who do. Zhu has a gift with words that I hope he will continue to share with us.

Having lived and worked as an American teacher in China now for two years, I've been able to read a number of biographies and memoirs of China's modern history. But unlike so many westerners who read such literature, I don't have the luxury of finishing a book and passing it off as some faraway account of a society and system that I'll never personally have to deal with. On the contrary, I see and share daily in the environment that China is - the aftereffects of her history of poverty and oppression, the often-autocratic decisions of the government, the worldview that communism and recent extreme nationalism have shaped, and the now-booming economy and the poor it has left behind - and I have no choice: I must live and interact as a good citizen with a positive attitude in the surroundings in which I find myself, for better or worse.

Jan Wong's `Red China Blues' was the first memoir I picked up and read after I arrived. Though her work is a masterpiece of brutally honest journalism and is invaluable in tracking China's progress and change from Mao to now, Wong herself is Canadian, not Chinese; she can ultimately take China or leave it.

But enter Zhu Xiao Di. Born in 1958 into the home of one of Nanjing's most principled and loyal communist public officials, Zhu learned from his father's undying commitment to personal and public integrity and came of age during the nightmare of Chairman Mao's 1966-76 Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. '30 Years in a Red House' is his memoir of his own youth and growth during this tumultuous time, but even more so a memoir of his father's bitter suffering under the frenzied policies of Beijing's leadership. It is a story not of a starry-eyed outsider attempting to join in China's revolution, but of a Chinese person himself trying to remain loyal to the highest ideals and find sensibility and good even in the greatest of miseries.

Wong shows you China through the eyes of a foreigner who can ultimately walk away from China and its problems if she must; Zhu Xiao Di shows you China through the eyes of someone who will die to save it. '30 Years' is, frankly, much healthier reading for foreigners such as myself who must maintain a positive attitude toward our Chinese environment.

Zhu's picture of every facet of his family's daily life in Nanjing is full of insights into the culture of communism and reasons why the society was structured the way it was. It's full of personal stories of friends and relatives who struggled bitterly through the Cultural Revolution and the economic emergence that followed it. And it's full of perspective on the shifts of government and the way in which policies from Beijing affected every person's life during that time. We learn of his grandparents and their youth and adulthood during three great eras of 20th-Century China; of his father's ten years as an influential and heroic underground communist, leading to a career as an uncompromising and loyal public servant, followed by a severe denunciation and internment as a public enemy, and ending in release and return to public work; and of Zhu Xiao Di's own education as a circumspect youth, his entrance into college and experiences as one among the great Cohort '77, his work as a teacher, and his eventual pursuit of overseas study as a means to ultimately return to China and be a contributor to her economic and social growth. His knowledge of historical and political events, his grasp of western literature, and his ability to aid the westerner (the American, particularly) in understanding and appreciating Chinese and communist values and thought, are marvelous and indispensable.

For those westerners particularly interested in life and work in China, I recommend '30 Years in a Red House' without hesitation. Could I do it over again, this would be the first book I would read upon arriving here. Other memoirs may tell more riveting stories of fear or horror, other biographies and texts may give greater details of the intricacies of history and politics and great figures, but few - perhaps none - will instill you with as much love and appreciation for China itself and burden to see her society become and just and prosperous one.

I have read many books about the cultural revolution but this one stands out amongst them all. The story he tell is a complete one. Finally, we get to hear positive things about communism as well as the negative. I enjoyed reading Zhu's account about what a good communist his father was during his life. I hear the pride in his words. Zhu's father must be thought of as a hero back in China. Usually, you hear about government officials using their position to benefit themselves, but his father believed in the system. Even though I don't beleive in it myself, it's refreshing to hear from those who do. Zhu has a gift with words that I hope he will continue to share with us.

I grew up in China. My family had similar experiences and background as the author. I could identify myself with the characters in the book. My personal experience was very painful before and during the "Cultural Revolution". For a long time, I couldn't look back without crying hard. Thank you for telling your story.
Whenever I read a book about China, either by native Chinese or foreigners, I found certain sterotype about China, Chinese families and Chinese people. A Chinese given name consists of 1 or 2 characters. Since Chinese characters are very rich in meanings they could represent, a name could tell a lot. My name, as well as my siblings' and all my cousins were carefully chosen by my grandfather. My given name, only two characters, tells where I was born. It also represents fountain flowing at great speed, which my grandpa thought was a symbol of life. It may be true that China is a male dominated society. However there are a lot of people who don't follow the trend. I was the third girl in the family. My parents were just as happy if not happier about my birth as compared if I were a boy. As a matter of fact, in the environment I grew up, there was no difference what so ever about boys or girls whom the parents preferred. Many families actually preferred girls to boys as Chinese people all believe when children grow up, girls are more considerate to their parents (this is another sterotype, but many believe it). I guess, after all, it is the parents, not the society decide if boys are preferred to girls. Families are different in China, just like they are different in the States.
BTW, My late father was a surgeon. My beloved mother had been a teacher before she decided to quit her job to be a full time mom.

I bought my cookbook a couple months ago, and I must say I've never used a cookbook so much. That being said, my husband is Iraqi and really loves Iraqi cuisine. For me it's improved my "iraqi cooking" tremendously. Everyone has noticed that I am now making authentic Iraqi food. I am very happy with it. I bought the the other Iraqi cookbook called Iraqi Family Cookbook. While that one is good, it is small. If you are deciding which one to buy, I would definetly get this one. While it doesn't have the beautiful colorful presentations as the other one,it does have a whole lot more recipes.

I can't stop flipping through the pages of this book. Each page sparks a different memory from Iraq. The recipes are so easy to follow and turn out so well. The best cook book EVER.

My wife is a first class Chef and needed information abiout Iraqi Cooking
to prepare and serve at Master classes
On the WWW there was only 11 recipies
So doing a search on AMazon.com walla a book. The book has many recipies and information about Iraqi Culture it is easily to read and is very informative, it is pity that the Americans went in on a false premise and are surely destroying a vibrant culture.

A great cookbook. Easy to follow for those not familiar with Arabic/Middle Eastern Cooking. Good back stories and illustrations. A true one of a kind work. Be sure to buy this treasure before it goes out of print. A delight as the title suggests.

I received this cookbook as a birthday gift two years ago. When I opened it, I was excited to find a Middle Eastern cookbook, but was not expecting it to 'measure up' to the 10 or so Middle Eastern/North African cookbooks in my collection, as the author is not well known as are the authors of many of the other books. After all this time, I have made quite a few recipes from this book, and all were fantastic. That being said, I feel that I haven't even scratched the surface of this book. The number of good recipes in the book is astounding, and the history portion of the book is very interesting. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in learning more about cooking Middle Eastern food, and learning about its roots.

It is attributed to John Ford that he said "Print the legend, not the story." Whether that tale is true or not, the line was delivered at the end of the move `The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence,' as was said to allow a popular conception to be maintained. This same thought was behind the movie `Wake Island,' which portrayed the battle for the island as a notional last stand with all American defenders dying in its defense. In that case, it was part of a propaganda effort.

Author Urwin tells the true story of Wake Island and it is far more impactful and emotionally heart-rending than the movie or any other fictionalized version of the story could be. The marines and civilian workers were effectively abandoned in a worse way than were the defenders in The Philippines. A resupply mission to Wake Island was cancelled and the island given up for lost. \

Nor is the story as the movie was laid out. After successfully repulsing one assault landing on one of the islands making up the atoll, the Japanese landed on again and were in the process of being defeated when the marine commander - who had received incorrect information about the state of the battle, a classic case of "the fog of war" - elected to surrender. Afterwards, some prisoners were killed by the Japanese. Worse still, a number of the civilian workers were kept on the island as laborers. For them, there was no relief or respite; ultimately there were executed.

But, what is similar - though woefully underplayed in the movie - was the bravery and nobility of those involved. For this band of brothers, it was not an easy relationship among themselves. The marine and navy commanders conflicted over who really was in charge; the civilians were their own tribe, one initially excluded by the military; all components had a few cowards. But, it was a classic case of what Americans will do when all the façade is gone.

Urwin is brilliant as both a technical writer and a story-teller. He takes a scholarly approach with each chapter starting with an introduction telling what will be discussed. The book moves smoothly and competently through the story and its extended aftermath. One is left at the end feeling that the movie may have missed the point but your sense of pride in being an American overwhelms that feeling easily. I had to wonder what I would have done had I been there.

Most people only know about wake Island from the William Bendix movie made in 1942 when very few facts of the battle were known. What was know was that in 1941, as most American outposts in the far east fell in hours, this small Island with a garrison of some 450 marines and a few airmen held out for weeks and became a symbol of hope for Americans in a world of otherwise bleak news. The papers called this unlovely rock "The Alamo of the Pacific" in rememberance of that other famous last stand.
What Dr Urwin goes into is the detail beyond these facts, having interviewed survivors from both sides of the battle and poured over navy records he takes Marines who were little more than faceless icons, and made them human, with fears and hopes and lives all their own, and in so doing makes their stand more iconic. He gives them lives and personalities with annecdotes and humor as remembered by their friends in later years that shows them as a uniquiely American force.
Is it a big book? yup. Is it easy to read? Oh Yeah! The early chapters are about the finding, losing and refinding the atoll known as "Wake," then going into how it was developed in an attempts for commercial air travel in the 1930's. These chapters were so easy to read I found myself wondering if there were books on this, A topic I'd previously had no knowledge of or desire in. The writing is that good.
"What better way for man to die, then facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the Temples of his gods." yup, sums it up well.

Professor Urwin has contributed a priceless addition to the collection of great American historical letters. Perhaps one of the best compilations of Wake Island information that at no time reads like the encyclopedia it resembles.
This is a huge and potentially intimidating book that is worth every bit of its seemingly steep price tag. Invest in your brain, you get what you pay for and then some!

REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS!

I am a student in one of Dr. Uwrin's classes and he assigned this book for us to read. Usually I get annoyed when this happens because it is usually a way for teachers to throw their ideas further onto students and make them pay (literally) for it. Urwin's is one of only two professor written books that I have enjoyed reading for class. Dr. Urwin's writing is extremely clear and easy to follow, and he grips the reader. The language is not the pompous scholarly language one usually finds in books like this. You don't have to be a student of WWII to read this, anyone could pick it up and read it without problems. And to answer someone's musing that if Dr. Urwin's lecturing is as good as his writing, it is and then some! READ THIS BOOK!

The title, Facing Fearful Odds, is taken from Macaulay's "Horatius at the Bridge" (a poem I lovingly remember reading as a schoolboy), and it's evocative of the dramatic siege of Wake Island in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Gregory Urwin is a fine writer who vividly portrays the drama of a handful of Marines and civilian construction workers who repelled daily assaults by the Japanese navy and air force for 16 harrowing days before finally capitulating to overwhelming force. In stunning detail, the author depicts the frantic preparatory events leading up to the siege, the fierce resistance, and the bitter aftermath. It is sad that these heroic events are little known by today's generation.

What is compelling about Mr. Urwin's account of the Wake Island story is his depiction of ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Although the Marines were volunteers, many of them joined the Corps to escape the Depression, and many of them never expected to find themselves in such a perilous position. Nonetheless, like Horatius at the Bridge, these men did more than their duty.

Facing Fearful Odds describes how the United States failed to marshal its considerable resources during the year and three months that Europe had been at war; we were dreadfully unprepared militarily, economically and psychologically for the sudden impact of the terrible defeats Japan dealt us. If we view the events of late 1941 in the context of the smug condescension most Americans felt toward Japan, and the fact that we woefully underestimated Japanese military prowess, we can begin to understand how shattering Pearl Harbor was. Americans were angry as hell and damned scared.

Then, a few gritty Marines and civilian construction workers - every one of them a regular "Joe Everyman" with whom any American could identify - held off the mighty Japanese navy and air force for more than two weeks and dealt them a stunning, crushing blow. That we ultimately lost Wake Island mattered little. That these brave men showed the world that Americans could - and would - fight back meant everything to the people at home and to those in the service. These few men lifted America from its fear and helped focus its anger in a powerful resolve to defeat the enemy.

The Marines of Wake Island were expendable, and they knew it. Mr. Urwin enables the reader to imagine why a man would willingly put himself in harm's way knowing - with near certainty - that he was unlikely to survive. One could argue that the man doesn't have a choice, but of course he has a choice - he can surrender. Urwin shows us that the willingness to fight and not surrender came from something more than patriotism. Though they fully expected to die, it was a matter of pride; though they believed no one would ever know it, they were determined to make the enemy pay dearly for American lives. They knew if they did that, someone else might live a little longer.

Facing Fearful Odds is about defiance in the face of certain death, of abject determination to make the enemy pay a terrible price for their arrogance. The men of Wake Island didn't save the world - that was for the men and women who came after them to do. But they saved America's face. Guam surrendered immediately. Wake Island did not.

Several weeks before the battle of the Alamo, Mexican troops marched into San Antonio demanding a siege cannon that the Texan rebels held. The Texans' reply was, "Come and take it." Implied were the words, "...if you can." Gregory Urwin gives the reader a rare opportunity to know how the men of Wake Island felt when they made the Japanese Navy "come and take it."

This is one of my favorite books--fascinating and informative. I've sent copies to several family members.

I have always fantasized about being a world traveling journalist living a life of adventure and bringing my unique point of view to my readers. Alas, that is not to be. However, I certainly have a deep appreciation for up-close and personal viewpoints of world events. That's why I absolutely loved this book and devoured the entire thing in one big orgy of uninterrupted reading.

Subtitled "A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Bagdad to Timbuktu", Yaroslav Trofimov, an Italian citizen, is a Wall Street Journal reporter whose knowledge of languages, including Arabic, gave him access to people and places often denied to Westerners. He wrote this book between 2001 and 2005 and his writing style is simple, personal and full of facts, history and perspective. As I turned the pages, I was right there with him as he traveled around the Islamic world talking to clerics, ordinary Muslims and heads of state about their views on the current "War On Terror" that has brought attention to their perspective and, especially in the case of Iraq, has turned their lives upside down. He visited Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali and Bosnia. That's quite a lot of places for one small book. They are all different, of course, but all share the Islamic world view, which, to my western eyes is a fresh perspective which gave me the chills as I slowly grasped the mounting significance of the present-day conflicts in all of these regions.

The clashes have been going on for thousands of years, but modern technology has accelerated the process and there is a culture class on a grand scale happening all over the world. The author devotes four full chapters to Iraq, and, to his credit, acknowledges the difficult job of American and British military personnel whose presence in the region has created a whole new set of problems for the Iraqi people who once viewed them as liberators. Those days are gone forever though. I knew all this before I read the book, of course, but it's one thing to read newspaper accounts and watch a small sound byte on CNN or Fox News. It's another thing entirely to feel I was in the shoes of this reporter, eating the food, dodging the gunfire and talking to individuals. My own sensitivities have also been stirred deeply and I know I will never quite view the Muslim world the same again.

The book is short, a mere 303 pages, but the author's skill managed to enlighten me about so much. Bosnia is very different from Timbuktu or Yemen, and sometimes it seemed as if these peoples have little in common. But the Islamic point of view is always there and very different from the Western world view. I applaud the author for clarifying this for me. Highly recommended.

This is a good book filled with personal experiences of a talented journalist who has travelled extensively in the arab world. It contains haunting images of people and suffering and explores the ironies and contradictions of the Arab world. One is presented with an image of a hypocritical Saudi Arabia, which uses Islam to keep its people down, and comparisons with a more secular Mali, which has found a way to reconcile modernity and religious values.

The book is unflinching in its critique of the American invasion of Iraq and the unintended consequence of the occupation. It is harrowing in its depiction of the vehemence of anti-Americanism from the wealthy suburbs of Cairo to the slums of Yemen. It create different looks at the seeming monolithic Hezbollah, unified by both public service and violent opposition to Israel.

The one drawback is that the book is totally framed by the perspective of the author. To say it is an uncomprimising look at the contradictions of Modern Islam and the failure of US foreign policy is to overlook the subjectivity of the writing. Choosing to focus on mismanagement or soldiers gloating over Arab deaths, the author ignores the nobility of others who struggle to make a positive impact. Some things in the book are taken at face value, when more thorough inspection should be required. For instance, at some point the book claims American forces shot and killed an Iraqi man for discharging his gun, thinking his house was being burglarized. How did the author arrive at this conclusion ? Ask the dead man ? The conclusion to be drawn is that Trofimov took representations of others at face value, but when Trofimov experience pro-US sentiment, he assumes it to be the result of toadying rather than genuine sentiment.

In the end, you have a well written book, containing fascinating yet selective experiences of the author. I recommend it as a fascinating journalistic travel journal, but like any journal one shaded by the authors subjective opinions.

I love this book so much that I already bought another to send to a friend. I will probably do it again if another friend did not buy it already on my advise. Mr. Trofinov succeed in making laugh while teaching me stuff about the world of Islam while others succeed only in making me cringe, fear, making my blood boil. The Journal is lucky to have him as a reporter.

Popular contemporary Islamic culture gets an airing in Yaroslav Trofimov's FAITH AT WAR, and the the non-islamic world is subject to a rude awakening 312 pages later. The author is very much a part of and participant in his inquiries into the attitudes that fuel resentment against the West and the US, whether in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan or Bosnia.

I was astonished to learn of the paranoia and proclivity to believe the wildest conspiracy theories throughout Islamic societies. Indeed, and as a validation of Trofimov, a personal friend of mine recently visited Iran with his Iranian wife. On a mountain climb above Tehran with his Iranian-American daughters, he encountered two AK-47 wielding guardians of the Islamic revolution who were keen to ply my friend with all manner of anti-semitic conspiracy theories, including the long-discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the "Israeli plot" to blow up the World Trade Center. Similar notions abound in Trofimov's accounts of his travels to "the frontlines of Islam" in the wake of the September 11 Al Qaeda attacks in the US.

FAITH AT WAR is a model of engaging journalism, with its riveting insights and Trofimov's determination - even at great risk to the writer's life - to get Islamic spokesmen to speak with him, revealing their livid concerns and lurid fixations. The paperback edition comes with an updated afterword and there is a helpful glossary of terms as well. The book is a fine primer/introduction to the contradictions inherent in the contemporary global Islamic resurgence largely fueled by the fanatical, retrogressive Saudi Arabian brand of Wahabist Islam. Highly recommended.

The Flame Tree is a realistic fiction book by author Richard Lewis. This book takes place in 2001in a small town in Indeonesia called Java. Placed around the September eleventh terrorist attacks, this novel weighs Islam and Christianity in a way that makes you really think about both sides of this religious difference.
12 year old Isaac Williams lives with his parents in a Baptist hospital compound, where there is also a Christian boarding school holding hundreds of students. A giant flame tree towers over the compound. This is where Issac makes a discovery that should have been his first clue to realize something was wrong. In the bamboo forest that surrounds the compound, Isaac finds a gate that is hard to see from the inside and even more difficult to see from the outside. He thinks he has found a way to go see his friend Ismail without getting caught outside the compound, but has he found something sinister? He doesn't give a second thought to this. He slips out to go visit Ismail, a Muslim boy who lives with his family in Java. He and Ismail have a great time and Isaac slips back into the compound unnoticed... almost. His mother catches and then scolds him,but otherwise he feels pretty good. His life is that of a normal 12 year old boy. He has nice parents, a home, a loving God, a best friend, and a way to escape from his punishment sentence. Then, the twin towers collapse and kill thousands of Americans. Suddenly, Java's muslims are like a deadly cobra waiting to rear it's ugly head and release it's poisonous venom onto the Americans at the hospital compound.
This was an emotionly hard to read book, but it was very helpful in understanding Islam and maybe why he 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. Don't read this book if you are interested in stories from 9/11. Read this book if you are looking to understand them. This book also has a lot of religious issues and comparisons between Islam and Christianity in it, so if you are interested in that, this is also a good read. I would recommend this to 13 year-olds and older because it has some tough material in it. What will happen to Isaac? What do the gate, the flame tree, and Ismail have to do with it? Read The Flame Tree to find out.

Growing up in a Muslim country, you seem so used to the Muslim traditions and way of life. Just like 12 year old Isaac. The realistic events in this novel are very thought provoking. It opened up my eyes to an uglier side of people. When religion becomes a cause for fighting. When people take on their own meanings of their religion. I was very surprised to find,after reading this book, that it isn't popular. It provides such an insight into the world in which most of us are oblivious to. It is painful, because it is told through the eyes of such a young child. But just like To Kill A Mockingbird, maybe it is only through eyes of a child which true suffering can be seen. I hope that more people, especially Americans pick up the book to read. It is powerful, and provides such a ticket into seeing the complications there exists in this world.

The Flame Tree
By Richard Lewis
Set in post 9/11 Indonesia, this coming of age tale offers an intimate look at the culture of Muslims and their Christian neighbors through the eyes of a 12-year old American boy. While the story is compelling with the kidnapping of the hero (fair-haired, blue-eyed), Isaac, it is perhaps a little too gritty for most 12-year old readers with its graphic description of a brutal circumcision. While the realism of the tale isn't in doubt, once again Muslims' 'bad guy' status is brought into sharp focus. The author does attempt to "normalize" the view of the religion of Islam through the clever introduction of wise, old cleric Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar, among others, who ultimately helps Isaac and his mother with the tall order of reconciling their anger with friends, God and terrorists.

The book does a superb job of raising questions in the readers mind about the origins of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic faiths in its attempt to show their fundamental similarities, but most middle school readers are going to gloss over these details and get caught up in the "gory details." This book is better recommended for the high school student studying cultural diversity or comparative religion. It would be interesting to see if this author attempts another look at the subject from a Muslim boy's perspective, since that would also be a compelling read.

The divergence of the monotheistic religions came when Ishmael went to Mecca, and Abraham's other son, Isaac, stayed in Palestine. Richard Lewis's The Flame Tree, is the modern example of the continuing conflict that resulted from this divide. Twelve-year-old Isaac is the son of Christian missionaries in Indonesia. He watches the world from the branches of the flame tree and plays with Ismail, a local Muslim boy, along the riverbank.

However, when the Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar appears, in their once peaceful town of Wonobo, accusing the missionaries of committing sin against Allah by trying to convert Muslims to Christians, it's not only the boys' friendship that is threatened but their beliefs, as well.

Lewis's depiction of religious conflict is honest, real, and objective. Though the son of American missionaries, his story is neither one-sided nor preachy. The violence portrayed in the novel is shocking and painful but tastefully written.

The Flame Tree is intelligent and thought-provoking. It is action packed and lyrical, a wonderful contribution to young adult literature, and an excellent read for older adults too.

A marvelously, wonderfully spun tale, steeped in first hand knowledge and laced with imagery so realistic, that you forget that it is fiction. As an American living in Indonesia who was deeply impacted by the Bali Bomb, I battled between not being able to put the book down and needing to put the book down to process my response. This is an amazingly informative book. Through it, one is engaged on all levels - intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Lewis' clever whit, ability to lead the reader into intimacy with each of the well-developed characters, and well-balanced approach to cultural and religious issues faced by our current generation, provided a greatly satisfying read. This story cuts straight to the heart, while being full of such great fun, adventure and suspense, that one is able to easily press through what would otherwise be a slow go through amazingly huge issues faced by our world today.

Great book! I find it important to learn about history and what better way than 1st hand accounts such as this one. Learned a good deal about the Marine Force Recon and their important role in the military family. I came away feeling a great respect for the men of Force Recon and hope they know that through books like these those men and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

I cannot add any more than what has already been written below, except to say I like TRUE stories books better than fiction, and this book captivates your attention right at the beginning and takes the reader right through the very end. For a first book by this author, it is a superior read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I highly recommend any of Major Norton's books. This book is very well written, and provides an honest opinion of his experiences during his first tour in Vietnam. It also gives a good, personal look at the inner workings of Marine Recon teams in Vietnam.

Major Norton's easy and honest writing style make his books very hard to put down once you start reading them. He also does a great job of bringing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of combat in Vietnam to life for the reader.

Most of all, Major Norton does an outstanding job of making one proud of all our fighting men & women who served in Vietnam; they did a great job and books like this one are long overdue.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to all who might be interested in the personal experiences of Vietnam combat, as well as for anyone interested in the extremely tough job of gaining intel on enemy forces in Vietnam.

This is a very sobering and informative account of the author's 1969 stint in Vietnam. The early part contains background on how the author joined the marines and became a medic. Later chapters recount particular missions into the DMZ. You get to experience the danger of what's it like to be part of a small team, sometimes just a few yards away from an enemy of greatly superior numbers.

This short work is extremely well-written, direct, and very interesting. The author provides great insight into the special comradeship within the US Marines.

This is a story about Bruce Norton, who joined the Navy and then became a
> Navy medic.(Corpsman)
> > He was assigned to 3rd Force Recon Company in 1969-1970 in Vietnam. He
> served with Alex Lee, who wrote his own book about commanding 3rd Force
> Recon Company.
> >
> > Norton, like the Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock, was raised in the woods,
> and learned to shoot and find his way around the woods as a kid. This came
> in handy in Vietnam.
> > He learned to shoot rats in the city garbage dump in his home town in
> Mass. They hunted at night, with flashlights taped to their rifle barrels
> to spot the rats.
> >
> > While in Vietnam, he went through a typhoon and was in the jungle, with
> his 6 man team. They tied themselves together, and to some banana trees to
> avoid being blown away by the 120 mile per hour winds.
> >
> > He was on patrols that encountered a bear on one, and a tiger on another.
> >
> > He lost several friends in the Ashau Valley. Alex Lee describes the
> Ashau Valley as spooky and filled with evil spirits in his book, Force
> Recon. Horton, on the other hand compares it to the Garden of Eden.
> > While in the Valley, he describes how he got very sick on water the North
> Vietnamese poisoned by killing a pig and throwing the carcass in a pond.
> Norton drank the water, not realizing there was a dead carcass in there,
> even though the North Vietnamese left signs on the nearby trees announcing
> this.(The Marines could not read Vietnamese)
> > The 3rd Recon Company was disbanded when he was there, after Gen
> Nickerson, who created the Company, got transferred back out of Vietnam.
> >
> > Norton notes the outstanding leadership in the Company. Alex Lee, Major,
> Commanding, had the Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star, 3 Navy
> Commendation medals, Navy Achievement medal, 2 purple hearts. Today, Lee is
> still considered a genius at small unit tactics. Clovis Coffman, another
> officer won the Navy Cross.
> > Two of his best friends, died bravely in the Ashau Valley winning medals.
> Charles Sexton, won the Navy Cross in the Ashau Valley and Paul Keaveney
> won the Silver Star.
> >
> > Norton stayed in the military, leaving the Navy and made a career
> > of the Marines, and was a Major when writing this book in 1990.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

I really didn't get how life was here in Naples back in the past. 1944 was a long time ago but the way people live then and now still has not changed. Minus having sex in the cememtary. Other wise FORZA NAPOLI!

This wonderful book is as powerful as it is wonderful and it is as applicable to today and to all wars as it is wonderful and powerful. This book has deep insights as to how war is really fought, how huge bureaucracies are ugly blunt instruments of war, how occupied people cope, survive and live, and how naive well intentioned souls are awakened in the ugly reality of it all. This is a book for life.

I group this book with Eric Newby's "Love and War in the Appenines" for unsentimental and direct views of the corrupting power of war that use Italy as examples. Liberation seems such a romantic idea that one can hardly resist it, and yet here we can easily read and understand that true liberation takes a lot more than military objectives and shouting in congress.

Lewis's eye was remarkable in one so young. I hope that both these books have found their way to the library at West Point. It is perhaps too much to ask that they should be read anywhere inside the beltway.

Can a foreign military "successfully" occupy another country? Where can we look for historical lessons to our clusterf**k in Iraq. What are our boys reading in West Point? Is there large scale prostitution and venereal disease..Are there markets openly selling stolen U.S. military items.. Where are ordinary Iraqi's getting $ to survive with their economy is shambles? Lots of questions.

Naples 44 is a beautifully crafted account of allied occupation in Naples. Norman Lewis describes, with his usual gentle irony, the unique lifestyle of Neapolitans and how they survive abject poverty.
He has an eye for the absurd whilst retaining his compassionate love of humanity.