Asia Books

If somebody want to know more about the history of central Asia, to read about the Great Game is a must. This excellent book explain, in a very engaging way, the latest events in the relations between Britain and Russia, concerning Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet after the 1907 entente. This relation was very complex in nature since Russia was pushing forward to broaden its empire and influence, fact that directly affected British interest in the zone, always thinking in India. So by using those "buffer" states Britain was able to contain Russia advances to a certain limit, in particular Persia that become of major strategic importance for Britain because of its oil resources. It is obvious then, that the entente didn't finish the game, it was just the best way for both empires to conduct their policies in Central Asia at the time, a fragile understanding but mostly peaceful and only finished by the Great War in Europe. All in all, a great book.

Endgame: Britain, Russia and the Final Struggle for Central Asia won the 2003 Barbara Jelavich Book Prize awarded annually for the most distinguished monograph published on any aspect of Southeast European or Habsburg studies since 1600, or nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ottoman or Russian diplomatic history.

The book prize selection committee wrote the following about this book:

Possibly the most significant contribution to Russian diplomatic history in a decade, Siegel's work richly deserves the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize. Endgame revises our understanding of the dynamics of Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia, the struggle better known to its contemporaries as the Great Game. Historians traditionally believed that this Victorian Cold War ended with the Convention of 1907, as the erstwhile adversaries now joined to face the spectre of rising German power during the years leading up to the First World War.

Based on meticulous work in Russian and British archives, Siegel effectively disproves this teleological approach to early 20th century international relations. Instead, she demonstrates that the Great Game's final round came after the 1907 Convention, only to conclude as the guns of August began to sound in 1914. In the best tradition of diplomatic history, Endgame also has considerable relevance for the present by shedding light on a region that, while largely sidelined in the literature, has sadly reclaimed a central place in the news. Written with panache and confidence, Endgame is a pleasure to read.

This book reveals much to anyone who is interested in the relationship between Britain and Russia in the pre First World War period.

It focusses on the power struggle for Central Asia, an area of the world which, particularly today, is the arena for some of the most complex and important questions of international security. This work provides fascinating background to a key historical period in a region which has been so analysed in recent months.

It is obviously the result of detailed research into archives, only recently opened to the West, some of which I believe may shortly be closed once again for many years to allow renovations to take place. I can only take my hat off to Dr Siegel, for enduring what must have been many cold months in Russia, combing the various archives to produce such a detailed work.

A fascinating and thoroughly absorbing book by Dr Siegel, whose next work I await with eager anticipation.

Probably one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read. In fact, I asked my friends not to give me another book until it matched Singh Baldwin's quality.

The narrative and characters remain with me two years later. What more can a reader ask for?

Fantastic collection of short stories about Sikh women throughout the century and living around the world. Some of the best stories I've read about women and their need to follow honour,but also the anger and confusion this causes in a rapidly changing world. Very moving fiction. All the stories are told with excellent subtlety. A very strong recommendation for a relatively new writer of short fiction.

This book is a wonderful account of the Indian (predominatly Punjabi) immigrant experience in America and Canada. The author's lyrical prose brings the reader into each character's life on an intimate level, rather than making the reader feel like a casual observer. Although most of the short stories are told from a female's point of view, readers across the board will be drawn in by the author's in depth afinity for character evolvment. The short story, Montreal, 1962, is the highlight of the collection, with it's tearful account of a Punjabi housewife's ability to see beyond the symbolism of her Sikh husband's turban.

There are some books which stay with you after long you are done reading them and Shono's "Evening Clouds" is one of them. With haiku-like prose, and an almost Zen like approach, Shono narrates the day to day happenings in the life of Oura, a guy who moves to a new house on the top of a hill with his wife and 3 kids. The beauty of the book lies in the fact that while nothing really "happens", the reader can really connect with the family and feel life's rhythms in the written word.
This book is meant to be read slowly and savored without rush and haste.
Also, somehow after reading the book I felt that it gave me the same vibes as "My neighbor Totoro" by Miyazaki. I think that is because both are about families moving to a new house set among trees, wind and babbling brooks. And because both touch you in the same way, with the warm fuzzy feeling that I cannot begin to describe.

This is one of the most uneventful novels I've ever read. No drama, no storyline per se, no extraordinary characters, no deep symbolism to speak of, and devoid both of extreme emotional impact and pseudo-sophisticated postmodern detachment. Sounds boring, right? Wrong, strange to say. "Evening Clouds" consists of a number of loosely-related episodes that focus on the little day-to-day happenings in the life of a fairly ordinary family (okay, the father is a self-employed writer, so not exactly representative per se) narrated in a manner that, while straightforward and deceptively plain, is quiet, thoughtful, and engaging. At first the episodes and images seem random and disorganized, though with a little attention one catches on that most of them in some way or another suggest the family's transplantation to a new location and its gradual maturation there. Shono unfolds this theme according to organic rather than strictly linear organizing principles, and does so with an eye for detail and a knack for making the quotidian suggestive in a warm-hearted though unsentimental fashion, all of which slowly grows on the reader. It is almost as if Shono has taken the old abandoned prewar "I-novel" with its autobiographical fixation and confessional tone, subtracted out the weak points and hackneyed aspects (such as the impulse to drag oneself through the dirt), and refined it anew into a concoction of his own that actually is a joy to read and savor.

Lammers' translation is top-notch, catching the casual tones of the novel nicely, and the secondary materials he has appended to the work are short and to the point, doing a fine job of introducing this fine author and his novel to the English reader without impeding the novel from speaking for itself.

Evening Clouds is an incredible book that should be read slowly. This is not the kind of book to stay up all night with; the tranquility and closeness of the Oura family should be enjoyed over a week or two. Once reconciled to the idea that nothing "exciting" is going to happen, the reader can sit back and savor the beauty that may or may not exist in his own life. A person leading a particularly stressful existence would benefit from a few weeks mentally on top of a windy mountain in Tokyo with a loving wife, three adorable children and ample time to work in the garden. The only threats to peace are that developers are encroaching on the surrounding hillside and the children are growing up; this hint of sadness in an otherwise happy novel makes it a perfect reading experience.

The best guide book about Chaingmai

It's a shame that there are no newer editions out but this sturdily bound and nicely sized book seems to hold up against information I have found on various websites. Written by a long term resident of Chiang Mai, it is useful for a short visit or a long stay. There is a newer edition coming out next year. However, you should be able to get an edition from the author if you google for his email address. This books make the internet information search much much more comprehensible as does Nancy Chandler's map. I recommend both products as worth buying and genuinely useful.

As as resident of Chiang Mai, I have found this book to be the most accurate and interesting guide book on Chiang Mai currently in print. Unlike many other guide books, it is just as relevant for a long-term resident or frequent visitor as it is for a short-term tourist. It is a great book.

I first came across these books traveling to Europe and I own almost 20 of these guides. I will be going to Singapore this year so I bought the DK guide, naturally!

The photos are in bright stunning color and leap from the pages. There are history time lines, references to historical and political development, architecture, museums, maps, culture, restaurants, places to stay. Very complete. Just a great book.

Let me elaborate a little bit. There are a number of other travel books - and some guides are mainly just text. I like some photographs and color. A picture is worth 1000 words. The visuals are just stunning in the DK books. This book about Singapore is no exception. Like all other DK books it has maps, and drawings, and numerous stunning photos of art, architecture, city scenes, etc. This book also has a section unique to Singapore - it has a special section on foods with many dishes all (again) in wonderful color photographs. Just an excellent job.

Highly recommend and makes for a good souvenir.

This is the best guide book i have ever bought. It helped me get through my whole trip in singapore, I would have been totally lost without it.

I love all Eyewitness guides and was not disappointed with this one. Full of details, full of pictures and very well organized. Just great...

I found this book at the library after reading "Learning to Breath" by the same author. I decided to buy copies of this book for family collection and for Christmas gifts. My six-year-old son was so moved by the children's images on the pages and he kept asking quesitons about their societies and their lives. We decided that we were going to do something to help these children. I could not thank the author/photographor for opening my son's heart enough. Thank you, Ms. Alison Wright. You soul touches so many lives and hearts. Thank you.

Alison Wright moves beyond photography as she not only captures the physical essence of the children she photographs, she also captures the social and spiritual essence of these children. Each child leaps off the page and commands your attention. Alison takes the reader on a tour of the non-Western world and provides us a glimpse of these children's daily lives. By the quality and detail of the photos, it is obvious that Alison loves these children and successfully invokes compassion in the reader. Alison draws the reader into each picture through the beautiful imagery and vivid narratives which descirbe the various cultures of the children.

Alison Wright, thank you for making this beautiful book and share your wonderful photographs with us. I can't never get tired of looking at them.
You have photographed them with the eyes of your soul.

Philip Snow's The Fall of Hong Kong paints a vivid picture of Hong Kong society in the leadup to the Japanese occupation of 1941-1945. The failure of the British to cultivate the loyalty of the Hong Kong Chinese in the years prior to the war weakened their ability to defend the colony against the Japanese. However, the Japanese also failed to capitalize on Chinese resentment against the British; their doctrine of "pan-Asian solidarity" was belied by their brutal treatment of the Hong Kong populace. Snow asserts that the common suffering of the Chinese and the British during the years of occupation introduced new feelings of solidarity, which in turn lead to the introduction of key social reforms in the years following the occupation.

Snow does an excellent job of showing how tenuous was the British hold on Hong Kong in the immediate aftermath of the war. The United States and the Nationalist Chinese both wanted Hong Kong to be returned to mainland China after the war. Most interestingly, Snow points out that Communist partisans in the New Territories played a key role in deterring a Nationalist takeover of Hong Kong in 1945.

A fascinating and highly-readable account for anyone with an interest in the history of Hong Kong (and China more broadly).

Caution: the khaki cover and exciting illustration of the jacket of this book may make the prospective reader think it's military history. It's not, instead it is much more in-depth as a political analysis of the way in which the sudden disaster of the fall of Hong Kong irretrievably changed the colony into a more tolerant and far more Chinese place, ready for the 1997 hand-over.

The story does need to be written of the last stand of the misnamed Winnipeg Grenadiers, a Canadian unit of the defence who despite the implications of their being "British" grenadiers were completely unprepared for front-line combat.

Indeed, a movie-maker like Australia's Peter Weir (Gallipoli) needs to tell the story, which Snow rightfully downplays, of what it is actually like to be seconded to a doomed offense as in Turkey, or an equally doomed defence of Hong Kong, in BOTH CASES to assuage the vanity of a highly overrated Winston Churchill.

The story of defeat, occupation, and retaking is a series of gaps in time which as Snow shows mean breakages and breakdowns in daily life, which policy-makers systematically ignore.

Americans, for example, fancied no fissure between Saddam Husayn's rule in Iraq and a democratic "handover" to the right sort of chaps, and under their feet opened what opened under the Japanese in 1941, and, to an extent, under the reoccupying British in 1945: the irruption into daily life of the Hobbesian substructure.

In Baghdad this was an interesting combination of high-level opportunists and lowlife, and it parallels the story Snow tells of the way in which elements of the Triad gangs entered and left governance depending on the convenience of the Japanese and British.

It's in other words and in another register Tommy this and Tommy that and Tommy go away and the use of the underclass in uniform and out to satisfy the vanity of comfortable men. It's also the confusion in the public mind of representation with the things represented.

The transition was less from Britannia to Nippon and back again than Britannia to chaos to Nippon and back again, where the chaos, and being bombed and starved by friendly fire (Americans based in the Phillipines both bombed Hong Kong and interdicted rice shipments) is the reality from which most people never recover.

The West needs to learn from China about reluctance to use military force. Snow is puzzled by Chou En-Lai's restraint over the issue of Hong Kong because it is the Western statesman who doesn't eat with chopsticks and has had a tendency to bite off more than he can properly digest.

In the West, the British showed the most restraint in their long-passed Empire, coupled with a systematic tendency to annoy Asians. This can be exagerrated: until recently, the British were proud of the relative quiet of Basra but this quiet is now known to be illusory. But in contrast to the American and the Spanish empires, the British empire was free of ideological preaching, whether about "democracy and markets" or the need for Inquisitions and autos, da fe.

We need to encourage the Chinese in their wise and rather unmilitary foreign policies, where the juncture between British and Chinese domination was in 1997 a party in Victoria Park and not a bloody mess. We need also not to be smug about the return of barbarism as perhaps Hong Kongers were in the 1930s, for Iraq shows us it's always on the menu.

America's Henry Kissinger has recently stated it quite brutally. In addition to accepting without thinking Clausewitz' dictum (war is a continuation of policy by other means because unlike the actual Clausewitz, the statesman doesn't have to endure the physical rigors of the field anymore), policy under globalization has come to mean for each country the lessening of respect for sovereignity of other nations, which just happens to undergird international law, in the name of the more powerful country's "vision", a polite label for greed and fear.

In this context, both military history and Snow's political history usefully remind us of how this makes places like Hong Kong a bloody mess overnight, in a way that Americans see only on TeeVee.

In this well-researched and well-written book, Phillip Snow traces the history of the British Colony of Hong Kong, with the intent to show why Britain ultimately returned the colony to China. His thesis is that the Japanese occupation, a brief period of 3 years 8 months, out of the more than 100 years that the colony was in British hands, was the critical watershed which made British relinquishment inevitable. Britain's prestige and authority were mortally wounded by the loss of Hong Kong and the other colonies in South East Asia to the Japanese. This weakened position set in train a chain of events that ultimately lead to 1997. The story is a fascinating one.
Snow also traces the waves of reform and repression that Hong Kong's rulers have pursued over the years. He argues that the periods of liberalism were driven by outside events and calculations, rather than a sincere concern for the welfare Hong Kong's citizens, but gives credit to the efforts and the truly liberal figures in each of the administrations, pre-war British, Japanese, and post-war British. Snow is at some pains to give the benefit of the doubt to each of these regimes, and the work is fair and even-handed.
Although the Fall of Hong Kong was clearly written for the British audience struggling to come to terms with the substantial end of their empire, it should be of great value to the Hong Kong Chinese, who are also struggling to understand their history and place in the world. However, it would also be very useful to any students of empire, as phases of liberalism and oppression, enlistment and alienation of the society's elites, by both the Japanese and British, give excellent lessons to anyone contemplating ruling another nation with a different culture.
Finally, it is an excellent survey of the 20th Century history of Hong Kong, which will be invaluable to any student of the period. This work and its extensive footnotes should stimulate a mini-boom in research on the period.

I've read several books about the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and the evacuation of the Americans and Vietnamese from the doomed country. "Decent Interval" by Frank Snepp is excellent. Snepp sees the events as an Embassy insider -- and one of his purposes is to excoriate the U.S. government -- and Ambassador Graham Martin -- for its failure to evacuate Vietnamese allies. Compared to "Decent Interval," "The Fall of Saigon" has a broader vision and the perspective is perhaps more balanced as it comes 10 years after the event, allowing time for reflection.

Butler begins the book with the attack of the North Vietnamese army in the Central Highlands on March 6, 1975. He ends it with the evacuation of the American Embassy in Saigon and the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on April 30. The evacuation of Saigon was one of the darkest -- but most dramatic -- events of American history. There are heroes aplenty here, especially young diplomats at the Embassy who took enormous chances to help Vietnamese friends and colleagues escape from the advancing communist army. One has to admire the inexperienced Marines who did so well in protecting the Embassy and Americans during those last days. Butler also gives attention to Vietnamese on both sides of the war although the book focuses mostly on the Americans.

Butler was a journalist in Saigon during those last days and the the great majority of the book is compiled from interviews the author had with the American and South and North Vietnamese participants and eye witnesses, including his own experiences. We are treated to some unique stories, for example, to the saga of a missionary couple cut off in the Central Highlands but most of the book is devoted to an account of the last days of of the U.S. government's presence in Saigon. This story is complex, involving many characters and shifting of scenes. Good maps and photos illustrate the story and Butler's writing is clear, concise, and compelling.

Smallchief

Do not start this book unless you have plenty of reading time. The phrase "hard to put down" is an understatement. For most of us, we watched the events of April 29, 1975 unfold on our TV sets. Author David Butler not only watched, but was also a participant in the final hours of the American Presence in Vietnam. His eyewitness accounts are both gripping and detailed. He has also collected and researched numerous first-person accounts from those who were in Saigon during those last hours.

The North Vietnamese Army made thier final push at 4 AM and in the process cut off the only available airfield. The only means of escape from the siege would be a massive evacuation using helicopters. While reading these accounts, you can feel the tension and confusion along with countless other emotions of those involved. A Hollywood script could never compare to this real-life drama. The Vietnam War was a long road in American History. The Fall of Saigon was the last milestone.

"The Fall of Saigon," by David Butler is a detailed account of a heartbreaking story. The author weaves a complete narrative by combining first hand American and Vietnamese views. Moreover, having been on the ground in Saigon during that last days of the American war in Vietnam Butler provides credible information.

Butler's work is comprehensive and objective. He also manages to integrate many tid-bits of information to demonstrate the plight of the everyday pedestrian. However, the key to the success of this book is the minute by minute, hour by hour countdown of how Americas pulled out of Vietnam. The text is enhanced by outstanding photos.

Anyone interested in examining the hasty withdrawal from Saigon should read this intimate book. Butler knows the cast of journalists and many of the key American embassy players. Consequently, he has managed to complete an amazingly credible manuscript of how the U.S. failed to keeps its promise to thousands of Vietnamese. Butler proves we were not able to keep our word when we said...that we would never leave without them.

I've read several books about the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and the evacuation of the Americans and Vietnamese from the doomed country. "Decent Interval" by Frank Snepp is excellent. Snepp sees the events as an Embassy insider -- and one of his purposes is to excoriate the U.S. government -- and Ambassador Graham Martin -- for its failure to evacuate Vietnamese allies. Compared to "Decent Interval," "The Fall of Saigon" has a broader vision and the perspective is perhaps more balanced as it comes 10 years after the event, allowing time for reflection.

Butler begins the book with the attack of the North Vietnamese army in the Central Highlands on March 6, 1975. He ends it with the evacuation of the American Embassy in Saigon and the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on April 30. The evacuation of Saigon was one of the darkest -- but most dramatic -- events of American history. There are heroes aplenty here, especially young diplomats at the Embassy who took enormous chances to help Vietnamese friends and colleagues escape from the advancing communist army. One has to admire the inexperienced Marines who did so well in protecting the Embassy and Americans during those last days. Butler also gives attention to Vietnamese on both sides of the war although the book focuses mostly on the Americans.

Butler was a journalist in Saigon during those last days and the the great majority of the book is compiled from interviews the author had with the American and South and North Vietnamese participants and eye witnesses, including his own experiences. We are treated to some unique stories, for example, to the saga of a missionary couple cut off in the Central Highlands. Most of the book is devoted to an account of the last days of of the U.S. government's presence in Saigon. This story is complex, involving many characters and shifting of scenes. Good maps and photos illustrate the story and Butler's writing is clear, concise, and compelling.

Smallchief

Butler was a reporter in Vietnam when the world came crashing down on the South Vietnamese government, the United States that had backed it, and the people who had joined the American cause. This is a searing book, worth any number of lofty Frances FitzGerald tomes. Butler was on the street, in the bars, and driving down the road. What's more important, he loved Vietnam and the Vietnamese. Their tragedy was his tragedy. Go find this book, in a library or a used-book store; it's worth the effort. And if you're a publisher, for God's sake get it reprinted.

This book documents the last few chaotic weeks of the US presents in Vietnam. The human story is effectively conveyed by first hand accounts of eyewitnesses from many strata of Vietnam society. The author, an NBC reporter in Saigon, witnessed these events firsthand. His unique perspective and access to the diplomatic corps adds a fascinating credibility to the book. His discussion concerning the actions and statements of Ambassador Graham Martin particularly intrigued me. Did Martin's decisions during that period contribute to the frantic last minute evacuation that left many friendlies stranded? The author makes no judgments. Butler includes transcript of many diplomatic cables to and from Martin and Secretary of State Kissinger and the White House concerning events and plans for evacuation and rescue. Reading these transcripts today still convevs a strong emotional impact for this reader. Interspacing these high level discussions are the stories of a whole society turned upside down while "we" skipped town. The Fall of Saigon is not an easy book to read. We are forced to confront the final conclusion of our failed crusade. Our goal was the minds and the hearts but we ended up fragmented the lives of the people we were suppose to help. When one considers the sacrifices made by both countries in treasure and lives the facts concerning the events of April-May 1975 are hard to digest, even after 30 plus years. No judgments are made here, no accusing fingers are pointed; we must read, and ponder.

This book has ever thing that a teenager likses

I first read this book when I was 14 and couldnt put it down. I loaned it to a mate, and teenagers being teenagers, never got it back. Roll on 16 years and with the internet in full swing, I managed to get another copy...
Having forgotten most of the pages, but not all, I was once again gripped by this bigger than life book thats puts you through basic training, patrols, ambushes and firefights with the author from start to finish!!
I dont understand why it isnt up there with guns up! and Chickenhawk...it should be.

im not a writer, i have read this book and loaned it out and it is gone, i have read a number of books about Vietnam there are only a handful that i consider realistic as it puts me back there, makes me cry and laugh, I was with the United States Marines in Vietnam in 1968,also i was at many of the same places named in the book,what more can i say it is one of the good ones,like i said it takes me back their,and i desperatley want to replace it. Thank you.