"Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia" is an insightful and illuminating look at the real facts behind the emergence of the Khmer Rouge, their atrocities, their defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese and their subsequent supporters in the international community UNSC).

Kiernan reveals, with abundent documentation, how, after Cambodia was liberated from the genocidal Khmer Rouge, the US refused to normalize relations with Cambodia as long as a Vietnamese-backed Government resisted a negotiated settlement to its civil war (civil war being a euphamism for the conflict with the Khmer Rouge, supplied by China, Thailand and,indirectly, the US and its allies).

"Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia" illustrates how the Carter Administration chose not to accept the Vietnamese offer to reestablish relations due to its early 1978 "tilt towards China" and, accordingly, toward China's Khmer Rouge ally, well before Vietnam invaded Cambodia. "Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia" reveals how Pol Pot proceeded to carry out the worst atrocities of his reign (concealed by the CIA in its later demographic study) presumably because of the US connection. Unlike many European countries, the US did not abstain at the UN on the "legitimate" government of Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge were expelled by the Vietnamese, but supported the Khmer Rouge along with China. The US backed China's invasion to discipline Vietnam and turned to supporting the Thai-based coalition in which the Khmer Rouge was the major military element. US President Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski has revealed that the US encouraged the Chinese to support Pol Pot.

"Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia" reveals how, after helping to reconstruct Pol Pot's shattered forces, the US-China-Thailand coalition lent its diplomatic support to Pol Pot; imposed an embargo on Cambodia and blocked aid from other sources, including humanitarian aid; and undermined any moves toward a negotiated settlement that did not offer the Khmer Rouge an influential role. The US even threatened Thailand with loss of trade privileges if it refused to support the Khmer Rouge.

It was under the pressure of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council that "the Cambodians were forced...to accept the return of the Khmer Rouge," Sihanouk pointed out in his first speech after his return to Cambodia in November 1991. In 1990 he had stated that "To save Cambodia...all (the US) had to do was to let Pol Pot die. Pol Pot was dying and you brought him back to life."

"Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia" is a spetacular academic achievement in modern history and one which clearly reveals the behind-the-scenes powerplay in the "New World Order".

Tanner has yet again a stunning selection of Georgia's beautiful places. Each year's calendar is a delight.

Lorena Eaker has outdone herself this time. This book provides an incredible gold mine of information about German settlers in early North Carolina and is well researched. Documentation of research is much more reliable than average books of this genre. I eagerly await the upcoming supplement.

Ian Buruma's lively writing style, familiar to readers of the New York Review of Books and the Far Eastern Economic Review, comes to the fore in this wonderful look at a variety of Asian countries. He manages to isolate scenes and trends that characterize the tension between the traditional and the modern in several Asian nations (or indeed nations in formation). The non-Asian writer on Asia is at times less forgiving, and at others brings a fresh view, but always provides insights that few other books or writers seem to produce. God's Dust lets the seasoned Asia dweller feel that she is developing her own unique perspective on life in Asia, and at the same time gives those who have never experienced Asia's intricacies and contradictions an opportunity to experience more than a travelogue or a soon-to-be-proven-wrong business trends bestseller would deliver.

Every salsa in this book contains chiles (New Mexican approved spelling ) from the hottest of tiny chiltepins, to the bland but pleasing familiar green bell. Salsa in Mexico means sauce and applies to both cooked and uncooked preparations. Now that salsa has surpassed ketchup as the nation's most popular condiment, this book rushes in to teach us how to concoct them all, from true Mexican, to New Mexican to Tex-Mex to tropical. Consider apple-citrus salsa for seafood, apricot ginger red chile salsa for roast pork, pickled cactus and tequila salsa for chips.

The thing I liked most about the book is that it is a collection of essays from several authors who are experts in various facets of the Greek-Turkish relationship and represent different sides of the story. The authors were Greek, Turkish, American, and British. The issues addressed include, as usual, the effect of the Cyprus problem on the two countries, the impact of the EU, the role of NATO, border disputes, treatment of minorities, and Middle Eastern security. However, this book was not just a narative on the problems facing the two countries but also a discussion of solutions to easing strained relations and resolving problems in the Greek-Turkish arena. Overall, a nice variety of viewpoints and potential solutions.

This is the seminal (perhaps the only) historical work dealing with the experience of NZ soldiers in Viet Nam. Dr. Deborah Challinor, an historian and sometime lecturer at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, knows her subject and writes fluently. Based upon hours of interviews with veterans, the book does an excellent job of covering the topic.

Interesting to the US viewer is the consensus among the NZ veterans that emerges from the interviews: the US soldiers were great guys, but poorly equipped (by training and life experience) to deal with jungle combat. Reasons? Many were conscripts, and many were city men completely unable to deal with the realities of the Viet Nam environment. The Australians, while not considered nearly as agreeable as the Americans, were predominantly professional soldiers, and so their training and backgrounds had better prepared them for the environment.

This book was actually on the NZ bestseller list for a time. However, its print run was minuscule by American standards, due to New Zealand's small population (approximately 4 million). It deserves a reprint, as scholars of the Viet Nam war will find it invaluable.

One of the least known aspects of the Vietnam War was the National Liberation Front's foreign policy during its struggle against the American and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War (1960-1975). Now, Bob Brigham has remedied this deficiency with his cogent, well-crafted volume detailing the NLF's careful dance between the world's major powers as they struggled for independence. Bob Brigham, one of the lst American scholars to effectively utilize Vietnamese sources in Hanoi, presents a full and convincing picture of how the NLF skillfully crafted an approach to world opinion that won them support and aid during the war. One of the best new works on the war and really fills a void for those of us who teach.

This book contains everything that an experienced kayaker needs to know to plan a trip to Alaska's Inside Passage. For those who already know where they want to paddle, the first chapter and apendices still provide great local information and advice on gear, clothing, and techniques that are most appropriate for this area. Anyone who will be paddling in these waters should read these sections of the book not only because they will answer many of the difficult logistical questions but because they will make your trip safer and more enjoyable while helping reduce your impact on the area. For those seeking ideas on where to paddle, the rest of the book offers a wealth of suggested routes without getting so specific that you lose all sense of personal discovery.

As a sea kayak guide based in Gustavus I have paddled most of the northern routes described in Jim Howard's book over the past 20 years and I can report that his descriptions and advice are current and accurate.

Something that really bothers me about some guidebooks I have seen is that they name specific campsites and suggest day-by-day itineraries for a few selected routes; they are like a journal of the author's trip. This approach leads to over-use of a few areas and sites and diminishes the sense of discovery that is one of this wild area's greatest attractions; following one of those guidebooks is more like taking someone else's trip than one's own. Not only that, but many of the best sites along a route are (thankfully) NOT named in those guidebooks, so kayakers can have a better trip by ignoring those authors' detailed suggestions.

Jim Howard took a different approach. His routes cover most of the region and for each he gives a description of the area and an assessment of the difficulty of the trip. He names the hazards and gives helpful logistical advice and a general description of the route. This is just what I look for when visiting a new area. I want to know whether I am getting in over my head and how to get to the area. I don't want to know exactly where someone else paddled and camped and what they saw. Finding my own campsites, wildlife viewing areas, and special places is what sea kayaking in a wild place is all about.

Because Southeast Alaska is a wild place with plenty of hazards far from help, it's wise to have solid sea kayaking skills if you are alone or leading less experienced paddlers here. Therefore, this book doesn't cover basic sea kayaking and navigation. Beginners will need to find this information in one of the many other general sea kayaking books and by going with experienced paddlers.

Jim Howard does an excellent job of giving helpful area-specific information while preserving opportunities for wilderness self-discovery. I can tell he's explored the area thoroughly and talked to lots of local folks. Get this book if you're coming here.

This is both a superb work of scholarship and fieldwork, and a beautiful account of how dreaming can help us to find our way through the jungles of life, and to bring through healing - above all, the recovery of lost soul energy. I hope it will find a much broader audience, because it is not only brilliant and scrupulous ethnography, but a treasure-trove of indigenous wisdom on healing body and spirit.