The book is a collection of writings assembled by Professor Thomas John Hudak. It features articles penned by the most prominent authority on Tai language and linguistics, the late Professor William J. Gedney. It is 155 pages in length and covers several interesting areas, to include "Siamese Riddles, Problems in Translating Traditional Thai Poetry, and Siamese Verse Forms in Historical Perspective." As with all Professor Gedney's writings, this collection is exhaustively well-researched. The information provided is quite illuminating, in particular concerning the history of Thai verse forms and the Sanskrit influence on the origin of some of them. Knowledge of the Thai language and basic components of Thai literature is presupposed by the writer, and for those with an interest in Thai literature this book is a "must have."

If you only read one book about the war in Vietnam, read this one! Dr. Hickey's participation in the defense of the Nam Dong Special Forces camp had me sitting on the edge of my chair. That was the true nature of combat in Vietnam, some of which I experienced personally, but not with that intensity. More important are Dr. Hickey's brilliant descriptions of the lifestyles and attitudes of the many cultures which comprise the intricate social and political structure of Vietnam. The many missed opportunities for a just peace without the sacrifice of so many American soldiers make this book a "must read" for all who value peace.

Excellent color photos by Ulysse Charette accompany Wild Medicinal Plants, an informative survey of the medicinal properties of herbs that grow in the wild. From recipes and preparation tips to a handy guide for avoiding toxic plants, Wild Medicinal Plants includes habitat, description, plant parts used, and photos in a compact, useful field guide.

Very well balanced book in an almanac form. This covers places and chronological events. There are many charts, maps and significant pictures to support the information. There is a very descriptive table of contents.
You can see that Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. has a very good understanding of the region and events leading up to and after the Vietnam War.
I picked this book because it is one of the few that include an armored reconnaissance unit, the First Squadron, 10 Cavalry. Also the other units we travel with it in the Central Highlands in II Corps. Being an almanac, not enough information was given to tell the feel of the location.
This book is well worth the cost.

This book is a treasure trove of details of a past time when the hill country moved to very different rhythms than it does today. Jordan wrote this book at the insistence of his son, who is a cultural geographer interested in regional lifeways. If you've ever had a twinge of nostalgia for the hill country's past you should read this book. At the risk of sounding my own horn, if you like this book or are interested in the past of the hill country and how it is valued today, take a look at my book, "Places in the World a Person Could Walk" for more reading. I'm an anthropologist whose family is from the hill country, and my study adds to the conversation about the meaning of the hill country's past that Jordan began.

Being a Vietnamese-American who has taught and lived in post-1975 Vietnam, I was expecting a lot when I picked this book up from a sidewalk book vendor in Saigon a few years ago. What can I say? Pham blows it. There are no Vietnamese characters of any depth in this memoir, but, as the memoir field and the market seems to dictate nowadays, seems to be a literary excuse for the writer to exorcise personal demons while maintaining a pretense towards art. As far as memoirs go, this is one of the most self-indulgent ones I have yet to read. This memoir works in the sense that Pham is the ideal of everything I dislike about certain Vietnamese-Americans; vain at the expense of other's self dignity, easy to complain while lacking the sensitivity to make even the smallest concessions, and self-important to the point of not even realizing that his admission of his conceit is an acceptance only in words. The pretty things Pham tries to say in this book, the lush descriptions and mild poesy, is just fluff. His actions speak louder than words. He paints shallow caricatures of just about everyone he meets on the road, from his one paragraph descriptions of his ... buddies in Saigon (whom we never get to know, though they seem the most interesting characters in the book), to every soldier he meets on the road, to even the bar girl Kim, who Pham ends up using (in a literary sense, though I'm sure he had his fun) as some sort of convenient stereotypical "mail-order bride" love interest. There are some fine sentences and descriptions in this work, but as a whole, he whines far too much. There were points in the story when I was just begging Pham to argue the point, make the connection, but he always failed to create the subtext, and it all eventually came off as a shallow representation of a complex country and people. Perhaps that was his point, to contrast his own lack of understanding and empathy for Vietnam, caught as he is between two worlds. But if that is the case, he doesn't help himself as an author, because he then forces the reader to look elsewhere for the true story. In the end, after his buddy Cuong awakens him to his own lack of awareness about his straddling of two cultures, Pham throws it away, using it as he does everything else in this book to "save face." He always retains his nobility of character. What a bunch of [stuff]. He tries a little too hard, the model "model-minority." A good writer integrates the landscape and memory in a way that gives them significance rivaling that of his most real characters (I'm sorry, but the last couple of chapters end up being typical memoir mush - superfluous, self-gratifying reflection), but as he has nothing beyond paper cut outs for people in this book, and his questions of self-identity have been plumbed and written about much more eloquently and profoundly by many other Asian-American authors, "Catfish and Mandala" seems a prostitution of ideas. It is good that Vietnamese-Americans of his generation are writing, and Pham seems to have stylistic talents that could make for much better literature if he can eventually learn an artistic sensibility not based on topical pandering and exoticism. We're still waiting for the first great Vietnamese-American author. And please, no more memoirs!

Andrew Pham's narrative weaves through various issues of being Asian-American, escaping Vietnam, cultural identity, sexual identity, racism, capitalism, etc., but what makes CATFISH a good read is that it's just a very engaging story. Pham has a style of writing that took me a while to get warmed up to, but he writes with humor and emphathy, and a candor that makes memoirs worth reading.

Contrary to some other reviewers, I don't think it's fair to expect that Pham's book be written so you can learn about the country of Vietnam and its people for your own purposes. If that's what you want, get a Lonely Planet guide. Besides, he does say a lot about the country and its people, albeit through his biased, "Viet-kieu" eyes. And that's why you read memoirs--they're personal.

Pham deserves some praise for being crazy enough to bike from San Francisco to Seattle, throughout Japan, and from Saigon to Hanoi and back. And his portrayal of poverty and change, of the ugliness it brings to the people he wants to love, is enough to recommend this book.

It has been a long, long time since I have been so moved by the work of a new American author. "Catfish and Mandala, A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam", by Andrew X Pham, is a book that invites one along on a trek through the minds, hearts, and souls of two nations. As a veteran of the Vietnam War I tagged along willing with Mr. Pham----at first. I soon found myself being pulled deeper into the past, a past that long ago laid waste to my youth and my spirit. Having read this book, I view the world in another light. I view the Vietnamese and American people with an understanding that has escaped me for so many years. To call "Catfish and Mandala" a travelogue is to call Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and Kerouac's "On the Road" travel books. "Catfish and Mandala" is truly great literature. I only wish it had been written sooner.

"A Bright Shining Lie" is a brilliant, if flawed, masterpiece. Journalist Neil Sheehan first made a name for himself as a reporter in part thanks to the enigmatic American Hero, John Paul Vann. Vann's story is both fascinating and tragic. His military career was seemingly derailed by his attempts to tell the truth about the war during the advisor period (1962-64), but in fact it was his personal indiscretions that did him in. The book was the work of a lifetime for Sheehan (taking him many years to complete) and it shows. The only problem is that Vann's later career in Vietnam as a civilian advisor (1967-1972) gets the short shrift. Sheehan uses Vann's combat death in 1972 as a metaphor for American involvement in Vietnam. But in fact, by 1972 Vann truly believed that the South Vietnamese were winning the war and had they not been abandoned by their American allies, they might have. Nevertheless, this is a vital book for anyone who wants to understand America's lost war.

A Bright Shining Lie is a true story about a man named John Paul Vann and America's involvement in Vietnam. The author, Neil Sheehan, was a war correspondent for the United States Press International and the New York Times. His book in 1989 was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The book starts out at Lt. Col. John Paul Vann's funeral in 1972, ten years after he arrived in Saigon, after a helicopter crash back in Vietnam. His story shows America's failures and disillusionment in Southeast Asia. In 1954, the French were defeated, Vietnam then was divided by Ho Chi Minh's Communist North and the Southern regime of Ngo Dinh Diem. Vann had an opportunity to go to Vietnam and he took it right away because he wanted to fight his way up the ranks. When he arrived he was teamed up with South Vietnam's Colonel Cao. Right away Vann notices the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime and their incompetence in fighting the Communists. Sheehan shows this throughout the book with many examples of what the South Vietnamese did. Colonel Cao was shone taking pictures of his men pretending to be dead VC's (Viet Cong) to impress the higher officials and to show that we were winning the war. The South Vietnamese army did not know what they were doing and lost many battles. As Sheehan graphically describes the battles, the Viet Cong are winning them, but that is covered up by South Vietnam and America portraying them as being the supreme force. Vann secretly told reporters how the war was a waste and Neil Sheehan was one of these reporters. The peasants in Vietnam were caught in the middle between the North and the South. We gave the peasants guns then they were seen used by the Viet Cong in battle. Sheehan noted that the corrupt South Vietnamese did not care for the peasants and carpet-bombed their villages because of known Viet Cong inhabitants. This whole book is based on Vann's telling the self-deceiving illusions of the American military and civilian bureaucracy. Vann was sent back to the United States after the army found out about his meetings with reporters. America hid the truth throughout the whole war. He then resigned, but could not stand not be in on the action. Sheehan said, "The war satisfied him so completely that he could no longer look at it as something separate from himself" (745). Later Vann was able to get a position as a civilian aid and went back to Vietnam in 1965. This is when Sheehan depicts another corrupt South Vietnamese soldier. Colonel Dinh, he resisted America's help in the war. He killed his own soldiers, did not want to help the villagers in any way and destroyed their villages. Vann's main goal was to stop this and gain the villagers trust. He ran pacification programs, mobilized allies among South Vietnamese forces, coordinated America's support and had many theories on how to turn the war around. Sheehan also wrote detailed descriptions of John Vann's family and the struggle he had with it during the war. From this the reader is able figure out why Vann always cheats on his wife. His mother, Myrtle was like this and it was a hard subject for John to talk about. In Vietnam Sheehan tells about two secret lovers of Vann. He could not control his sexual compulsion. His military career was almost ruined years earlier because of his affair with a babysitter. Sheehan writes a lot about Vann's character flaw. His wife divorces him later because of this. He was able to get all of this information with interviews of many people while his time in Vietnam as a correspondent. Vann wanted things to be done his way, he wanted to win. Sheehan said, "He was not supposed to accept defeat" (269). Sheehan talks about Westmoreland, the Commanding General in Vietnam and how he believed that the Viet Cong would not attack Saigon during "Tet" the Chinese New Year in 1968. Vann believed that they would and they did. Vann helped lead the fight against the VC and they were successful. Vann took a position in the South Vietnamese army. He served as general in command of the Central Highland Regime. President Nixon had ordered U.S. combat troops out of Vietnam in June of 1972. The U.S. said it was the South Vietnamese war and they are giving them more control. Sheehan in the story points out that the South Vietnamese had little interest in the war in the first place. Vann in 1972 had his coordinates in Kontum carpet-bombed by B-52's to try to wipe out the second, the third and the fifth divisions of North Vietnam. This was a big risk Vann was willing to take, because of the corrupt Dinh who changed orders and they were forced to retreat into a mine field as VC's advanced forward. Sheehan points out that Vann had a different outlook on the war. He was concerned now about his fighting and not the peasant revolution. Earlier he was bothered that, "...the United States could generate an astonishing reaction from the peasantry once corruption was eliminated and the American millions were getting down to the poor instead of being siphoned into the feeding trough of the Saigon hogs" (539). John Paul Vann soon died in a helicopter crash during a rain storm, ten years after he first arrived in South Vietnam. The biography by Neil Sheehan was very detailed about the war the way John Paul Vann experienced it. First as an Army Colonel and later a civilian pacification leader. Sheehan's book clearly shows the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime, their incompetence to fight Ho Chi Minh's Communists and their brutal alienation of their own people. Vann was able to bring these secrets out to reporters like Neil Sheehan to inform the public of what was going on in South Asia. This brings up the question that what if the military and government leaders had listened to Vann's earlier assessments of the weakness of the South Vietnamese military and the Diem regime? What would have been different? This book was very well written and brings much of the war right out into the light. If the reader does not have much knowledge of the war in Vietnam, this is the book to read. Vann personified our good intentions, our courage, our arrogance and are folly in the war. There is one shortcoming of the book. The book ends after Vann's death in a helicopter crash. The reader is left there wanting to know more about the events in Vietnam after his death.

Neil Sheehan's book on the experience of John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam is one of the handful of essential readings on that era.

We follow the life of Vann in Vietnam and through his life see the American involvement from a unique perspective. Both as an officer and later a government official Vann was actively engaged and dedicated to the Amercican cause. The contrast between a superpowers strategy and the story of one man's involvement is wonderfully done. Biography, diplomatic history and war intertwine. The story documents the leadership's willingness to believe what they wanted to hear, Vann's attempts to illuminate the realities in the field to them and his struggle to implement what he considered the correct actions.

Sheehan is an excellent writer and weaves a narrative that is informative, exciting and sometimes opinionated. His bio of John Paul Vann serves as the vehicle to expose the hopes and failures of the American involvement.

An excellent telling of an American tragedy, well deserving of the Pulitzer. Highly recommended.

I have just finished reading Stolen Valor, and I strongly recommend it, not only to anyone interested in studying the Vietnam War, but also to anyone interested in studying how ideologues can manipulate the media into shaping false public impressions. Burkett and Whitley effectively debunk many popular myths about the war, including claims about the excessive rate of minority casualties, the high suicide rate for Vietnam Vets and the prevalence of emotional and mental disorders among Vietnam Vets. Indeed, Burkett and Whitley's efforts raise serious questions about the validity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a diagnosis which was largely developed through work with Vietnam Vets.

A large portion of the book is used to expose many prominent "vets" (featured in books, movies and television specials) as poseurs, many of whom never even served in the military. These imposters fooled such paragons of journalistic rectitude as 60 Minutes and the New York Times. While everyone will have their own favorite exposé, mine is the authors' digging up the truth on near death guru Dannion Brinkley, author of Saved by the Light. In his book, Brinkley claimed that during his near death experiences "beings of light" made him undergo a "life review" to reevaluate his life as a Marine sniper in Vietnam (assassinating government officials, of course). Brinkley's personnel file revealed that he actually spent his entire 18 months as a Marine in the United States-as a truck driver.

While the exposure of the fakers is amusing, it is also very disturbing. Why didn't these media outlets take the simple step of comparing the "vets" claims against their records? The slipshod journalism exposed by Burkett and Whitley raises the legitimate question of whether all of the news reports you read are equally badly researched

A voracious reader I am particularly interested in books about the Vietnam conflict, especially in light of the fact I spent a year there in the service of my country. I've always advised those interested enough to inquire, that if you can read only one book on the war read Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie; since reading Burkett's and Whitley's effort I've modified that advice to, "If you can read only two books on the war Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History."

Stolen Valor is not a history of the war. Rather it's one of those indispensable works that that adds essential background information needed to understand the peripheral issues that arise in the wake of every conflict. Burkett and Whitley have done their homework and documented their book with what appear to be unimpeachable sources and first-hand accounts.

The main thrust of the work is to set the record straight on a number of sticky issues that have come forth after the war's end. Whether the Agent Orange controversy or the propriety of hawking T-shirts at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., Burkett and Whitley examine most of the major issues surrounding Vietnam veterans along with their accompanying moral ramifications.

Perhaps the most enlightening material concerns the Veterans Administration and its attitude towards and treatment of those veterans who claim to be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of their service in Southeast Asia. We learn that the VA apparently treats not only those who served in Vietnam for PTSD, but some who apparently never set foot on Vietnamese soil; and even more astonishing are revelations some veterans who didn't even serve during the Vietnam era are the recipients of the VA's largesse for Vietnam induced PTSD.

The book is a treasure trove of information about imposters, those who are labeled "wannabes." Well documented is the high incidence of individuals, some actual viet-era veterans, some never having serve in the theater and incredibly some who never served in the military at all, who are fakers and self-proclaimed war heroes adorning themselves with unearned decorations and illegal medals. Numerous accounts are included of individuals who have made outlandish and false claims of having completed elite military training programs, and then further shaming themselves by claiming ex- P.O.W. status.

The book contains excellent information on how to check the military records of individuals, and includes important lists. Enumerated are those who received the Medal of Honor, Vietnam; the Distinguished Service Cross, Vietnam; the Navy Cross, Vietnam; the Air Force Cross, Vietnam; and Vietnam era POW's who returned alive.

I consider this an outstanding contribution to the general body of literature surrounding the war. It is engrossing, well written and most informative. For anyone with a interest that goes below the veneer of most Vietnam conflict treatments, I consider this a "must read."

If there are flaws they are few and insignificant. Perhaps the single thing that bothered me the most was the occasional tendency on the part of Burkett to be flippant and resort to humor that, more than once, seem stilted and awkward. But this criticism should not detract overall from this examination of real problems and issues that beg to be addressed and examined on a larger scale.

This work, in a real way, is a wonderful tribute to all those who served and did so without returning home to besmirch their contributions by claiming heroic actions and deeds of which they were not a part. At the same time the book stands, whether consciously or not, as a tribute to the wounded and those who so gallantly made the ultimate sacrifice

Every journalist, editor, and TV producer should read Stolen Valor. Hopefully that would keep them from interviewing and featuring the scruffy looking liars, fakers, and "wannabees" in camouflage fatigues covered with patches, pins, and unearned medals when they want to interview a Vietnam veteran.

Too many journalists pass on to their readers--and preserve for posterity--whatever lies they are told about secret missions behind enemy lines, American atrocities, amazing Rambo-type combat, and our nation's highest awards for valor which somehow were never recorded in the faker's official records. Are these journalists just naive or are they intentionally supporting an anti-Vietnam War, anti-military, and anti-American agenda?

Burkett and Whitley demonstrate how those opposed to the war (and the military and the government) are using the myth of vast numbers of Vietnam veterans being so psychologically scarred by the war that they are dysfunctional and the parallel myth of widespread American atrocities in Vietnam to validate their own political agendas.

The leaders of the American Legion, VFW, and other mainstream veterans' organizations would also do well to read this book. Many of them have been hoodwinked by fakers who gain positions of leadership and influence within veteran's organizations and become public spokesmen based on their impressive--but false--war records.

The machine copies of DD214 forms used by individuals to join veterans' organizations, obtain VA care, and convince skeptics cannot be accepted as valid proof of service because they can be forged with copy machines. Burkett and Whitley tell us the way to unmask the liars and frauds is to use a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a copy of their DD214 directly from the National Records Center in St. Louis, MO.

I've encountered some of these phonies myself and my theory is that the longer and dirtier their hair and beards are, the more they look like street people, the more medals, badges, patches, pins, and other gewgaws they are wearing, the more likely they are to be impostors.

It's not difficult for a real veteran to see the inconsistencies in their claims but journalists and the public who have never served are easily fooled into believing these bums are typical of Vietnam vets. That's why "Stolen Valor" is an appropriate title for this book. They are besmirching the reputation of all of us who served honorably and are proud of it.

Every literate person in the world should read this book. The things that the author went through are almost unbelievable. I had only vaguely heard of the Khmer Rouge before I read this story, but the book told me all I need to know. Through the eyes of a six year old girl, readers are shown all the horrors of this terrifying period in Cambodian history.

The author started out as the happy upper-middle class child of a prominent government official. Then, one day the "Angkar" marched in and changed her life forever. Her family was forced to conceal their mixed Chinese-Cambodian blood, and the father's career in the government in order to keep their lives. They sent away to a forced labor camp, where they are starved and in constant fear for their lives. One by one, family members begin to die off, and the author is forced to go out on her own in order to survive. She and her surviving siblings are subjected to brainwashing, rape, starvation, and various other atrocities, but after many year of suffering, she finally manages to come out on top.

I am a senior in high school and I think it is outrageous that the Khmer Rouge has not even been mentioned in my history classes. Most people don't even know what the Khmer Rouge is. People need to hear about these things, and this book is the perfect way to do that. It makes you feel like the events are happening right outside your window. The author is an amazing person and her story will touch your heart.

The chilling story of the Cambodian purges led by the Kmer Rouge was impossible to put down. Ms. Ung tells her story without resorting to being overly violent even thogh the killings were in the millions. Her brilliance is in humanizing the violent struggle through a family we grow to care about deeply. She avoids the political side of the Cambodian civil war and focusses on an ordinary family turned from a happy middle class life to one of survival and loss. I read this in one day because I needed to know what happenned to this family. Poor little Loung Ung led a terrible few years but lives to remind us that our American lives of comfort are not to be taken for granted. I recently read a similar book on Rwanda and was similarly touched by how much suffering still can go on in our supposedly modern, humane world. Clearly, wanton slaughter in other countries makes me appreciate the simple freedoms of safety and security we have. Read this story and you will not complain about the simple things that aggravate us in America.

First they killed my father is about Loung, the author, who experienced genocide in Cambodia. In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge took over the Cambodian government and decided to create their own society. To create this society they killed, hurt, and corrupted many children, Ung describes these experiences and struggles.The word that Loung choice was really powerful.

The book is very overwhelming because of the events that occur thoughout the book. One of the events that captured me was when her sister, Keav was sent to the infirmary because she got really sick. When Ma, her mother went to visit her and saw that " They just let her lie there in her sickness and dirty sheets" (97) to die, it was really hard for Ma and the whole Ung family because they knew she wasn't going survive and there is nothing they can do.

I really enjoy reading this book and I would recommend it, even if it was hard to read sometimes because of the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge solider. This book wasn't only educational, but it is written in words created by genuine inner emotions, which is why it so powerful story because in a way it forces you to live and feel her experience. Therefore, I would love to recommend this book to my peers, adults, and other schools.

While reading this book 3 things to keep in mind are that she was really young while the Khmer Rouge were in power, she is really vulnerable because she is young, and in the camps there is no positive atmosphere. These 3 things affect her feelings of the way she sees the world and her self.

I'm not a vet; I have no real personal connection with Vietnam or the war. Nor was any required to experience Dispatches. It's as much a poem about the condition of men at war, any men, any war, as it is the story of Herr's year as a war correspondent. It's not a history of the war; you won't find a handy map and glossary in the back. (If you honestly don't know what words like di di, zip, grunt, 16, and DMZ mean, I suggest you bone up on your history before trying this.) However, if you're even mildly knowledgeable, there's nothing to prevent you from feeling the full impact of the language here. And what language! If I ever manage to write anything half so eloquent, so beautiful, and so horrifying in my life, I'll be content to shut the laptop and walk away without writing another word.

Herr describes, in brief and sometimes disjointed vignettes, his experience as a war correspondent: the fear of death, the love of the machinery, the media-driven fantasies, the ambivalence of the troops towards the correspondents, and the correspondents' ambivalence about the troops, the misery of Khe Sanh, the frustrated schemes of the bureacracy, the myth and the reality of the drug-taking, foul-talking, anti-establishment reporters who supposedly "lost us the war".

I've probably been overstating this, but I love this book.

It is not the content the distinguishes Michael Herr's "Dispatches," it is the delivery. Herr is an excellent reporter who risked life and limb to cover the Vietnam War. The book is his account of what he saw there. What he saw was young American soldiers, far from home fighting a war few of them understood against an frustratingly elusive enemy. If this sounds like the subject matter for many Vietnam books, it is. But Herr's writing is so evocative ans so powerful that many of his descriptions will stay with you for a long time after you've put it down. Along with Phillip Caputo's "A Rumor of War," and Fredrick Downs's "The Killing Zone," this is one of the best personal accounts of the Vietnam War available.

A warts-and-all account of the Vietnam War. Possibly the best book on this subject in the last thirty years, Michael Herr gives us an objective look into the horror of combat without looking through the eyes of rose-tainted patriotism. He invokes the dread and chaos of the battlefield and weighs out the whims of human behaviour, bravery and insanity, meekness and humanity, without the judgement or condemnation that might be meted out by a loftier author.

Herr's use of brutal imagery absorbed me into his savage surroundings. From the soldier who can't stop drooling as a result of a particularly dreadful gun battle, to the scenes of the dead, American and Vietnamese, adult and infant, on eclectic battlefields and village streets.

The characters are real people in a situation that most of them neither like nor understand. They are young men who invoke the same shortcomings we all have. But they are a step above the common reader. They are professional soldiers and act that way despite their misgivings. They push past the boundaries of fear and into the realms of heroism or insanity or death. Everyone that he introduces is individual. There are no carbon copy soldiers here. They are funny or musical or religious or delusional, whatever their idiosyncrasy may be. I felt as though I was being introduced to people I knew throughout the book.

Most books on the topic of war that I have read tend to stay with one platoon. Herr constantly shifts places and battalions and makes the reader feel as though he/she is part of something bigger. There is no single climax in the book. An honest reflection of that war perhaps. Each chapter is as horrific and exhilarating as the next.

The length of it, in particular, displays an author who wants to show us the bare bones: no hyperbolic descriptions that eventually desensitise us to the events, no ivory-tower pensive soliloquies to the tragedy of war. Michael Herr gives us the facts and trusts the reader's intelligence to decide.