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Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "Southeast", sorted by average review score:
Noli Me Tangere (Shaps Library of Translations)
Published in Hardcover by University of Hawaii Press (May, 1997)
Authors: Jose Rizal, Ma. Soledad Dacson-Locsin, Raul L. Locsin, and Ma Soledad Lacson-Locsin
Average review score:

Rizal's Masterpiece
Noli Me Tangere is an articulate and a colourful account of the sufferings of the Filipino people during the Spanish era. This brilliant book is the Philippine's equivalent of America's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Rizal wrote a powerful novel that is extremely thought- provoking and challenging to the minds of all people, Filipinos or not.

A must read for all individuals who wants to learn about the Philippines and its history. It should be noted that Rizal's Noli Me Tangere provoked the hearts of the Filipinos to fight for a Republican nation. Indeed, the book is a masterpiece from a person declared as a national heroe

A teen's view on the Noli...
Being 16, Filipino, in the US, and interested in my culture, I found turning to a novel by Jose Rizal a natural place to being my study. I already consider myself to have a good knowledge of Spanish occupation within the Philippine Islands, but I did not the severity of the wrongs which Spain and the clergy commited toward the Philippines. Reading Noli Me Tangere truly opened my eyes and has made my admiration for Rizal sky-rocket. The Noli is an amazing book, I didn't expect to be so absorbed in it. The aspects of Philippine life portrayed are really enlightening; and the story of each character's *confusing past* make the novel a great read! EVERY Filipino should read it, especially if you are a teen growing up outside the Philippines! Reading it will give you a lot of insight into our culture. It's simply an awesome book! I love it! Now I'm trying to get a copy of El Filibusterismo (sp?) to read!

The Social Cancer
It's about time this book was reprinted. Written by one of the heroes of the Philippine revolution, this book is a semi-autobiographical account of Philippine society during its days as a Spanish colony. "Noli Me Tangere," roughly translated as "Touch Me Not," reflects the hypocrisy and corruption present in that time. Former translations have aptly titled it, "The Social Cancer." Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, the protagonist, returns to his country after being educated in Madrid, and seeks to marry Maria Clara, a young woman who had been betrothed to him when they were children. He tries to use his education to help the townspeople, but his efforts are thwarted by the clergy. It is these priests who prevent him from learning the true cause of his father's death, and he is eventually labeled as a heretic and is excommunicated from society. He escapes being assasinated and flees, vowing to revenge himself, his father, and Maria Clara. There is an incredible amount of detail in this novel, and the translation is superb. The characters are vivid -- who can forget Sisa's tragedy and the eerie Father Salvi? You don't have to be a historian or a student to enjoy this novel, and knowing nothing about that place or time period will not affect its intensity and pathos.

Firebirds: The Best First Person Account of Helicopter Combat in Vietnam Ever Written
Published in Paperback by Bantam Books (August, 1997)
Author: Chuck Carlock
Average review score:

"No" was never in a helicopter pilot's unwritten philosophy
I Corps and northern II Corps were very dangerous places in Vietnam. Artfully recalling day to day missions might seen boring, but when you combine it with happenings back in the World, things are really placed in perspective. Chuck Carlock and the "Firebirds" were at the very epicenter of the hodge-podge Americal Division as it was growing into the massive command it would eventually become. All royalties from the sale of book are donated to the 71st AHC Association. Tom Payne, RVN 66-67, Bandit32

FIREBIRDS: The Best First Person Account of Helicopter Comb
While I find the title a bit presumptious, I did note that Chuck Carlock experienced a lot of bullet holes in the olive drab fuselages of the Charlie models he flew in his area of Vietnam. My experiences were in the Delta, where I think we had a greater variety of tasks and episodes to discuss and carry out. My time with the Outlaws of the 175th Avn. Company were far more enjoyable that being "up-north" with these American units described. I know what I missed. Still, it is good that some of us helicopter pilots have recorded our flying deeds in this once-in-a-lifetime experience, one we treasure now that we survived it!! Chuck salutes many of his fellow pilots at the end of the book and shows that many Vietnam vets are now successful men of stature and success in their communities.

Its 'Nam and you are there!
A fascinating book about an Army helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. Written in the first-person perspective, Chuck "Skippy" Carlock recounts his experiences and puts YOU in the hot seat of a Huey. You'll race over rice paddies as 10-year-old boys throw mud on your plexiglass nose in acts of defiance. The next day you'll be covering medical evac as your gunners open up their door-mounted .50's on an unseen enemy.

I'm glad Mr. Carlock took the time to write this book, as it will serve to teach future generations about the Viet Nam experience. Aviation entusiasts, history buffs, and particularly PC flight simulator pilots will really enjoy this accounting of a modern air-mobile infantry unit.

In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines
Published in Hardcover by Random House (March, 1989)
Author: Stanley Karnow
Average review score:

Karnow produces classic work on Philippine-US relations
The main complaint I have about this work is that it was for too long out of print or hard to find (a failing now apparently remedied). That's good, because Karnow has produced one of the definitive works on Philippine-US relations -- and one that I will use for classes I teach on the subject. While Karnow has been called a "nostalgic colonialist" for his sometimes slightly "White Man's Burden" view of Philippine history as, roughly, "better under the Americans than the Spanish," his criticism of turn-of-the-century American jingoism and broken promises to the Philippines redeems him in my eyes. All in all, a thorough, well-told tale of a too-invisible chapter in American history.

The best of history, the best of stories
History writing rarely is this good... even Stanley Karnow's more famous book on Vietnam pales in comparison. The best part of this book is that it doesn't read like a dry history, but like a very rich and interesting novel. No wonder Stanley Karnow won the Pulitzer prize for writing this book.

The reality is this book details the wonderful, rich, benevolent, and sometimes tragic relationship that the US had with its one and only true foreign colony. And as someone who has traveled extensively and lived in the Philippines, this book is spot on.

As an American, I can only shake my head at President Clinton's sheer ignorance for not visiting the PI during the national celebrations of their Centennary of Independence from Spain in 1998, an independence that the US helped them get... and then took away for another 50 years.

Read this book, especially if you are American, and learn something important about America's involvement in Asia... some may argue even more important that America's involvement in Vietnam. To this day, the Philippines is the world's third largest english speaking nation behind the US and UK....

A monumental piece of history.

First Rate Historical Writing
Stanley Karnow's "In Our Image" does exactly what it purports to do in the subtitle. It is a very complete political history of U.S. involvement in the Phillippines and how American influence has shaped that country. It is, in fact, as much a history of the United States during the same period, giving detailed portraits of important figures like William Howard Taft, who was the first civilian governor of the Phillippines after America won the colony from Spain in the Spanish American War, and who considered the islands to his personal political domain, even after he became President in 1909. Another American who looms large is, of course, General Douglas MacArthur, whose father Arthur fought during the little remembered Phillippine insurrection against American rule at the turn of the last century and who became an icon to the Phillippine people despite his serious personality flaws.

Karnow begins the book with an overview of Phillippine history under Spanish rule that sets the stage quite well. He then describes America's conquest and subsequent torment as it found itself bogged down in a jungle guerilla war quagmire that unfortunately portended the Vietnam War six and a half decades later. Over 100,000 Phillippinos and 4,000 American soldiers died in one of the bloodiest colonial wars ever. Once the islands were finally subdued, however, America became the most benevolent of all colonial powers, granting the Phillippines unprecedented autonomy and zealously undertaking to educate its people and improve its infastructure. After World War Two, the U.S. became the first colonial power to voluntarily relenquish a colony, granting the Phillippnes full independence with a minimum of fuss.

Overall, Karnow's book is a very throroughly researched and highly readable account. It is also very well balanced, and describes America's colonial experience fairly. One comes away from the book conflicted about whether the America's colonial rule in the Phillippines was ultimately a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, there are plenty of arguments on both sides.

Six Silent Men
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Ivy Books (May, 1997)
Author: Kenn Miller
Average review score:

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but...
I read this book and gave 1 star to Ken Miller for serving in Vietnam, but.... Anyone familiar with the "true history of Vietnam" knows that after the Tet 1968 Offensive that the NVA and VC were nearly destroyed. It took a full four to five years for the enemy forces to rebuild. The way Ken Miller and others write there were NVA behind every tree in the bush every time they went out. Phantom NVA troops for phony medals, maybe? I found this book to be a perfect demonstration with jarring clarity that ordinary individuals could be induced to act destructively even in the absence of physical coercion and human need not to innately evil or aberrant to act in ways that are reprehensible and inhumane. Take page 170 of this book. The new company commander (C.O.) takes charge and wants these men to get into military shape and get ready for patrolling. The new C.O. tells these men that they are (and I quote from the book); "He wasted no time letting the Lurps know that he considered them undisciplined, slovenly, unmanly, shirkers, and phonies." This is the very same picture I got from reading this book and their later actions speak for themselves when they planned, organized, and carried out the Toe-Popper incident and blew off Captain Shepard's foot. No statue of limitations of this act, Miller. The story really goes off into the twilight light zone on page 220. The national archive records report that a team found an empty base camp and some weapons - PERIOD. But, Ken Miller creates his deception of what he thought and wrote a 6-man team followed an NVA company on the trail, watch them eat, and then charge into the enemy killing 151 NVA soldiers!!! That's more than the unit had as its official body count (68 total) for the entire time it was in Vietnam, Miller!!! The lies, falsehoods start on page ten and this book is written more for the 14 and 16 year-old males who don't know any better. Shame on this book for it's stretching the bonds of the Ranger Creed and confusing loyalty with disrespect for authority over peer pressure to conform in order to avoid field duty. That could get you killed if you didn't have good leadership. They should have listened to Captain Shepard with his earlier illustrations of what he thought they were; and thus they remained leaderless and bound to failure. It would have been much better for this unit to continue to stay on Kitchen Police and guard duty as it did for the first six months it was in Vietnam.

I Wish I Read It Sooner!
It's too late now to recommend this book to my student who wanted to write his final term paper a few months ago about the view from inside the Vietnam War. He's written his paper already and graduated from high school, but had he read this book he would have known much more intimately what it was to "be there." Mr. Miller's captivating style would have sufficed to propell him page to page, but the bravery, the humor, and the soul unraveled in the stories themselves are what make the book great. The events and people Mr. Miller depicts would have haunted his memory for years to come (and probably would have helped to pump a bit more inspiration into his term paper).

...

If your curiosity has taken you to this remote corner of Amazon.com, I urge you venture further, deeper into the Vietnam War by way of Kenn Miller's book and it's companion by Rey Martinez.

¿You couldn¿t live 30 minutes out there with only six men!¿
The LRRPS did. Time and time again the long-range-reconnaissance-patrols went out to "see" and not be "seen", and sadly, some individuals wouldn't return home.

This is fantastic series of books covering the history and evolution of the LRRPS/LRPS/RANGERS during the Vietnam War.

Rey Martinez, Kenn Miller, and Gary Linderer interviewed a great number of the surviving members of the LRRPS/Rangers to bring their history alive. While some members were able to tap in their memories, others wouldn't touch the pain from long ago. The authors did a terrific job bringing the histories together for a strong narrative.

If anything, I found myself wanting to know more! What were they thinking? What were you feeling? I'm sure much ended up on the "editing room floor".

The "SIX SILENT MEN" books are a very honest account if the units actions. Their packed with adventure and daring. While reading their books, I was filled with tension and dread, other times I had to laugh aloud, and a few times I became misty-eyed. You feel for the teams as they "will" themselves to become invisible while on patrol.

... A great number of books on the Vietnam War are written very honestly, and the publishers do "Fact Checking" before publishing these books. ... If these books were embellished tales, then Vietnam Vets who served in the LRRPS/Rangers wouldn't hesitate to post a review here and let the truths be known. As you see this isn't the case.

I have never met a veteran who has panned these books. Never.

If you enjoyed this series, I would also recommend Jim Morris' WAR STORY, John Plasters' SOG, James Rowe's FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM, Larry Chambers RECONDO, and Leigh Wade's TAN PHU.

...

Read the books. You won't be disappointed! God Bless and Attack life!

Cap Mot: The Story of a Marine Special Forces Unit in Vietnam, 1968-1969 (War and the Southwest Series , No 5)
Published in Hardcover by University of North Texas Press (January, 1997)
Author: Barry L. Goodson
Average review score:

A Marine's Tale of What Was, And What Could Have Been
This is an excellent book for a number of reasons. First, it is a poignant and heart-wrenching memoir of a young Marine in Vietnam. The lucid voice of a sensitive and thoughtful warrior reverberates throughout the text. Secondly, this book covers a little known aspect of the war: The Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons (CAP). Goodson gives an excellent account of his unit's objectives and operations. It is one of the few books that gives a sense of what the war was like where it was really fought - at the village level. Moreover, this book shows what could have been if only the high command had fought a true counter-insurgency campaign. One cannot help but feel that Goodson's small squad achieved more than whole battallions of regular troops. This book is a must for those who truly wish to understand the war. And for any military history buff, it is a war memoir of an exceptional caliber.

The Best of the Best
I read this book for an English project just a few weeks ago. We were required to read a non-fiction book and write a review on it. I chose CAP Mot after it was recommended to me by several people. After reading I was sincerely impressed. I would copy and paste my book review on here for all to read, but that would take up a lot of space so I'm just going to sum it up real fast. I'm not really one that is interested in war books, but this book really caught my attention. To begin, Goodson tells facts in the way of a story and makes it interesting. It isn't like reading a history book. He uses outstaniding imagry, to the point of you feeling as if you are seeing a movie play before you. Although he does use a little of military jargon, all is explained and defined in the footnotes at the end of each chapter. Also, his detail is truly magnificent. As I read the book, I felt like I was in Vietnam right along with the characters. There is so much more I could say, but I have already written a lot, so I'm just going to say that this book is the best non-fiction book I have ever read. I definately recommend this book to all who are interested in war, history, Vietnam, or anyone who is interested in a good read. This is not a joke!!! I seriously enjoyed this book, and that's a lot for me to say because I'm a girl, 15, and seriously not interested in war books of any kind. Mr. Goodson you did a GREAT job!

A military history document; attention holding writing
Barry Goodson does a superb job documenting his experiences and challenges in CAP MOT. I can confirm his description of the CAP MOT environment, because I was there in the same area at the same time serving in a US Army unit and indirectly involved in some of the dangerous events that Barry experienced. The CAP teams were elite and effective organizations This is one of only two books ( "What a soldier Gives" is the second) that I consider accurate descriptions of the basic warrior in the Vietnam war. Barry "tells it like it was"! Military historians should use it as a reference, future leaders should use it as a guide to leadership under stress(both do's and dont's), and American citizens and politicians should use it as a reminder of the sacrifice that military people experience when committed to war. The reader will understand how elite and brave Barry and his CAP MOT truly was. CAP MOT is not only a historical record but it is also intertaining reading as a result of Barry's superb writing techniques. I recommend it for all readers. I salute Barry for a job well done. Larry Beale Colonel(RET) USA

Code-Name Bright Light : The Untold Story of U.S. POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War
Published in Hardcover by Free Press (January, 1998)
Author: George Veith
Average review score:

Good research, dull writing
If you don't know much about how American efforts regarding POWs were handled in Vietnam, you'll sure know a lot after reading this book. The most dramatic takeaway from this book is the level of bureacracy that kept more lives from being saved. Excellent research, but many times the writing was weak. Frequently, instead of a carefully drawn out tale of a particular POW episode, the author would right away "reveal the punchline." Before even reading the next few pages, then, you knew the outcome, which kind of ruined it. But very well researched.

At Last, A Bright Spotlight on U.S. POW Recovery Efforts
Ethicists have debated since time immemorial the question: how many lives is one life worth? Rather than a simple mathematical problem (1=1), this is the question which dogged the men tasked with rescuing U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict.

There has been the nasty suspicion lingering for years that the U.S. government decided that the math didn't quite work out and so left our POWs in Southeast Asia to meet their fates alone. Congressional hearings have been held, various recovery missions have been launched, and a cottage industry in conspiracy theory has sprung up in the decades since Operation Homecoming in 1973.

George Veith blows the lid off much of the secrecy surrounding U.S. efforts to recover POWs in Vietnam and thus evaporates much of the conspiracy theories with "Codename: Bright Light." Despite assertions to the contrary, U.S. special forces made substantial and repeated efforts to free POWs during the war. The main obstacles to repatriation were: the constant relocation of prisoners, the intransigence of the North Vietnamese and their American supporters, the failure of intelligence on POW matters, bureaucratic snafus, and the extremely difficult terrain and climate which made escape a dicey proposition at best. As a result, the Bright Light operation failed to rescue a single American POW during its entire course.

Despite these failures, the men supporting Bright Light gave their all to bring our men home and had a substantive impact upon repatriation. Yet most of the surviving members of these teams believe to this day that men were left behind---specifically, those captured in Laos, none of whom returned at Homecoming.

Veith has done a great service in writing this book, which likely will earn him derision in conspiracy circles. Despite the demonization of the military brass, Veith portrays the men of Bright Light and their superiors as doing their best to pull men out of the maw of hell despite wrestling constantly with the fundamental question: how many men is one man's life worth?

Was The Enemy US ?
"Code Name Bright Light" is an extremely well-researched and documented story about the efforts (failures! ) of the United States to rescue its' POWs during the Vietnam War. Just count the footnotes in each chapter! There can be no doubt that the story you will read is authentic. And that is a problem because most Americans will be saddened to learn that the blame cannot be heaped upon a cruel and intransigent enemy but with our own political. military and especially diplomatic leaders. Inter-service rivalry, intra-service rivalry, poor planning and just plain Vietnam-style bad luck all played a large part in the story. But there is so simple "sin-loi" here. Ambassador to Laos William Sullivan and Ambassador to South Vietnam Bunker wholeheartedly emphasized politics over POW rescues. One must ask even now whose side was Mr. Sullivan on? And where was the Johnson White House? Where was Robert McNamara? All very disturbing. There are many better "Vietnam" books but for those interested in the POW story, this is the Bible. I have read 4 other books on POWs, including Ms. Stephenson's "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" and seen the tape "We Can Keep You Forever", but "Code Name Bright Light" tells it all the best. A serious, disturbing but excellent job!

Death in the Jungle: Diary of a Navy Seal
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Ivy Books (January, 1996)
Authors: Gary R. Smith and Alan Maki
Average review score:

Navy Seal at hiis finest!
Hi I'll get write to the point awsome book I was 8 or 9 when I read it and to be honest 8 or 9 year olds don't have the best attention spands, but, the book held it. It was like I was in the jungle with him, swimming in the croc filled waters and holding my sawed off shot gun waiting for the VC, point is it is one of the best books I've ever read it is a must read, ...

A teriffic first-hand account of SEAL life in Viet Nam
This is one of the best books I have ever read about the Vietnam War. It is given first-hand by a Navy SEAL. Gary holds nothing back in this book, he honestly shares his thoughts and feelings about situations that he finds himself in. This book made me laugh and cry and very angry with the VC. I have never read a book as well written as this, it's the kind of book that one can't put down once you start reading it!

Very Good and Enlightening Book
This book was one of the best books I've read about the Navy SEALs in combat. The author did a good job in letting his audience know what he was feeling at the time. Yeah, the missions got a little repetitive, but that's life, thing get repeated. This wasn't some fiction book where the author could make every mission different from the others. Overall I think the book did about as good a job as any book could do to show people what being a SEAL was like.

Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942-1992
Published in Hardcover by Indiana University Press (January, 1993)
Author: Jane Hamilton-Merritt
Average review score:

The only book that truly depicts who the Hmong people are.

Jane Hamilton-Merritt has done a superb job in documenting the struggles of the Hmong people. By living with the Hmong, she sees through the eyes of the Hmong people. Her views are not those of an outsider, but the views of a Hmong. From the beginning of the Secret War to the settling of the Hmong in America, she documents everything that happens to the Hmong people. Tragic Mountains shows her dedication and love of the Hmong people

BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN 10 YEARS
This is an amazingly well researched book. The author has relentlessly refused to just let the injustices done to the Hmong go. Her extensive disscussions on the use of biological toxins by the communists against the Hmong in remote areas of Laos is unequalled. She tells of Hmong risking their lives to return to Laos to bring back samples of the toxins to prove to the world what was going on in Laos. These samples sat untested for poitical reasons. Jane Hamilton-Merritts book is an eye opener. It will get any reader to thinking long and hard about U.S. involvement and geopolitics. This a must read book. Kerry Lattimore (ericberger@worldnet.att.net), Bakersfield, California

Accurate or not; It was a part of history lost
This book by Jane Hamilton-Merritt may not be to a point accurate but it was written in her own point of view as of how we, the Hmong, were drawned into war as foot soldiers for the Americans. I was not borned yet to live through this coverted war but for me alot of my uncles, including my father, were actual soldiers so it touches me deeply when i read this book. I know that with the growing population of Hmong nowadays in America the one main question on a Caucasin American's mind is "Why are these Asians migrating to America and living next door to me?" Well to answer that question they would have to read this book to find out why. As for myself, being a first generation in America, after reading this book it have been brought to my attention how much i have yet to learn about my own history during the Vietnam War. To those that only know that the Vietnam War was about US fighting communist of North Vietnam will have to definitly read this book to fully understand all of the war. I give props to Jane Hamilton-Merritt for her studies and researches into these peaceful hilltop tribes that were told to leave their everyday lives to join forces with an ally that in the end totally deserted them when they evacuated Southeast Asia. My heart and soul goes out to all those who have lost their lives, family members, and love ones so that I and all the first generation Hmong young adults in America could have a better life here. For those who still ponders on why we the Hmong are being here in America; this book is for you to read and understand that the Hmong people contributed in a much bigger way in the war than anyone could have imagined. This book is highly recommended by me for everyone to read whether you are Hmong or not.

The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (April, 2000)
Author: Duong Van Mai Elliott
Average review score:

Vast fascinating saga, but limited outlook
This book is indeed what most critics say that it is: an ambitious, sprawling saga, paralleling the life and history of one family with the history of Vietnam in the last 130 years. And it does make fascinating reading. However, one other critic rightly made the point that this history is limited to the upper-middle-class, with very little on the rest - the farmers, the urban working class, the fighting soldiers, the intelligentsia. To which I will add: the view Mai Elliott gives of the sweeping events her family lived through was in fact rather comprehensive as long as it took place in the North, where she was born. Once the family moved South to Saigon, they pretty much kept to themselves and were out of the loop as far as decision-making was concerned (whereas ther father had been Governor of Haiphong and right there in the thick of things in the North). Being myself a Southerner Vietnamese, I do admit that, in general, the refugees from the North were not made warmly welcome. But some did reach out and eventually made friends, which the Duong family does not seem to have done. When they were still high officials in the North, the Duongs were influential and knew almost every aspect of what was going on. Once in the South, they were pretty much out of the loop, and Mai falls back on sweeping generalizations based on prejudices and hearsay, like "the Southern landowners were absently landlords who lived it up in Saigon, leaving their lands to caretakers". Being myself from a landowning family, I can vouch that that was far from true. Same thing about the South Vietnamese armed forces and the contempt in which they were supposedly held by their American allies. Would Tiger Woods' father have named him after a South Vietnamese Ranger if he despised him and his companions as cowards? She also fails to note that, very often, a South Vietnamese military operation would fail because Americans would not listen to their SVN counterparts, thinking they knew better. And Mai was so busy interviewing VC prisoners of war and trying to understand them that she never took the time to find out what the South Vietnamese working class, farmers, and fighting men, were like. Or why they stuck with a "corrupt" and "tyrannical" government, not to mention nasty imperialist Americans without rising up and going to the other side. Her account of the fall of Saigon and its aftermath is told solely from the point of view of her relatives who stayed there, or other former Northern refugees, and from a strictly "bleeding-heart liberal" perspective. General Loan is stigmatized when he shot a VC in public (he had heard that very day that the VCs had massacred a whole bunch of his relatives), but widespread cases of the so-called Liberation Army summarily shooting thieves in the street is related without so much as a metaphorically raised eybrow. There is no mention whatsoever of the South Vietnamese underground resistance that went on for over 10 years after Saigon fell, and only a grudging, one-sentence acknowledgement of "acts of heroism" by the South Vietnamese army and people. Her extensive bibliography is limited to North Vietnamese and American books, magazines and papers when she could have gained a different insight from books or articles by South Vietnamese or French writers and journalists, among others "The Vietnamese Gulag" by a South Vietnamese who stayed on after the "liberation" to help rebuild the country. I still recommend the book as an interesting work, giving a perspective that Americans in general have not seen - the "Vietnam War" viewed from the point of view of a Vietnamese family. But for that, Le Ly Hayslip's "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" was closer to the people - and Mai Elliott's point of view is only that of a small part of Vietnam. But do read it anyway. You will still gain facts and insights you did not get before.

A marvelous, important work on Vietnam.
The Sacred Willow is a beautifully detailed view of the Vietnamese twentieth century -- not from the perspective of Americans involved in the war years 1965-75, but from the perspective of one Vietnamese family. Duong Van Mai Elliott's family included mandarins and leaders of Vietnamese society -- as well as members of the Viet Minh. The memoir is poignant and dramatic, exploring the widely diverging experiences of the author, her relatives and friends between the 1940s and the end of 20th century. The reader who wants to "understand Vietnam" will not find a better book, or a more readable and absorbing one.

Beginner's guide to Vietnamese History
After having recently started to work in Vietnam, I wanted to get a feel of the Vietnamese history spanning this century. Not interested in a text-book style carricature, I purchased this book to get an overview of the events that shaped the emergence of modern Vietnam. Mai Duong's narrative is comprehensive, successfully covering the macro events of the colonialism, subsequent communist revolution, and its ultimate collapse, and the emergence of the modern Vietnam. The book succeeds in giving an impression of the circumstances that normal households went through, allowing the reader to feel and be part of the true-life story within. Must-read for people wanting to get an overview on the current Vietnamese history - with a social angle.

River of Time
Published in Hardcover by Heinemann (January, 1995)
Author: Jon Swain
Average review score:

May whet your appetite for more
Two decades after his experiences, British journalist Jon Swain reached for his pen -- or keyboard -- to pour his memories into a book. In today's over-saturation of commercial memoirs, surely yet another remembering is superfluous, especially one about the Vietnam War, a subject gnawed to the bone by thousands of other writers. But wait: his interest, Swain assures us, is less in war than in love. The book is about his enduring passion for the Mekong region and its long-suffering peoples who have kept their dignity in the pits of hell. It's around the Mekong that Swain witnessed humanity at its kindest and its most brutal all at the same time. Such is war.

Swain writes evocatively and his book should serve as a handy introduction to Indochina and its travails for foreigners little in the know. But there's this, too, to say about "River of Time": rather than a panorama of scenes and events, Swain provides several vignettes of them (from Saigon at war to Phnom Penh at its fall to the Khmer Rouge and to Bangkok at peace from it all). And that's my gripe about "River of Time." Without clear guiding narrative strings and conclusions, it reads like several touched-up newspaper articles blended together and joined by only one unifying theme: Swain himself. Too bad, because the book is chock-full of revealing anecdotes, thanks to Swain's well-honed eye and prodigious memory (as well as contemporary diary notes). The stories about Vietnamese boat people's suffering at the hands of Thai fishermen-turned-pirates are perhaps the best in the whole book.

But don't let me put you off an interesting, if somewhat lacking read. For all its flaws, "River of Time" is worth your money and time -- if only in whetting your appetite for other books about this hauntingly beautiful but deeply troubled land.

A welcome addition to the field
When I first became aware of Swain's book, my initial thought was, "Another war correspondent's attempt to cash in on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Indo-China." I bought the book, but more because of my current mania for the subject, not because I expected much out of it.

Swain began to win me over right away. He begins the book with much the same sentiment as I expressed above. The author himself wonders what he can add to what's been written before.

The answer is: A lot.

Swain's style fits the subject: factual, but with humanity; horrified without being overwhelmed. The author's self-professed love for Indo-China is evident. The depth of his feelings enabled me to see and feel the end of Indo-China as it had been.

The highlight of the book is the description of the fall of Phnom Penh and the immediate aftermath. I have read several accounts of these events, written by Cambodians and Westerners, and I have seen "The Killing Fields". None of those tellings hold a candle to Swain's description. The misery, chaos, horror, insanity, and inhumanity comes to life in his words.

Swain's work takes it's place among the best of the field.

A beautiful journey
I feel a little sorry for a few of the reviewers who have gone before me. I think they may be missing the point. The book does not attempt to provide in-depth military facts, nor is it an attempt at writing a 'suspense thriller', nor is it fiction. Rather, it is portrayal of the experiences of one man [and his friends'] during times of conflict [largely] in Indochina. It is a book of truth and emotion, of beauty and futility, of love and war. Ultimately, it is a book about humanity. Jon Swain has done well, and this book would be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of anyone who is interested in human conflict, Indochina or personal accounts of life in times of extremely adverse and uncertain conditions.

Related Vacation Book Subjects: Utah
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