Cashin has produced the first attempted full biography of Lachlan McGillivray....a work long overdue. Following Lachlan's career from Indian trader, Indian diplomat, merchant, plantation owner, and politician, one also tracks the progressive evolution of the Georgia colony itself during the 18th Century and its turbulent relationships with neighboring Indian nations.

It is fascinating to learn of Lachlan's diligent efforts to see to the well-being of his Scottish clan members while forsaking the well-being of his own Creek wife and children. Lachlan's only son became the great Creek chief, Alexander McGillivray.

Cashin's work is not without some errors; especially, involving Lachlan's Scottish family tree. However, these errors are do to confusing genealogical records as opposed to poor scholarship.

One glaring error is Cashin's assertion that Lachlan's wife, Sehoy, could not be the daughter of a French military officer by the name of Marchand because no such officer served in the region. One may dispute whether or not Sehoy's father was the Frenchman but there is historical documentation that Commander Marchand did exist at the right place and time to be the husband of the Indian princess.

Another unfortunate aspect of the book is that Cashin adopts the McGillivray family legend that Lachlan arrived in Georgia as an indentured servant and lived in Darien for awhile before moving to Charleston and becoming involved in the Indian trade. Evidence would suggest that Lachlan was never indentured and that he went directly to Charleston to be employed by kinsman Archibald McGillivray's trading company.

Despite these points, Cashin's work is a valuable piece of historic literature.

This work goes beyond a mere historical recitation of facts, documents, and figures, and truly examines -- in a readable and comprehensible manner -- the events which occurred in the southeastern frontier during the colonial period. Of the several books examining the Indian trade of the southeast in the eighteenth century, I found this book to be the most useful in showing the "flow" of events, their causes and effects, as Indian trade grew and matured over time. Well done.

This is the best overview study of the people of the southeast, their ambitions, interests and problems. The plight of the Southeastern Indians and the intrigue of the European Nations for possession of the new land and Indian trade is clearly presented.

This was my first Lonely Planet book and I could not have made the trip without this very informative and helpfull book. I highly recommend any Lonely Planet books to any one traveling abroad.

This is the best lonelyplanet guide book I've ever had. Normally, I find them OK but irritating. Miraculously, this one is different.
Firstly, it's not too big (unlike, say, the Indian one) and is not afraid to leave some good stuff OUT. Secondly, it's very well researched, which is impressive in Bangladesh because information isn't all that readily available. Nor is it patronising in tone!
Best of all, though, is that reference to women travellers isn't restricted to a nauseating passage on what women "shouldn't" do because of the dangers, and then special women's diseases. Instead, it actually suggests that there are advantages to being a woman and special places to visit (such as women's development programs) that might interest women in particular. Yay! Welcome to the 21st century LP! I don't know what this sudden change in tone is due to, but I hope it spreads throughout the LP philosophy.
Otherwise, the information is helpful and up-to-date. The maps are a bit dodgy and could do with some work. For example, Thanchi does NOT lie between Ruma and Keokradung, and nor is Keokradung the highest peak in Bangladesh. The Chittagong map, in particular, is fairly useless.
Still, a very nice job. Very impressive. Very interesting and well written.

I found this guide to be very informative and helpful. The maps are a very good basis for getting a sense of where various sections of the cities are located. Some guidebooks are sorely outdated but this book is still quite current. Many of the places mentioned are still in existence. We plan to take several of the recommended trips from this guidebook as well as cycling trips. Since moving to Dhaka I have used this book continually for a reference book. I would highly recommend reading this book before coming to visit Bangladesh!

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This is a valuable text for the economical traveller who wishes to enjoy the people,customs and natural beauties of this country.

It has all the usual features many have come to expect from the 'Lonely Planet' guides.Good area/city maps,travel details, pointers for the culinary delicacies of particular areas,good information on inexpensive places to stay,as well as fascinating sights,places and people to visit,a brief introduction to the(amazingly simple and easy to learn)language,and interesting cultural,religious and other useful notes.

This edition and it`s excellent predecessors have played a major part in assisting me in all of my travels to Indonesia,in both the planning and research stages,and during the travel itself.I am certain that I would not have travelled to some of the unique and rarely visited places that I was privileged to see without the aid of this weighty and at times indispensible tome.

However,the most important thing to take with you is an open mind and heart,a friendly nature,and a desire to get to know the people and their customs.(Language is a great help too.)These ingredients(and the book !)tend to make for a most memorable and enjoyable stay. Bon Voyage !

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This is the most detailed book for a big place like indonesia. Indonesia (outside of Jakarta/Bali) is a perfect match of lonely planet's specialty in off the beaten track and/or budget traveling. Every part of Indonesia is covered, except for the small islands between Sumatra and Kalimantan that might be cool to check out. Its not the Riau - that's covered in detail. It has minimal coverage of the Natuna islands. I'm interested in the islands further south - Tambeian Islands, Dadas Isalands, and Pulau Pejantan. Once they add coverage to these islands then this book will be perfection. This book also a lot of information on Indonesian culture, about a 40% overlap with the culture shock indonesia book.

So far I plan a 2 month trip to indonesia. Fly to hong kong, spend 1-2 nights there. Then fly to malaysia or jakarta (whichever is cheaper). Then take a boat to Pontianak, spend some time there and sinkawang (probably a week). Check out the islands between kalimantan and sumatra (1-2 weeks). Then go to the todgean islands, getting their via ujung padang to ambon and then spend the rest of the time (probably a month) chillin and snorkeling / scuba diving. Then go back trhough jakarta or malaysia, spend another 1-2 nights in hong kong, and then come home.

On planning a trip to indonesia I found this guide book from the Lonely Planet Series. I was attracted by the clear concept of the book that makes it easy to find the information, that you need. It provides all the necessary information for a traveller who wants to get of the beaten trak, but also includes the "must see" sights. Specially the Places to Stay and Places to Eat sections are clear and give good and reliable information. It made my trip to indonesia easy and worth a while. I strongly recomend a Lonely Planet book if you like to travel and you want to see as much as possible.

Like most of the books in this series, Lonely Planet attempts to offer the best of all worlds and does a fairly consistent job of it. This phrasebook provides some basic background information on the language and its grammar but I have never found their transliteration schemes to be very accurate for the average American English speaker.

Within its covers, you will find just about every essential phrase the average traveler could ever hope for. Its compact size and price make it the cheapest foray available into the Tibetan language. The Tibetan script is included throughout for those who are interested in seeing the written word or just want to point out phrases instead of attempting to pronounce them correctly.

At less than $6 USD on average, every Tibetan language enthusiast should have a copy of this phrasebook.

My main objective was learning to speak some Tibetan on a conversational level, and not just a traveler's level. The book teaches the writitng system and enough grammar to be able to correctly speak Tibetan as we speak everyday English. Nothing too deep and technical, but nothing too brief. The small book is absolutely jam-packed with words and phrases. It suits the need of both the traveler and one who wants a basic conversational ability in Tibetan. It's value exceeds the price greatly!

I bought this book to get a little understanding of the Tibetan language. I got more than I expected. The phrasebook not only contains the most common phrases, but also a quick overview of the grammar and the alphabet. Since most of the Tibetans don't speak any English (expect cheapy cheapy and last price) I found this book very useful (and the Tibetans who saw me use it thought it was very amusing).
In short, it's definitely worth the $...

This book is just what it says. Basic grammatical explinations. For more advanced learners of Tagalog it could be used as a very useful tool to understanding how the language works. Begginers will probably find it very difficult to use. It has indepth explinations for all the grammatical rules, however a working vocabulary in Tagalog is helpful. Many of the examples are not translated into English.

I bought this book in the Philippines some time ago and I have found it to be very informative and useful. It contains lots of info!

I read this book for a class taught by herself at the University of Hawaii. This is a good book for looking at the structure of Tagalog. It is a bit technical goes into linguistic structure of Tagalog (now officially called "Filipino") For non-native speakers, the pre-requisite for this book is at least two years (or four semesters) of combined introductory and intermediate Tagalog, with these, this book shouldn't be that hard. It is full of exercises,course content, and explanations that a gramaphobe would like. Most of the classmates I took this class for were native speakers and most are very bright and she constantly bounced the material in the book with what the students said and what they know which was quite fun.

Remembering the first, or the reinstatement of that first Lottery Draft was one of the most difficult times of my teenage years. We all had heard of a war and knew of even a few of our friends that had gone to serve and some that had died. Civics class was full of discussions and debate that paralleled those raging in our own Congress. It seemed so strange to be fighting a war when there was this huge debate on whether we should be involved or not. I met or knew few people that wanted to die somewhere in Southeast Asia that many had never even heard of or could even spell.

Paul Reed gives an honest and straightforward story of the events that led to his enlistment, training, and volunteering to go and fight in Vietnam. It's hard to imagine the reality of a life in the jungle for an entire year. If the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan's gutwrenching, muscle steeling attack on one awaiting there own demise is the only experience you can call on to imagine what war is about, then this first hand description is available. It's not Homer or Shakespeare, but a straightforward accounting by a well trained boy and his observations as a soldier.

I did not want to go to Vietnam. I did not want to fight somewhere or die somewhere that could not be agreed on by a government that rules us all. We should have gone to win or not gone. Those that went, either by draft or by conviction, are to be commended not only for their bravery, but for their sense of duty and the fact that they merely obeyed the call of their country. Their heroism was displayed when they put the uniform on and put themselves in harms way. Not that they showed some action in duties "above and beyond", but that they were there, they were ready, while those of us, myself included, holding lottery number 311 did not have to go at all. I was merely lucky.

I cannot imagine the carnage of war or the ability to remove those sights and sounds from my mind. I do not think it can be done. Veterans must be much stronger than those of us who stayed behind, to be able to cope with their lives after such a war and to go on as if it did not happen. Paul Reed's account describes the process by which he chose to open his eyes and see the humanity of his enemy through a captured diary and to allow the forgiveness of our Creator to come into his life and that of Nguyen van Nghia and extend the gift of freedom to those of us who did not go and fight those terrible battles in that terrible war.

The poetry of the diary is not complex, but it has been translated. What may rhyme in English or structurally be wonderful is sometimes lost when translated into other tongues. In this case, what was written in Vietnamese may lose something in its translation into English, but the message comes through beautifully.Nguyen van Nghia's words speak for themselves:

Love bears no grudge ... Do not rush love in order to enjoy it... Handle love with care... Calm yourself, listen to the world speak... Show the way for the younger generation...

For this person that stayed behind, Kontum Diary showed me for the first time that a mistake had been made in entering that war. Those that died did not die in vain, for they answered their country's call. For those us of who did not or did not have to, I am, and we should all be eternally grateful. Read this with book with an open mind and see if you too find it a bit easier to exclude the prejudice, hatred, and the stupidity from our lives that make it so difficult to grow and become what it is that we desire to be.

As a fellow Vietnam veteran, I found Paul Reed's diary memorable and moving. All of us should be thankful his mother saved his keepsakes which motivated Paul Reed to follow his heart and reconcile not only with the man who wrote the diary but also with himself. The book is well written and reflects the author's courage in facing an incendiary time in his life and the life of the nation. His book contributes to the healing process.

The Kontum Diary was the beginning of a journey for me. Reading about Paul's experience in Viet Nam and the years that followed touched a deep chord inside. My first husband died young after his own tour of duty there in the sixties. He was exposed to agent orange which exaserbated the heart attack which eventually killed him. He also suffered from post traumatic stress syndrom, although it didn't have a name then. The Kontum Diary inspired me to write a song which, for me, was a catharsis, a way that I could personalize what I had read in Paul's book and understand what my husband had struggled with. I could, like Paul, let go of the pain and become healed. This is a book that goes far beyond the documentary of two men's lives and the way they came to bury their swords. It is an inspirational story of hope and sends a very strong message about letting go of prejudice and fear and embracing a path of love and friendship.

The author provides us with beautiful photographs of Vietnam, a thousand year old country. Pictures of mountains, seas, paddy fields, towns and villages alternated with those of children afflicted with war induced deformities and a veteran amputee receving treatment. What makes the book interesting is the juxtaposition of black photographs of the war and colored images of the present.

For the past is interwined with the present. The horrors of the war have left indelible marks on the people and country alike as Raymer has shown us in his book.

The authors do an excellent job of transposing the "American Image" of Vietnam into the beautiful and complex country that it really is. It draws from that "American Image" rooted in the drama of the war years, and gradually leads us to a clearer understanding of just what the country is today (and what it was before the intensity of the U.S. involvement)and where it may go in the future. It is encouraging, and very hopeful, to see the country and its people re-anchored in their traditional values--in spite of the current relic of communism--and to appreciate the renewed emphasis on education, family, business, and integration into the world economy. Clearly, it has been a long hard row to hoe, but it is moving in the right direction. Jack Smith's introduction lays this out, and it is reenforced by the text and Mr. Raymer's revealing photographs. The result is a far better sense of place and people.

Jack Smith's introduction says it all -- Vietnam is a beautiful, peaceful land that is going places. Doing this book brought back a lot of memories and was a tonic for the soul. Enjoy it!

As this book is a compilation of 52 letters written to be published as a weekly installment in a Japanese newspaper (each 2 or 3 pages long), it is an easy book to pick up when you have a few minutes. (In New York, we would call it a great subway read - you can read a letter or two between when you get on the subway and when you have to get off.) The letters combine Aung San Suu Kyi's political beliefs and accounts of the remarkable work of her political party (the National Democratic League) with vivid descriptions of Burmese culture and countryside. There are probably other books that focus solely on either the politics or the culture of Burma that do a more comprehensive job of describing it, but this seems like a great introduction to both.

This is a collection of 52 essays that Aung San Suu Kyi had written in the mid 1990's for a Japanese newspaper. She discusses a full range of topics including politics, religion, and the daily life of the Burmese people as seen through the eyes of the country's biggest proponent of democracy.

Her tales are fascinating and well written. They offer a glimpse into the world of an almost Orwellian regime and can peak the interest of readers unfamiliar with Burma's current state of unrest.

As a recent traveller to Burma, I was looking for more detail into Burma's history and details surrounding the nullified election in 1990. Though these issues are touched upon, each essay is a mere 2.5 page newspaper article which does not lend itself to such depth. It is however a fascinating read and a great introduction to Burma's struggle for democracy.

This is not just a book. Along with Aung San Suu Kyi's two other major books ("Freedom from Fear" and "Voice of Hope"), this book is destined to be at the heart of the struggle - and eventually the victory - for democracy in Burma. Among the three, this is the one I found most wonderful. Vivid, direct, it makes the reader feel as if she/he is listening to Suu Kyi, with her wonderful Asian voice and Oxford accent. Suu Kyi talks about Burma, about her people, about herself. She tells of the tragedies of her people, in the most natural and serene way, as if she were telling of everyday life - because indeed, this is the Burmese everyday life. She does not inflate things, she does not push for her views, yet she reaches the reader's heart immediately - at least she did with me ! She simply expresses views and feelings along with plenty of thrilling facts and anecdotes. I can't imagine of any reader who won't love this book and won't feel inspired by this account from Burma's heroine. After reading this and the other books, I felt so close to Burma's struggle that I absoliutely had to go there and meet Suu in person. So I did, I took off for Burma and managed to meet her. I had met many world personalities before, but this was truly a unique event in my life. The pages of the book kept coming back to my mind, as I could finally see the source of all that strength and hope, the incarnation of Burma's struggle. In the end I was deported from Burma for having made contact with her. Now these books are my inspiration to keep fighting on for democracy in Burma in all ways I can.

I was a bit hasty saying it didn't have IPA transcrptions. It does use a good amount of them...

Yes, this is one of the best dictionaries around. Although just because a dictionary has many entries doesn't automatically make it a good dictionary. If you want IPA transcriptions, it doesn't have it. If you don't know what IPA is, then it doesn't really matter to you ;-) But I am referring to the old 1977 printing. Maybe they might've changed, but I doubt it. I noticed in a few instances that they used one or two word translations, which isn't good dictionary practice, especially in foreign language dictionaries.

Anyways, be careful with bootleg copies of these dictionaries being printed from Cambodia or else where. The printing quality is really bad. The subscripts are a pain to make out. My bootleg has a pink cover and yellow fonts. Sometimes there were faded pages. Sometimes letters on the left edge of the page were cut off during scanning. So ask first before you buy.

Hmm... make sure this is the two volume book. Mines is about 1500 pages. If it is 800 or so, then it just might only be an abridged dictionary or just the first volume. If it is the first volume, then you need to ask for the second ;-)

The most comprehensive Cambodian-English dictionary available.