I have been using the Hecho en Mexico engagement caledars since around 1995 and find them to be useful and nice momentos of times present and past. If you look at the sample pages you can determne if this calendar is for you. If you like Mexican culture than this is for you as each page of five or so days has a corresponding photograph of something"tipico" or typically Mexican. The photographs vary in subject but is like a mini-cultural artifact covering such diverse topics as food, milagros, movie posters, playing cards(loteria), restaurant menus, art, folkloric costumes and in general, all facets of Mexican folklore. This years calendar seems to be more focused on a theme. The majority of the photographs are dealing with vintage items more than usual which evokes a sense of nostalgia for old, romantic Mexico. Some of the colorful pages are familair imagery but there are plenty of unusual images rarely seen outside of Mexico. Each month is broken up into about five pages, each page takes up about an equal(5) number of quadrants representing each day for you to write down your commitments. Each day has the saints day. The explanations of the photgraphs, days and months or illustrations are bilingual for an extra little feature. At the end is a section for notes, phone numbers and special dates totaling some ten pages for your convenience. This is a fantastic little calendar for your personal use and to keep after the year is over for the beautiful pictures. Not exactly a business calendar but it is highly recommended for those who have appointments and schedules to meet nonetheless and who are into Mexican culture.

If you love Mexican culture, history and especially cinema, this is the calendar for you.

It is spiral bound and includes posters from some of Mexico's famous and not so famous movies of the past. Also included are Mexican folk art, cigar wrappers, paintings of the Virgen and general posters of Mexican life.

This is a book from the fire team, squad and platoon viewpoint of vicious fighting and death. The book covers events in 1967 of fighting in the hills surrounding the Khe Sanh airbase. The author provides a brief overview of how the Marines got into the Khe Sanh area at the insistence of General Westmoreland, MACV Commander. And the problems that move caused for the Marines fighting a long way from their support in difficult terrain. Most of the book provides in great detail the actions by individuals, NCOs and junior officers of their terrible hardships and blood shed in those hills and jungle. The author also covers the serious problems the Marines had with their M16 rifles which had just been introduced into the field prior to the Hill Fights. Thirty-six years later the M16 works a lot better in combat, but in 1967 it failed our Marines in the hills. The appendix provides a short bio of the key individuals mentioned and what happened to them after the fighting in their later years.

Edward F Murphy delivers his finest book yet about a battle that has long been over shadowed by the siege of Khe Sanh. I've waited for this book to come out a long time and I wasn't disappointed. His writing style is sharper and more intimate than his already great previous works. He is now on the level of Keith William Nolan. Edward F Murphy has now written some of the finest books on the Vietnam war.
The Hill Fights starts off with a bang and masterfully chronicles some of the heaviest fighting in the Vietnam war.
Khe Sanh was a special forces base until NVA activity in the area heated up. Westmoreland doesn't want the base to fall like the Ashau valley base did in 1966 so Marines get the call to go and prop up the base. Marines arrived at Khe Sanh Combat base and slowly take over. The infiltrating NVA intially lay low and the Marines had little luck in pinpointing them. The spring of 1967 turns deadly as the NVA decides to take a stand. On Hill 861 the entrenched NVA ambush a platoon of Marines. Low on ammo and in harsh terrain the Marines fight hard. Sadly the Marines are commited piecemeal and suffer heavy casulties before taking Hill 861. The Marines suffered 24 KIA, 46 WIA, and 8 MIA taking this hill that over looked the Khe Sanh combat base. Battalions of Marines arrived as reinforcements and they set out clearing the NVA out of the area. Hills 881 South and 881 North were assaulted next. Brutal combat takes place as the NVA holds it's own against the elite Marines. Finally the Marines superior firepower, training, and will to win allows the brave Marines to defeat the NVA. After 12 days of battle 168 Marines and Navy corpsman were KIA, 443 were wounded. 2 Marines were also MIA. The NVA lost 824 dead & 551 probably killed. Finally the hills fights were over and those that were there would never forget. One of the problems that hindered the Marines was the M16 which jammed much too frequently. Much blood was shed by dead and wounded Marines before the weapon would be fixed. The Khe Sanh area would grow relatively quiet until the well documented 77 day siege the following year.
The Hill Fights was one of the biggest battles in the Vietnam war and now can no longer be overlooked by history. This is a fine book and a must have for those into the Vietnam war or for those curious as to what it was like.

This book is bascially a mid-upper division college text on the development of Modern Laos from the 1800's to the present. A fine book on the recent history of Laos, the author strives to be fair and evenhanded in placing responsibility for the various troubles plaguing the country. However, I would have liked more general background on the country, especially the history that predated European contact. Only the history necessary to explain some modern interactions is present from that period. More maps and figures would have been nice as well. Only four maps and no figures are present, and the author refers to many locations that aren't listed explictly on the maps. The type is set rather close as well, making for a bit of a strain in reading. That said, the information was well laid out and seemed very well researched. I learned a great deal about the development of modern Laos.

Martin Stuart-Fox has produced a concise, comprehensive account of Lao history, with emphasis on the revolutionary and post-revolutionary eras. Stuart-Fox is arguably the leading English-language expert on the history of Laos, and this work proves it; his book is meticulously researched and skillfully written.

This is the book I looking forward to read. Tony, an uncle, told me about the book and I could not wait to read it!
This is an insight of a soldier who took part in war far from home and had to do things that is not always right but as soldier he had to obey orders. It is a compelling book that I could not put down till I finished it!
A point I would like to see rectified is why Tony denied his South African background and up bringing? He was born and brought up in South Africa till he left to join WWII. We are all proud of his achievements in his adopted country but would like to see his conection with South Africa not forgotten.

Anthony Blondell became involved with the Montagnards of South Vietnam in the early 1960s when he was part of the U.S. Army Special Forces Airborne unit stationed there. Honor And Sacrifice: The Montagnards Of Ba Cat, Vietnam is Blondell's personal and compelling narrative of those times and that place within the larger context of the Viet Nam war. Honor And Sacrifice is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to American military history in general, and the growing library of Viet Nam military memoirs in particular.

This is an excellent grammar description of Bahasa Indonesia, the language spoken by almost 200 million people. It is suitable both for students of the language and linguists interested in studying the intricasies of its morphology and syntax. It is easy to follow, and surpasses other available grammars for this language.

I know of no other Indonesian grammar books and I don't think you need another one if you have this! In its pages you will find a full description Indonesian that is complete and as easy to understand as possible while still retaining an academic perspective. Every feature of Indonesian is covered including an excellent description of the affixes that often pose a challenge to learners. All parts of speech are well addressed. Also included is a glossary of many grammatical terms that you may come accross in studying Indonesian. In fact I think some of them are unique to concepts of Indonesian (and Malay). I am still fairly new at Indonesian so another feature of this book I like is that the examples chosen use everyday words that you are likely to encounter in newspapers and just generally living in an Indonesian speaking environment. Well done on that score Mr Sneddon! If you are a serious student of Bahasa Indonesia then you would do well to have this book at your side. There seem to be so few resources for learning Indonesian but this is definitly a quality resource. One of the only drawbacks, but an understandable one considering the approach taken, is that the informal language that you are likely to hear in Indonesia is not covered. But what the heck! This is a grammar of university Indonesian after all. (Bythe way, if you want informal Indonesian I recommend "Making Out In Indonesian" by Pater Constantine.

A book called Rethinking Camelot by Noam Chomsky introduced me to the importance of this book. While the United States had suffered a number of defeats in countries in which we had chosen not to fight (China being gigantic compared to France), most of the people involved in maintaining American policy on Vietnam had accepted the idea that a way could be found to win in Vietnam. John M. Newman considered the importance of that idea "like going to church" for the people whose actions would be based entirely on the strength of such convictions. My father (who was not mentioned in the book being reviewed) was a minister who had been ordained during World War II, possibly a good excuse for not actually fighting in that war, but not good enough to convince me that God would always give us perpetual peace out of the goodness of His heart for having saved the world from the domination of anyone who actually wanted to rule here. Chomsky's book was based on the premise that American policy was the desire to win in Vietnam, an aim which Kennedy couldn't have deserted until this country had extracted the last full measure of devotion from everyone concerned. In the present, it should be much easier to admit the tendency to waffle, as all things have been twisted into a psychotic multiplicity in which our deepest desires take part in the constant attack on the facts. As much as those like Chomsky, who believe that Americans should maintain a certain level of belief in policy, might differ, I am inclined to think that some real dirt can be dug up on this issue, and this book shows what the official record looks like when its secrecy has been stripped away.

As one who has both read Newman's book and as one who served in Vietnam myself, (1970) I can only say I feel a deep sense of betrayal by my own Government, that I have served so well in two wars in a military capacity and as a Civil Servant in a civilian capacity. The document's that Newman publishes in his book were classified "Top Secret" at the time of Kennedy's Assassination. Thanks to the "Freedom of Information" act, that is no longer the case and we can now see the behind the scenes moves that led the US deeper and deeper into Vietnam. We can also see Kennedy's efforts to reverse course before it became too late.

My grandmother who is now dead and millions of other Americans never saw JFK's NSAM - 263 classified Top Secret. Nor did I. That NSAM was quietly shelved by Lyndon Johnson two days after Kennedy's Assassination and his own NSAM implimented. NSAM - 273 freezing everyone in place. Today, thanks to Newman's book we can now see who was the real culprit responsible for America's slide into Vietnam. And it certainly wasn't that awful Roman Catholic President (in the eyes of anti-Kennedy bigots) in the White House, John F. Kennedy.

Instead the REAL culprit was Lyndon Baines Johnson and THAT is how History will eventually record it. Hats off to John M. Newman for bringing these Document's into public view for future generations to "learn" from. That is IF, people are now willing to learn.

William P. Urban

Sgt US Army
PO2 US Navy

In all the years of the American War in Viet-Nam there was only one Brigade officially known as the "Jungle Warriors" that distinction belonged to the young men of the 11th light Infantry Brigade of the Americal Infantry Division (23rd Inf. Div.)
Units of this brigade are more imfamously known for the My Lai Massacre. Subsequentially,the 11th brigade unofficially became known as "The Butcher Brigade."
Sergeant Briscoe didn't meantion the fact that Colin Powell who at that time was Major Powell was the executive officer of the 11th light infantry brigade.
Bobby Briscoe's book is by no means fiction ...it is as real as it gets. It should be made into a movie.
I was there with Briscoe as a medic in the 3rd bn 1st Infantry and knew him and some of his subjects and subject matter rather well. If you were in Viet Nam or your life has somehow been affected by a Viet Nam veteran ... this is a "Must Have Book!"

i read this book and it jumps out at you,you cannot put this down.you feel the pain and the joy's of these incredibly brave men! it's painful to think of all the guy's who didn't make it,and the loved one's of these men.i have never felt so much,cried so much,or felt connected to history until this book.God Bless the men of this book,it should become a movie!T.Parker

Easy to carry around and sturdy for it's lamenated. For it's size it can fit in one's small bag. The index of places of interest such as palaces, parks, Wats, bus stations, and other venues are listed. Necessity places such as embassies are very useful as well, especially as one is doing visa work to travel to neighboring countries. If you're a tourist and your survival Thai isn't very developed, this map will help you when taking taxis. Choa Praya River express stops are also included

Highly recommend. We used it for 4 days to get around this fantastic city.

This is exactly the type of reference book I was looking for. Not only does the book breakdown the phonetics of Burmese in a step-by-step manner, it also is very easy to place in my pocketbook. I have used the book to help me communicate with my nanny and that in itself is a blessing. While I use the book to freshen up on my Burmese, my nanny loves perusing through it to freshen up on her English.

I have visited Myanmar three times (and plan a fourth) since purchasing this phrasebook. I would not even consider traveling to Myanmar without it. It won't teach you Burmese, but it will do what it is for -- provide you with phrases. At first you will feel like you have to be able to read the author's mind to know where in the book to find the right phrase. The best approach: just remember where you are, hotel, restaurant, etc. It works.

This is a useful pocket sized book that has mostly common (and some not so common) words you might need while travelling. It is divided into themes and even at the end there are some crosswords to "use what you learned". It also uses accent marks to help pronounce the words correctly. It is a "neat" little book!

If you are a non-Tagalog traveling to the Philippines, this book is a must. A concise dictionary, lots of useful phrases organized by topic, a pronunciation guide, even an introduction to Filipino grammar! Small size makes it easy to carry.