Product Description
Despite their highly distinctive cultures and ethnic diversity, very little is known about Laos's hill tribes. In this book, Stephen Mansfield offers an in-depth examination of these little-studied tribes and their fragile micro-cultures. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a new pictorial odyssey through Laos, with 1,200 color photographs of subjects "closely encountered" in all districts throughout the length and breadth of the land between 2001 and 2005, identified and indexed in an almost encyclopedic fashion. It passes through Vientiane and the familiar tourist destinations, colonial influences, the Vietnam War aftermath, daily life, agriculture and many other occupations, the pleasures and perils of travel, natural history, and each one of the country’s varied provinces. There is a rural flavor throughout, in keeping with this agrarian society. The culture and beauty of Laos are presented, while at the same time we are not spared from its problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Pictorial tour
What a wonderful pictorial tour of a culture and country with a rich history unspoiled by tourism. The author captures people and places like no other I have seen.

Amazing book!
Here is a book that was sorely missing.It will interest not only travelers planning a trip to Laos but also those that just want an in depth look at the country and its people.There are an amazing number of photos covers all aspects of the country.I don't think any other tourist has seen as much of the country....it's wonderful!

Close Encounters of a Real Kind
John J.S. Burton's Lao Close Encounters is an amazing compendium of the spirit of the people of Laos, told in brief narrative next to each beautiful photograph and hundreds of unique photographs, the latter most of which may mean that Thailand might have to turn over its Land of Smiles moniker to Laos. Almost all of the photos of men, women and children in this amazing tale of travel and cultural witness are of people smiling, openly and honestly, despite the country's poverty and its long history of conflict and war with neighboring countries.
This 226 page encyclopedic record of the author's treks and drives into remove villages, into large towns and across rain-pitted earthen jungle tracks is the story of a writer in love with one of Southeast Asia's most amazing countries. As well, he has a way with people, making them smile and feel at ease, a quality that only enriches the willingness of the many Lao people the author visited with and spoke to in opening up and adding quality of life to the detailed story told in these pages. From visits to national forests in Vientiane's Nasaithong District to brief talks with armed hunters holding up flying squirrels on a newly-cut mountain road, from photos of cluster bombs converted to onion beds to pictures of Frazetta-style landscapes, Lao Close Encounters must be one of the most underrated books in the world because it has not made it to the top 10 yet.
Seriously the book is a testament to the people and land it describes and the writer who was bravely able to convince his wife Jean to not only to lend a hand but do all the word processing! Like many of the rest of millions of expats the world over who have either settled down in foreign lands or who have children and grandchildren both at home and abroad, the author and his wife spend considerable time travelling long distances visiting family. More especially John returns to Laos and Thailand from time to time to follow lifelong interests and intellectual pursuits. Unfortunately he dropped by our home in Nakhonratchasima, Thailand at eleven pm one night not long ago while we were in Bangkok. Hopefully this good friend and author will visit more frequently, and take this reviewer under his wing for an education.
The six page index in Close Encounters is not all inclusive but very close. It will be handy for the reader to cross-check facts or quickly look up a spot that piques one's interest. There is also a more generic Table of Contents that offers a quick glimpse into the panoptic coverage this book encompasses.

Laos' six century-old monarchy was unseated on 2 December 1975, and just before the turn of that century was proclaimed a French colony. Over its erratic history Laos has withstood probably the world's heaviest aerial bombardment, wars and modern shorter clashes with its friendly neighboring countries, and suffered under the constraints that communism and its current government have erected over time. Landlocked between Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Laos has of late been overcoming its geographical constraints with a growing capitalist-style international trade as part of the ASEAN alliance and in part because of land connections erected over the Mekhong River with Thailand. Development is slow still, and occasionally there are ripples of ill-will bantered back and forth between Laos and its neighbors. For example, a Thai effort to produce a movie about Thao Suranaree, Korat's heroine who is reputed to have saved the kingdom from Lao invaders was profusely protested by the Laotians who used the Ayodhaya context to strike back at what they felt was an affront to one of their beloved rulers of the past. To date the Thais had refrained from actually releasing the movie.
Other important issues are contained in Burton's testimony of Laos, including that of power generation, so vital to the country's development and yet a policy-sensitive item in ASEAN's aspirations to become as powerful as the EU.
Yet probably the singular most important subject of the entire work, and of Laos itself, is the people. They made the book not just possible but certainly an inspiration for the author and his wife to produce a work that reflects culture, character, charisma, and country.
Who should read this book?
As a former Peace Corps volunteer like John is, I would recommend it to anyone considering joining the Peace Corps, as well as to diplomatic missions, school libraries and travel libraries. There is just so much information, in the way of not only the brief narratives but in the thousands of photos that are a credit to both camera and photographer. It is hoped that author Burton can find time to post some of these photos online because they need to be seen in full-screen version as well as in this wonderful account.
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Customer Reviews (2)

Fact packed
A very specialized publication, but crammed with both terse text and invaluable photos not found elsewhere.

nice book on the war in Laos
This is a good short comprehensive history of the Vietnam war in Laos from 1954 to 1975. Better than the history however is the photographs. Its a great collection of rare photographs of the people/places/things of the Laos war. I dont know how it would work as a first book on the subject for anyone because it assumes a certain amount of knowledge going in. But all in all, well worth looking at if you can find it. ... Read more

Product Description
Laos stands at the centre of mainland Southeast Asia, sharing borders with all the main states in the region including China, so that when one touches on Laos, one touches the heart of the region. This study of culture and society in Laos inevitably leads into broader issues associated with all the surrounding societies and cultures concerning their origins and contemporary developments. Essays focus on the creation of the idea of Laos and its culture, whether it be through literature, tourism, or the activities of nationalists, thereby contributing to more general debates on the nature of Southeast Asian nationalism. They look at questions of minorities in Laos and issues of ethnic change. And they look at Laos in its regional context, and at Lao businessmen in their new global context. Grant Evans is reader in anthropology at the University of Hong Kong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good collection
There are some great essays in here that have not been published elsewhere. Original research

Misguided misconceptions
Despite the growing need for flexible overviews of this part of the world, and, taking into account that the editor is an accomplished writer, this volume does not fill the need for even an undergraduate readership (let alone tourists!). It's poorly compiled and suffers from what must have been "old buddies" wanting in. A case in point is Trankell's paper. I've read it through twice and although I've spent two years of field work in the area (Trankell claims to have spent two weeks) I can't recognize any of the "data" she draws on to support point that escapes any sound mind. His paper is not the only bad one, but it does reflect badly on the entire composition of the volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Lao-Zi is at once one of the most celebrated and obscure of oriental philosophers in East Asian history. His work, "The Canon of the Way and its Benevolence", is studied in detail here, with the main part of the text being drawn from the author's lectures at various universities. ... Read more

Product Description
Can Laos—with its small, scattered, ethnically diverse population, enchanting but rugged landscapes, and rich natural resources—emerge from the shadows of its more powerful neighbors? It has been carved up by colonial powers in the nineteenth century and dragged into devastating revolution and war in the twentieth. The authors provide a full, frank, and engaging survey of Laos today, assessing its history, prospects, and hopes. The book is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in coming to grips with Laos today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If you can read only one book on the Vietnam War ...
There are now thousands of books about various aspects of the Vietnam War.I have read at least a hundred of them, trying to understand how the mighty U.S. could have been humbled by tiny North Vietnam.If you could read only one book -- and if you were trying to understand how America could lose a war to a 4th-rate outfit like North Vietnam -- this is the book to read.

Author Hannah was uniquely positioned to see the war strategically, and to discover how and why critical decisions were made to ensure that America could not win (Hannah served as political advisor to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief, Pacific).He focuses on Laos, which he reveals as the key to America's failure.Despite the advice of all his generals in the field, as well as that of the South Vietnamese military and political leadership, Lyndon Johnson chose to hearken to the self-serving "political" advice of Averill Harriman, refusing to allow U.S. forces to cut North Vietnam's supply line through Laos into the South.

Harriman's rationale is mysterious.Perhaps he just wanted to protect his exalted position as the essential man on Vietnam war policy.Johnson's nemesis was his irrational fear of "a wider war," and his lack of confidence in his own strategic abilities.The result was an endless war that could have been ended in a matter of months by a simple policy amendment allowing America, with its overwhelming preponderance of military force, to close down the enemy's supply lines through Laos, and thus quickly dry up the "insurgency" in the South.Richard Nixon, advised by the militarily obtuse Henry Kissinger, chose to continue Johnson's disastrous policy.

If you have read other books that left you less than clear about how the U.S. could have been so foolish, this is the one that will cut through the confusion and show why the outcome was unnecessary but inevitable, given the decision to avoid winning.Hannah deals in specifics, citing names, dates, and places, and leaving no doubt about who was responsible for America's first lost war, and the abandonment of America's Vietnamese allies to a vicious tyranny.

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Customer Reviews (6)

i threw this book away
The title of this book is misleading.For over 200 pages I got to read all about his family, his holidays, his pets, inside jokes, and other uneventful detail.Once in a while for a couple of pages he would slip in something about how he armed pre-teen children to fight in the jungles.If his book was his personal reflections, the title shouldn't say it's about CIA operations in Laos.

Excellent!Real people - Real PATRIOTS!
It is good to see a "down to earth" book like this, coming from a "been there, done that" author. As far as I am concerned, this book should be mandatory reading for all high school history teachers. Itwould be nice to see the future generations "completly" educated. A 68-69 Udorn RTAFB, Thailand veteran.

very indepth and detailed
I truely enjoyed reading this book. I especially liked the character developments of each person and their envolvement during the Vietnam War. i believe that Mr. Parker has a great understanding of the incidents asrelating to the CIAs' involement in the Vietnam War.

An accurate description of family, life, and war in Laos.
Close family members spent 4 years in Laos/Thialand during the war there.Mr. Parker's description reminded me so vividly of the slides and movies they brought home, as well as the life style they lived.If you want"shoot-em up", "blood and guts", "in thetrenches" stories, this isn't it.But this IS a sincere and warminsight to the cultural and social norms of clandestine operatives and howtheir responsibilities affect their family and relationships.I connectedwith this book in a BIG way.I would loveto read more of Parker'sLaotian adventures!It reminded me of 'family.'

A good read
A personal account and perspective of the war in up-country Laos.Definitely worth reading if you are interested in the country's history, though it is certainly presenting mainly one side of the conflict.Theauthor was there, so he knows what he's talking about, which makes a changefrom many other books based on second-person reminiscence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Really strange fiction
"This is my story, the story of a young and idealistic Marine" is how the author describes the book.But Mr. Rice was a warehouseman in the Headquarters base of the 1st Marine Division, and this is a work of extremely imaginative fiction that has no basis whatsoever in history.It can be read the same way a James Bond novel is, or a science-fiction adventure, but no one should confuse it with anything that ever happened in the war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent and simple.
a quick pace reading with many indepth information. Thank you ... Read more

Product Description
Remembering is socially constructed through a range of social activities, ranging from rituals to political events. The social activities presented here are in the context of"crisis of modernity" experiences related to processes such as secularization, integration into the modern nation-state and global economy, and the expansion of the mass media. These processes are linked to the rapid transformation of social and cultural reality, to an increasing sense of insecurity and anxiety in the present and to crises of identity.

The book makes a significant theoretical contribution to the study of social memory. It will be of considerable value to scholars interested in the ways people of Thailand and Laos are responding to the rapid and radical changes brought about by modernity. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on newly declassified documents and interviews with senior American and Lao officials, this study uncovers American covert operations in Laos during the Vietnamese War. It examines the structure of the US "secret war" in Laos and its long-term consequences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting Thesis
At War in the Shadow of Vietnam by Timothy N. Castle was the result of extensive research the author conducted for his doctoral dissertation. The author's thesis is that the U.S. was involved in a secret war in Laos from 1955 to 1975. This covert war was kept secret because of the agreement that was reached in 1954 that forbid foreign involvement or military aid to the area. Castle interviewed hundreds of both current and previous military service personnel, from the U.S., Laos and Vietnamese governments. He also interviewed personnel from the U.S. run Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In addition he was able to wade through hundreds of declassified documents which described U.S. involvement in Laos and Vietnam during these years. He begins with the question of why Laos was so important to the U.S. and after a brief introduction and background history of Laos, Castle outlines U.S. involvement through the supply of food, medical aid, as well as weapons and military aid to Laos.
Castle's history is brief but essential to the overall story he is telling. Laos was under the control of Thailand from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. At the Geneva Conference of 1954, agreements were drafted that required the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the region. A group known as the Pathet Lao, which was a Communist, nationalist movement and organization in Laos, was given, as a result of these agreements, free reign to establish itself in Laos's two northern provinces. However, the Viet Minh or North (Communist) Vietnamese, in spite of this agreement, never really withdrew from the border areas of Laos. They effectively controlled and directed all Pathet Lao movement. Castle admits that this paved the ground for North Vietnam to control the Communist regime while the U.S. controlled the non-Communist regime in Laos. Therefore, it was in response to North Vietnam's control of the Pathet Lao that prompted covert U.S. involvement in Laos. Castle says it was covert because it was totally against the 1954 Geneva Conference for the U.S. to supply either non-military or military aid to Laos.
Castle writes extensively about the American airline, Air America, which was used by the U.S. in its effort to keep the North Vietnamese and Communism out of Laos and especially South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese were funneling troops into South Vietnam through Laos and Air America was an effective tool against this threat. He writes, "The CIA's proprietary airline, Air America Inc., was established, along with the 4802d JLD, at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. The role of Air America in the supply and movement of troops and refugees, as well as in clandestine missions and search-and-rescue operations, was a vital component of the overall U.S. effort (2)."
Castle proceeds to show that U.S. aid, both non-military as well as military, was the thrust of their effort to prevent all of South East Asia falling to Communism. He says that the Soviet Union was supplying aid to the Communists and the U.S. felt compelled to do it's best to prevent such aid. This of course resulted in the threat of a confrontation between the two superpowers. He writes, "By December 1960 the conflict in Laos had, tragically, developed into a war supported by competing external forces. Moreover, the increasing levels of Soviet and American air power in Laos underscored the unyielding determination of Moscow and Washington to support their surrogates...(25)."
Castle begins by asking the question of why Laos was so important to the U.S. and through the interviews and declassified materials, he attempts to answer that question. The overall answer is that the U.S. simply feared that Communism, left unchecked, would eventually topple all of South East Asia. Castle says that U.S. involvement was so extensive only because the U.S. simply did not believe the Laotians were able to combat the Communist threat. He writes, "The possibility of American military intervention in Laos evinced a well-founded Pentagon conviction that the Royal Lao Army (FAR) was incapable of defending the kingdom. Recent intelligence reports showed that Pathet Lao soldiers, joined by North Vietnamese `advisers,' were easily achieving daily territorial gains against the Royal Lao government (30)." Therefore, the U.S. felt it had to send military aid and supply military training to the Royal Lao government.
Castle then concludes by stating that he believes the record proves that U.S. aid "fell miserably short (128)." The result was a war--in Vietnam--that the U.S. could not possibly win. It was a war in Laos in the shadow of Vietnam. Castle writes, "This examination has shown, however, that Laotian neutrality was never achieved (135)." However, Castle says that, whether or not American policy toward Laos was a failure, "depends upon one's criteria (135)." Some believe it was a huge victory, while others a huge failure. Regardless, Castle writes, "America's war in Laos, hidden from public view for so long, deserves greater study (137)."
Castle's work for the most part is difficult reading. Unless one possesses a unique understanding and historical perspective of South East Asia, as well as being well versed in military terms and strategy, this is not easy reading. However, Castle has offered a unique perspective of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. For that reason alone I believe it fits well into this assignment. Castle draws extensively from primary and secondary source material as well as declassified military documents as evinced by the nineteen-page bibliography. The student of the war in Vietnam should find this work useful, and the thirty-seven pages of notes excellent research material.
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