I am currently going to college and I took a course on the Vietnam crisis and war, and Even the Women Must Fight was one of the last books that we read. After reading books that focused mainly or even completely on the American experience in Vietnam, it was extrmely interesting to read about how the Vietnamese saw and dealt with the war. The thousands of civilians who added such strength to the North Vietnamese war effort were people who had been described in all of the sources we read as 'coolie' laborers--people conscripted by the govenment to do necessary work. To read the accounts of women who fought in the war, or risked their lives to maintain the Ho Chi Minh trail simply added a new dimension to my understanding of the Vietnamese side, and indeed of the entire war itself.

As a college student studying the America's war with Vietnam, I was struck by the determination and nationalism that the Vietnamese displayed in their battles against foreign occupation. Seeking to further my study and learn more about the perspectives of the Vietnamese I turned to Turner's book Even the Women Must Fight. The information that I found in the book I could not have found anywhere else. Turner's extensive interviews and personal memoirs from women who fought in the Viet Cong opened up a previously unreported accounts of what Vietnamese women accomplished in their war with America. These women's successes are truly amazing and much deserving of a book documenting their vital contributions.

Karen Turner's book is a well researched, interesting and compassionate discussion of women who made up the backbone of Viet Nam's fighting forces. She does not overwhelm the reader with intellectual theory and in doing so she brings us closer to a source of history ignored and overlooked for decades. It's difficult to write about and interview former soldiers who continue to suffer the effects of such enormous violence, but Turner does it with great insight and awareness. This is the perfect book for history students or university faculty who want to hear the voices of Viet Nam's strongest fighters.

DK's India is a work of joy. Very thorough and informative (including phrase books for five languages and tons of practical tips). Bought it in India and browsed through it as we visited places doubling the wonder of each experience. Written and put together by obviously a great team of writers, illustrators, art historians, photographers, editors and seasoned travellers. I am now finding that it is great for easy-chair travel around India also.
Wonderful. Shabash!

As an Indian and Indophile, I found the layout of this book quite unique. It is not only a travel guide but also a concise historical, cultural and culinary guide.
The photographs, plans and descriptions are so well done that I am reading it as I would a novel, reveling in every page!
I am learning so much about the land of my birth through this book.
Thanks to the writers and the editor for a magnificent job.

Krishna Jayaraman

I was delighted to read your review of the Eyewitness Travel Guide to India. As the project editor of this title, I would like to add a few words on why this guide is special. First, it is the only international guide to India written entirely by Indians. This makes it more accurate, more authentic and more full of insights into Indian culture, customs and lesser known aspects of the country than any of the other guides. Apart from the well known sights, this guide also covers fascinating off-the-beaten track places and subjects that most other guides do not cover. Our special features on themes such as religion and iconography, Indian music and dance, and the great epics make these complex subjects easily accessible to a foreign visitor. This guide is like a visual encyclopedia, and is as much a book for the armchair traveller, or an India enthusiast, as for the first time traveller.
Please do however give the correct names for the editors of the 2 Eyewitness travel titles on India. The editor of the Delhi, Agra Jaipur Eyewitness Guide is Aruna Ghose. The editor of the India Eyewitness Travel Guide is Nandini Mehta.
I look forward to reading reviews of these titles by your readers.

Laced with reproductions of paintings and photographs from various sources, this fact-filled volume provides readers, in the early chapters, with a fascinating view of the always exciting, sometimes poignant, and too often tragic history of the Philippine archipelago. For many Americans unfamiliar with the mercurial nature of United States policy towards the Philippines following the Spanish American War, there will be surprises. Read carefully the content of letters from foot soldiers to their schoolmates and families back home. The author's many chapters on the distinct periods of Filipino immigration to Hawaii, Alaska, and the contiguous United States are colorful and informative. The reader discovers that it is the rich heritage of diverse customs and traditions that make the Filipino presence an especially welcome addition to the American scene. This is a book that everyone will enjoy.

It's good to see it all down and organized in the way you have in a single book. Makes history very readable, especially for those of us who got almost no Philippine or Philippine-American history in our American education of 2 & 3 generations ago.

This is a great book (a must reading for all Fil-Ams). It looks like a time capsule with details. It will make a good gift to friends and the young Filipino Americans.

I thought this book was a real sleeper. I bought it as a used paperback and based on its title and cover, I expected a "pulpy" style blood and guts novel. Once I looked at it closer, I realized it was a true story. And once I read it, I realized it was an exceptionally well-conceived and well-written book.

The book is in two parts - the first part being about the tour of duty in Vietnam for an infantryman and the second nominally being about "The World". I thought the first part did a fine job of describing the physical and mental hardships imposed on the grunts by the climate, the terrain and the unpredictable boredom/terror nature of the conflict. Following that, Part Two takes the reader through what I believe is the material that really distinguishes this book as one that anyone who studies the Vietnam war should read. Anderson presents a thoughtful and straightforward discussion about the attitudes of Americans who served and those who did not and the forces that shaped those attitudes. He does a great job of relating these to the struggles the servicemen faced in reentering civilian life and to the struggles they faced in dealing with Vietnamese society and their own combat leaders. Placing the veterans' homecoming adjustments, atrocities and fraggings in this context was what moved this book from the very good to the extraordinary class.

Easy to read, hard to put down. Read it - you'll enjoy it and you'll learn some interesting things.

I served with "Andy" in Vietnam in 1969 in the First Battalion Third Marines. He was a friend to everyone and paid very close attention to things around him knowing he would write this book. Many of the stories in the book are based on actual happenings. The pallet of mortar rounds exploding really happened and it was a wonder more Marines weren't killed. This book ranks along with Jim Web's "Fields of Fire" as two of the most realistic Vietnam combat accounts. A friend of mine served under Jim Web and lost his right arm just below the shoulder. He and Mr. Web still stay in touch and continue the bond that can only be formed in combat. Don't waste you money on all those Vietnam war novels until you have read "The Grunts" and "Fields of Fire".

Anderson's book has got to be the next best thing to "being there". I am envious of his talent for "detailing" the ordinary. He is absolutely "right on" in describing just how wonderful plain old ordinary water can taste. I read Anderson's book before I joined the Corps. Since then I've read all the big names in this genre; Sassoon, Graves, Owen, Mailer, Jones, Caputo, O'brien, Webb. I guess I tend to identify more with Caputo's, Webb's, and Anderson's books since they're Marines. It really doesn't matter because they were all good and they all sent a message that has never been heeded. I wish someone would tell a story about us and all the silly c**p that went on in Somalia.

This is a nice introduction to chinese new year. I will use it as a informational guide and have my Chinese-Vietnamese students look it over to facilitate a discussion about their new year. Thanks.

This is a simply written and beautifully illustrated book about the Chinese New Year. Through delicate line drawings and jewel like colors the author/illustrator captures the essence of Chinese mythical creatures, flora, fauna, heavenly creatures and mortals. We learn about Chinese zodiac symbols, gods, how Chinese people prepare for the New Year, why they eat special kinds of foods on New Year's Day, the symbolism of specific flowers as gifts, and the meanings of Chinese characters hung on doorways. Demi is the talented author and illustrator of many children's books with Chinese themes. This book is definitely one of my favorites.

Need an excuse to explore ethnic and religious holidays and practices? This is your vehicle. The interesting and exciting practices surrounding Chinese New Year can so easily be compared in writing, drama and story-telling of many other cultures. You cannot go wrong with this book.

Haven't yet hit too much of the content, but it's a wonderful publication in it's photography and high-quality publication value... Great pictures, great detail, and from what I see, the discussion of the temple architeture and sculpture looks equally promising. Definitely more of an art and architecture book about temples, than a book about Hinduism it's temples.

It is fifficult fo find a book on this subject which is equal or better!. It gives a comprehensive description of ancient Indian architecture than spans several thousands of years. The photographs should be commented for giving the finest details all all the intricae pattersn. The construction details even provide information about the materials used, floor plan dimensions, sculpture techniques etc. Best of all, there is even map locations so someone can visit these hlly sites for themselves! This book is a real pilgrimage tour of India and much more!

I would highly recommend this book for historians, philosophers and especially "people Of Indian Origin (PIO) whose ancesors came from India over a century or more and have little contact with the former mainland as are many Indian residents here in Trinidad & Tobago and elsewhere.

I traveled in India for six months in 1997-98 and am now reliving the visit, thanks to this wonderful visual survey. A great feast for the eye. Best of the India photo books.

If you liked this book, you might also want to check out other photo books of India that examine areas differently...for instance, there is a wonderful illustration book by a British artist (can't recall his name now; he also did a book on Italy as well)...and a fabulous in-depth book on Varanasi, called Benares Seen From Within, by Richard Lannoy. This book is a must-have.

Taschen has published a spectacular book called Indian Interiors, which is a real spectacle of wealthy people's fabulous homes and a few peasant places, too.

This is the expedition book about the first ascent of the difficult Southwest Face route. Bonington's own writing, a little dry, is supplemented by interesting excerpts from the diaries of his teammates, including Pete Boardman, who as always writes beautifully. This is the ascent on which Mick Burke was lost. Overall, though not quite among the very best of mountaineering books, this is a classic and belongs on all shelves. The photos included capture the bleakness and mystery of the terrain and the precarious box-tent camps beautifully.

I first read this book as a young boy. I was enthralled by the personal accounts from the climbers that took part in the expedition, and by Bonnington's writing style.

Each time I have read it, I gain my respect--anew--for the men who leave the comforts of home and civilization to brave the roof of the world. Of all of the accounts of Everest expeditions, this is by far the best. I especially enjoy the section on logistics. Having been a climber for many years, I enjoy seeing how other people "do it."

The story of the British expedition to the Southwest face of Everest by the expedition leader Chris Bonington. The story is well told and very interesting. Bonington intermingles his own thoughts with the views of other members of the team. One of the better books on an Everest expedition I have read. I found it much more interesting then Tom Hornbein's "The West Ridge." Bonington includes many Appendix sections, almost half the book, on the logistics of the expedition. You could run your own expedition by just reading the appendixes. A classic in the Everest pantheon.

I enjoyed reading this book. I bought it for my husband as a gift, but I read it before he did. The photographs and stories were about at least one family from each North and South American country. Wide range of lifestyles, from tribal Amazonians, peasants in Mexico, poor and rich of Brazil, single mother families in West Indies, farmers in Canada, and urban folks from Chicago. The book covers their diligences and futilities in this world as a family unit.

This type of book should never be allowed to go out of print. It should be available for all to read and learn from. In it, Helene Tremblay offers a fascinating insight into the ordinary lives of various people from The Americas and The Caribbean by spending a typical day with a typical family. In a beautifully illustrated book, sensitively written, Ms Tremblay gently pushes opens a window into their different worlds, eating, resting and working with the families. There is no feeling of intrusion, just an unspoken respect for their way of life. It is at once humbling, honest, moving and utterly compelling. It is a book I refer to many times and can highly recommend.

I've already given a review for the first book which is on this page for some reason... so I wholeheartedly agree that the book on Asia and the Pacific is just as spectacular as the book on the Americas... It was out of print and I was amazed when Amazon.Com came through with a used copy that was in beautiful condition! I was very pleased and impressed and am delighted to have this book in my collection... I was very intrigued by the families in Asia and the exotic Pacific! Very much worth the wait!

I read this book many years ago and enjoyed so much that I have read everything I could find by Mr. Lee, and since then other Chinese American authors.

It is a shame that for so many years the book was rejected by young Asian Americans as being "too white face" or "Uncle Tom" as it is not so at all. C.Y. Lee was a Chinese immigrant and wrote of the society as he saw it at that time, which is not the way the younger generation, who did not live through the immigrant experience, want to see it. This is not unusual, many well schooled, well fed sucessful Americans do not want to know that their grandparents arrived in steerage with their belongings tied up in kit bag, unable to speak the language, and worked 18 hours a day in menial jobs so that their children could get ahead.

This is a poignant story of Chinese immigrant families in Southern California during the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the difficulty the young American-raised men had in finding a wife. They were not allowed to bring women in from China, and they were not permitted to marry non Asians. Because of the Communist takeover, many Chinese who had dreamed of returning home to China when they retired after working all their lives were unable to do so. The situtation created an artifically stressed society. The book has tragedy and sadness, as well as hope and joy.

My only criticism of the novel, and a mild one at that, is that it frequently reads like a play script, especially in the last chapter, where there is a lot of dialogue, followed by descriptions of the action which read like stage directions. It is possible that the novel was orignally intended to be a play.

Warning, possible spoiler:

The musical version of the book which was also filmed was very loosely based on the novel, in fact one of the major characters was created for the musical. Apparently this has been done again with the new version playing on Broadway. Readers expecting to find a printed version of the musical may be disappointed.

As a child, I saw the film "Flower Drum Song" and fell in love with the film. Though at the time, it was considered a no-no amongst the Chinese community. But none of those who scorn the film had even read either the book or seen the film. It was a beautiful made film that featured Asian actors who sing, dance, performed to a melodic score by one of the most creative song writing team. Therefore, I am so glad that this book is finally come to light and to be re-embraced into literary culture. Perhaps it will hopefully quail those critics who are as narrow-minded as those who thought we are just busboys and Charlie Chans. Be enlightened, and read this great piece of story-telling of a familial saga that we can all relate--regardless if we are Chinese or not. Enjoy, read and be enchanted. As well check out the film--it might change one's opinion.

Originally published in 1957, this poignant and charming novel tells of a young man's struggle to fit in. Love, family and all the ups and downs that go with them are told with bittersweet humor. Its re-release is a wonderful companion to David Henry Hwang's new theatrical book which revives the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical on Broadway this year. Hurrah!

It is soo good !! I tried the eggs curry from Indonesia it is so yummy !! Also the have menu suggestions so that was real helpfull since I do a lot of parties !!!

This book is incredible. First, the photography is excellent, beautifully portraying most of the recipes. The book begins with a complete listing of all of the ingredients used. It is about 6 pages of pertinent information, including pictures for some of the most obscure ingredients. The recipes cover a thorough range of the basic recipes that you may be looking for. I am Indian and am thrilled with the list. Just about every recipe is critical, they appear back-to-back and have several pictures. I will probably cook every recipe in the Indian section. That section alone makes it worth the purchase. However, it covers seven other asian cuisines in a very similar manner. It also offers enticing "melting pot" menus, mixing the cuisines. You will get the recipes you want, that you can make, with a little commentary and exquisite pictures. This is one of the best cook books I have ever seen.

All recipes are well described and illustrated. Everything is clear and easy to understand.