A great collection of tid bits, with a few rare photos, too

Unique compilation of helicopter operations stories covering the entire period of the US involvement in SEA the '60-'70s. The British author solicited these accounts and photos from veteran aviators who drew them from their memories and provided photos from their personal collections - most photos never seen before as they are not from military files. These are are real, no BS, accounts of what it was like to serve in Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine helicoper units in the complex and challenging conditions which made up the US effort to assist the nation of South Vietnam. Numerous short story accounts detailing thrills, terror, humor and pathos which made up the daily lives of military helcopter pilots in Southeast Asia. Great photos of every type helicopter flown in that theater.

Violent Civilities is at once a practical and theoretical demonstration of how nationalism and colonialism are inextricably intertwined, not only in their epistemological premises and ideological conceptualisations, but also in their policies and through their founding institutions.
Drawing from an array of the most significant anglophone postcolonial critics such as Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Stuart Hall and Ashis Nandy, Prem Poddar uses the Indian nation-state as a case-study in order to present a convincing account of how language and literature, within the institutions of public education and academia, have come to be represented as symptoms of certain national characters or characteristics, first by the colonial authorities, then later by Indian nationalist independence fighters and finally by literary critics from various backgrounds and nationalities. Poddar's analysis constitutes an urgent plead to take the historical grounding of the discipline of literature into consideration in the debate of its function and objectives as an academic discipline, and in doing so, he gives equal intention to the discursive as well as the institutional and political conditions of possibility, seeing them as a whole in which the subject of enunciation must be excavated and contextualised. Prem Poddar's book is highly recommendable not only because of its very competent engagement with postcolonial theory applied on archival research but also because of its bold and direct address of some of the basic epistemological, institutional presumptions which structure academic conceptualisation and evaluation of literature. Far from staying in the common binary between 'relativism' and 'universalism', Poddar's analysis demasks these concepts as parts of the same political take on culture and territory, a point which makes his work highly relevant beyond anglophone research areas. His refreshing courage to insist on and his ability to demonstrate how theory is practice, how discourse is event comes across as unusually forceful as it is adeptly concretised both in the historical and political context of post/colonialism and as it contributes in an innovative way to the ongoing debates about the formation and objectives of literary criticism.

Violent Civilities is at once a practical and theoretical demonstration of how nationalism and colonialism are inextricably intertwined, not only in their epistemological premises and ideological conceptualisations, but also in their policies and creating of institutions to uphold them.
Drawing from an array of the most significant anglophone postcolonial critics such as Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Stuart Hall and Ashis Nandy, Prem Poddar uses the Indian nation-state as a case-study in order to present a convincing account of how language and literature, within the institutions of public education and academia, have come to be represented as symptoms of certain national characters or characteristics, first by the colonial authorities, then later by Indian nationalist independence fighters and finally by literary critics from various backgrounds and nationalities. Poddar's analysis constitutes an urgent plea to take the historical grounding of the discipline of literature into consideration in the debate of its function and objectives as an academic discipline.In doing so, he gives equal attention to the discursive as well as the institutional and political conditions of possibility, seeing them as a whole in which the subject of enunciation must be excavated and contextualised
His unravelling of how British nationalist discourse has depended on and used literature as a means to promote its status by the creation of specific institutions is relentless in its questioning of the concept of 'universalism' of the Enlightenment. What is revealed in the postcolonial context is its incapacity to deal with incommensurable cultural formations whose translations and interactions cannot be fathomed in the notions of 'value' and 'development', 'progress' without these losing their imagined referents. At the same time, the independence of India has a certain limit in the sense that it has adopted the same power structures and epistemological grounding as the British empire, the same illusion about comprising difference under the label of diversity, glossing over or denying or suppressing any radical deviant behaviour. The book is rich on examples from the Indian archive of official reports and Poddar uses his analysis to criticise Indian nationalist politicians of independence for not having seized the opportunity to redefine and re-think the premises for a cultural and social collectivity.
This analysis also gives proof of how the thoughts of Frantz Fanon are used constructively in anglophone postcolonial theory as Poddar draws on his descriptions of how the colonised population can or will react by mimicry, direct opposition or by searching the desires and urges of the 'common people' in their struggle to evade the colonial jug. Poddar presents several examples of these 'phases' from the Indian-British implementing of nationalism on Indian territory, but does not submit this particular 'development' to the critique of the progressive temporality of development which is questioned through Bhabha's notion of 'time-lag' between the modern colonial centres and the traditional peripheral territories. This does not in any way make Poddar's argumentation less convincing but leaves Fanon appear as more limited by a determinist approach than what may be the case.
Prem Poddar's book is highly recommendable not only because of its very competent engagement with postcolonial theory applied on archival research but also because of its bold and direct address of some of the basic epistemological, institutional presumptions which structure academic conceptualisation and evaluation of literature. Far from staying in the common binary between 'relativism' and 'universalism', Poddar's analysis demasks these concepts as parts of the same political take on culture and territory, a point which makes his work highly relevant beyond anglophone research areas. His refreshing courage to insist on and his ability to demonstrate how theory is practice, how discourse is event comes across as unusually forceful as it is adeptly concretised both in the historical and political context of post/colonialism and as it contributes in an innovative way to the ongoing debates about the formation and objectives of literary criticism.

18th century California was a time of prejudice. Walk Across the Sea, centers around independent Eliza Jane, a young teenage girl who lives with her parents in a northern California lighthouse. When a mysterious Chinese immigrant boy saves her goat from the California waters, she tries to find him to pay him back. She soon learns that prejudice surrounds the Chinese by the people of her town. Along the way helping her is her brave and helpful friend Sadie, her open minded and kind neighbor, Dr Wilton and her pet goat Parthenia. This story has a mix of friendship, prejudice, religion, compassion, and morality. This out of the ordinary story shows prejudice back then and gives lessons on how we can be rid of prejudice today. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested about life in general. Walk Across the Sea makes you think about things that you normally wouldn't think about in life. You learn you always have to been open minded and very conscious of other people and their beliefs. If you want to read a different story, Walk Across the Sea is for you! I also recommend ALL books in the Dear America, My Name Is America, and Royal Diaries Series.

Ever since she was three years old, Eliza Jane McCully has lived in the lighthouse at Crescent City, California, where her father is the keeper. Now thirteen, Eliza has many responsibilities, helping her father to keep the light burning, and eagerly awaiting the birth of her new baby sibling. One day while chasing her stubborn goat across the pathway to the island, she is caught by a wave. A Chinese boy saves her goat and warns her about the wave just in time. Eliza is confused, because her father has taught her that the Chinese are evil heathens. An unexpected tragedy causes Eliza to doubt her own beliefs as well as questioning her father's. When the townspeople run the Chinese out of Crescent City, Eliza watches in horror, unable to do anything. But when the boy who rescued her comes to her for help, Eliza must make the ultimate decision. Is she is brave enough to openly defy her father? I highly reccomend this novel to readers who enjoy historical fiction.

This book is hilarious!...and informative. The travel essays tell how it really is to travel in some of these incredibly remote, but incredibly wonderful parts of SE Asia. Unlike most travel guides that merely descibe the points of interest, without honestly telling how difficult it can be to get there--without doing it the "tour group way"--this book tells how YOU can do it on your own...but gives some advice to ease the trip as well as to caution the traveler. Every chapter also provides tons of information on the history and politics, etc. of the region, too. But what I like most is that the author encourages everyone to give independent travel a try. And by traveling as the author and his wife did, anyone can do it on a shoestring budget. Personally, I would RATHER eat and do as the locals do; the author shows that it's not only possible but very cheap and a lot of fun!

Southeast Asia is a world filled with mystery and intrigue, and one that doesn't give up its secrets easily--as the author and his wife soon found out! Walking To Singapore is an often hilarious, but always informative look at the daily lives and disparate cultures of the region, and provides insight into the history of the region, the best (and most bizarre) foods, even religious temple etiquette. The book celebrates the beauty of Southeast Asia: swimming with sea turtles in Malaysia, seeing the sunrise from the rim of a smoking volcano, the Grand Palace in Bangkok, and watching wild orangutans waking at sunrise in Borneo. The author's adventures also take them to some of the most magnificent historical and archaeological wonders of the world such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Burma's city of 4,000 temples at Bagan, and the magnificent Buddhist and Hindu monuments of Borobudor in Indonesia. Helpful as a guide to budget travel in Southeast Asia--for about $10 per day!--Walking To Singapore also recounts some of the difficulties and downright danger that await--from an all night journey along the Road to Mandalay in Burma, to leeches in Sumatra, to grenade attacks in Phnom Penh!

An excellent introduction to the war we don't talk about, providing an overview, biographies of principal characters, reprints of important historical documents, and an annotated bibliography. In an age when most history is learned through movies (and WWII seems more "real" than Vietnam)the student with a real desire to understand the Vietnam conflict couldn't find a better place to start.

Dr. Edmonds displays a vast knowledge of the Vietnam War both in the classroom and in print. He is excited about this topic and what he teaches. His theories are based on fact, not fiction, and are well supported. The book displays this knowledge. He talks about cause and effect relationships, propaganda, the history of Vietnam, and the people. He talks about their customs, culture, and how they relate to other nations. It is well-written and easy to understand. The content is well explained, easy to follow, and connective. Everyone who shows an interest in the Vietnam War should read this book. If possible, talk to the professor himself as well. The knowledge one gains from him, however well-educated, will surprise you.

Giustozzi knows more than any one about what was going on inside pro-soviet Afghanistan. I think he is also a good pupil of Prof. Halliday. Perhaps no other scholar knows more about the Afghan government and society in 1978-92.

War, politics and Society in afghanistan is the best book written on this very intricate topic. Every serious student of contemporary history have to face with this reality. Afghanistan was and still is the fulcrum of the world's equilibrium. Knowing Afghanistan means a lot!

This book is definitely worth reading from cover to cover! Told in the personal narratives of Monika Schwinn and Bernhard Diehl, it is the story of their survival in the prison camps during the Vietnam Conflict. Through hunger, sickness, and the injustices of war, their undaunting courage courage and perseverence, even in the most intolerable conditions, astounded me. After reading this book, it made me appreciate life, freedom, and peace to greater degree.

Monica and Bernhard were two of five German nurses captured and subjected to four years of death, starvation and misery. As an American POW held with them, I can attest to their strength, their resolve, and their total bravery. While three of their compatriots died quickly, these two managed to survive in the brutal "Jungle POW camps."

Unfortunately their is so much revisionist junk history about the atomic bomb and the cold war. Nuclear diplomacy, racism and other unfounded theories about the bomb have found their way into textbooks and classrooms. Anyone who does not think Truman used the bomb to end WWII quickly and with less lives lost is simply ignoring the obvious and the evidence. This book helps set the record straight. The decision to use the bomb was simple: to get Japan to stop fighting. Truman wanted to save lives and end the war: end of arguement. This book helps set the record straight.

Mr. Maddox has done a great service in analyzing the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan. He systematically demolishes the arguements used by those who (for whatever reason) think that the bombing was unjustified. He shows through intercepted transmissions how the Japanese were ready to commit themselves to a bloodbath to fight off an invasion and how the Japanese military still wanted to fight even after Hiroshima was destroyed. Overall, the book is great work and should be required reading in schools and the Smithsonian Museum.

Jac Weller's Wellington in India is a truly excellent book. It is very readable and flows extremely well. It is one of the few books of its kind that I've read literally cover-to-cover - forward, preface, body, and appendixes - everything. The detail of the book is also exceptional. He tells the reader why and how Wellington achieved his successes not just when.

When Wellington's name is mentioned, people tend to think first of Waterloo, then of the Peninsulars Wars. It is easy to forget that he got his start in India, and that is the period which Jac Weller covers so well in this book. This was a completely different kind of warfare than that fought in Europe, and Wellington (or Wellesley, as he was then) had to contend not only with far superior forces, but also with the climate, which caused Europeans to die like flies. Two things above all should be remembered: first, that when Wellington was asked what his greatest victory was, he said not Waterloo, but Assaye; and second, Weller's three books about Wellington's campaigns were named by Bernard Cornwell as the best source material for his Sharpe series.

This book covers history of Indian subcontinent through the ages that Europeans but specifically the British took interest in East India and increased their influence gradually from protecting mercantile interests, to finally usurping power from the regional monarchs through a combination of treaties, alliances, diplomacies and battles. This book is a compelling and easy reading that engages the reader with its stunning pictures of contemporary paintings of relevance to the subject. Semingly disconnected events are woven together logically and connected to each other which finally reads like a well written novel. The treatment is mostly unbiased though the sentiments and feeings of subjects such as sati, religious conversions, castes, merits and demerits of hinduism, islam and christianity could have been elaborated upon a bit more to provide rationale behind these hotly debated subjects. The attititudes of noted Indo-philes was described in adequate detail and infectious interest, which correctly evokes an awe for an amazing civilization that comes to end and the birth of a newer one reflecting contemporary attitudes and outlooks.

The level of detail is appropriate for those readers above 15 years and above.

This book is part of a great series on history, encapsulating certain time periods in specific volumes with great text and wonderful illustrations. This particular volume lives up to its billing of Jewel in the Crown.