After our visit to Lao and Cambodia I'm reading about the war(s) - any book suggestions?
 

I claim to be too young to really remember the SE Asian conflicts in the 60s and 70s which is partially true - but when we visited Lao and Cambodia in January I resolved to educate myself.

So far I've read Cambodia 1975-1982 by Michael Vickery and a rather obscure book written by a New Zealander who fought in Vietnam called "Dustoff For Willie Peters."

I've ordered Robert McNamara's book "In Retrospect" and Kissinger's "Ending the Vietnam War" - may as well hear it from the horses' mouths - but I'm also looking for contrary opinions or good overall analyses of the SE Asia conflicts.........any suggestions would be appreciated!

Did a Vietnam War history course at my local Uni a couple of years ago, and the text book that had most impact was <i>Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War</i> ed. Robert J. McMahon (1995) which details the contradictions in some of the accepted 'history'. Highly recommended.

I have pages of bibliography on the subject, but think the above will answer your quest for 'contrary opinions' (many of them contrary to what Kissinger 'remembers').

My copy is published by D.C Heath &amp; Co, Lexington, Mass.

Hope this helps,
Jackie

Thanks - that's a great suggestion - just ordered it ... and it looks like it's part of an interesting series as well.

Most welcome, Elizabeth.

There's an amazing amount of literature available on the subject, but another I highly recommend is Michael Herr's <i>Dispatches</i> (1978) London: Picador Pan Macmillan.

One of the many interesting facts to emerge during my studies was that the War Remnants Museum in Saigon was renamed in 1997 from its original American War Crimes Museum, a tangible example of the changing/softening of attitudes.

Happy reading!
Jackie

One of the best books I've ever read is &quot;A Bright Shining Lie&quot; by Neil Sheehan. It won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. While it may appear daunting, it's extraordinarily readable. My wife, who's generally not into this sort of thing, read it on the beach. Also, if you went to Luang Prabang, &quot;Bamboo Palace&quot; is very interesting. It's about what happened to the last king of Laos.

Another book on the fate of the Royal Family of Laos, In Search of the Elephant Kings. I read it before I went to LP. and I had the sense that I should know everyone there!

Books about Cambodia that will give you some personal histories, When Broken Glass Floats, and First They Killed My Father.

A second vote for Michael Herr's &quot;Despatches&quot;. For fiction, I was impressed by a novel by Christopher Koch (he of &quot;The Year of Living Dangerously&quot;). Racking my brains to think of the title but it won't come back.

The book I wanted to recommend is this:

Stalking the Elephant Kings: In Search of Laos
by Christopher Kremmer (NOTE: This is a book. I notice that there is an article available for download by the same name on Amazon.)

Well - that should be my reading for the next little while - thanks to all - then I'll move onto New Zealand and Australia history!

Forgot to mention I bought The Killing Fields at a second hand bookstore in NZ - also bought Robert Hughes &quot;The Fatal Shore&quot; about Australia - I'm quite enjoying it although it is a bit of a boat anchor!

That's what I love best about travel - (re)learning the history of an area I travel to.