I enjoyed Stories From the Secret War - CIA Special Ops in Laos by Terrence Burke.  Quite a fellow and an interesting read.  (I did get a free copy from Terry - his grandson was a neighbor and lived at my home for a time.)  Terry wrote another one about his later time in Afghanistan with the DEA though I haven't read that one yet. Stalking the Caravan: A Drug Agent in Afghanistan 1971-1973

 

 

2 hours ago, JupiterRising said:

I am an historian of Asian war campaigns. One of the best books which was a PHD thesis and used today at Sandhurst and Westpoint. Is 

‘Street without Joy. By Bernard Fall.

it categorizes the political and the military perspective from BOTH sides during the loss of Indochina. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the run up to the American war.

 

Next.

‘Chicken hawk’ by Robert Mason. He was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war. Now classed as a mini classic.

There are funny times and hard times. A great book.

if you want more about the wars in Asia, please let me know as I have over 60 books that I read and have read as a historian of the region.

regards

Ben

Finished Chickenhawk two days ago thanks.

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

I enjoyed Stories From the Secret War - CIA Special Ops in Laos by Terrence Burke.  Quite a fellow and an interesting read.  (I did get a free copy from Terry - his grandson was a neighbor and lived at my home for a time.)  Terry wrote another one about his later time in Afghanistan with the DEA though I haven't read that one yet. Stalking the Caravan: A Drug Agent in Afghanistan 1971-1973

 

 

Soundsl good will have a look thanks

Another book relevant to Thailand is "Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus, 1975-1982 " by Larry Clinton Thomas.  I worked with the refugee program in 1979/80 and Ban Vinai in Loei became my main camp.  I worked with/for some of the folks mentioned in the book.  Jerry was a co-worker and we sometimes stayed at Col. Moua Sue's place in the Hmong refugee camp at Ban Vinai. 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Refugee-Workers-Indochina-Exodus-1975-1982/dp/0786445297/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=refugee+workers+thailand&qid=1627513849&s=books&sr=1-4

35 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Another book relevant to Thailand is "Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus, 1975-1982 " by Larry Clinton Thomas.  I worked with the refugee program in 1979/80 and Ban Vinai in Loei became my main camp.  I worked with/for some of the folks mentioned in the book.  Jerry was a co-worker and we sometimes stayed at Col. Moua Sue's place in the Hmong refugee camp at Ban Vinai. 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Refugee-Workers-Indochina-Exodus-1975-1982/dp/0786445297/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=refugee+workers+thailand&qid=1627513849&s=books&sr=1-4

Will take a look thanks.

I wish that MacAlan Thompson were still with us.  He passed in December 2018.  Mac worked the refugee program for several years.  He came to Thailand as a U.S. Army lieutenant in the Engineers in 1963.  These were the beginnings of remaking the roads in Thailand so that our military bases could be more easily supplied.  There are articles written by Mac and others in the Mekong Express Mail, a publication of the Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood.  Their web site is

https://tlc-brotherhood.com/

4 hours ago, Fortean1 said:

I wish that MacAlan Thompson were still with us.  He passed in December 2018.  Mac worked the refugee program for several years.  He came to Thailand as a U.S. Army lieutenant in the Engineers in 1963.  These were the beginnings of remaking the roads in Thailand so that our military bases could be more easily supplied.  There are articles written by Mac and others in the Mekong Express Mail, a publication of the Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood.  Their web site is

https://tlc-brotherhood.com/

There's a good bit about Mac throughout this memorial issue of the TLCB newsletter, including a previous article written by Mac.  https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjFlu7svIjyAhX-KFkFHYNnBpcQFjAAegQIBhAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigitalcommons.csp.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Ffilename%3D0%26article%3D1032%26context%3Dhmong-studies_hohp%26type%3Dadditional&usg=AOvVaw3zZoWhSEBAP3RQpZhk2AqY

Thank you for that link to the MEM.  I will share with those I know.

 

Terry

CJ Sansom

Dennis Lehane.

Elmore Leonard.

James Ellroy

James Lee Burke

Graham Green

Evelyn Waugh

PG Wodehouse

QUIET:  The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking

On 7/28/2021 at 8:02 PM, Asquith Production said:

Sounds good will have a look thanks

Weird story about the book Stories From the Secret War - CIA Special Ops in Laos by Terrence Burke that I recommended.  I misplaced my copy, so I ordered a used one for $10 that just came in today.   Ex-library copy, perfect condition (unread).  On the title page, it was signed "Semper Fi T. Burke".  OMG.  I couldn't believe it.  (My son who was killed in Iraq was a Marine.) 

6 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Weird story about the book Stories From the Secret War - CIA Special Ops in Laos by Terrence Burke that I recommended.  I misplaced my copy, so I ordered a used one for $10 that just came in today.   Ex-library copy, perfect condition (unread).  On the title page, it was signed "Semper Fi T. Burke".  OMG.  I couldn't believe it.  (My son who was killed in Iraq was a Marine.) 

Sorry to hear about your son, but what a coincidence.

If you like historical-action novels, try 'Prussian Blue' by Philip Kerr. It is one of the 'Bernie Gunther' series named after the cynical ex-Berlin cop, post WWII. Kerr manages to weave real characters (often ex-SS) and historical events into his plot-lines with convincing detail. Fast paced and laced with smart dialogue, you can hardly go wrong with any of Kerr's output. In fact, search Philp Kerr and take your pick - you might even start with the Berlin Noir trilogy or return to it after Prussian Blue has whetted your appetite.     

1984

1984.  Read it?  I'm living it.

we all are 

The Ragged Trousered Philanphropist - Robert Tressel

 

The Good Soldier Svejk - Jaroslav Hasek

On 7/29/2021 at 4:11 AM, JupiterRising said:

I am an historian of Asian war campaigns. One of the best books which was a PHD thesis and used today at Sandhurst and Westpoint. Is 

‘Street without Joy. By Bernard Fall.

it categorizes the political and the military perspective from BOTH sides during the loss of Indochina. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the run up to the American war.

 

Next.

‘Chicken hawk’ by Robert Mason. He was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war. Now classed as a mini classic.

There are funny times and hard times. A great book.

if you want more about the wars in Asia, please let me know as I have over 60 books that I read and have read as a historian of the region.

regards

Ben

An written by Vietnamese?

 

 

On 8/7/2021 at 9:12 PM, LongTimeLurker said:

An written by Vietnamese?

 

 

Here are a few recommendations. Overview of Sorrow of War from Wiki: The Sorrow of War, written in the stream of consciousness style,^[7] opens with a depiction of soldiers on a postwar mission to collect the bones of fallen comrades for reburial. Thus begins the non-linear narrative by Kien, a North Vietnamese soldier during the Vietnam War, chronicling his loss of innocence, his love, and his anguish at the memories of war.

 

BAO Ninh	The Sorrow of War	The American War from a Northern perspective
CHONG Denise	The Girl in the Picture	Story of girl in iconic napalm picture.
DUONG Thu Huong	Novel Without a Name	Love lost in time of war
DUONG Thu Huong	Paradise of the Blind	Post revolution 50s hardship
HAYSLIP Le Ly	When Heaven and Earth Changed Places	Growing up with Viet Cong
HO Anh Thai	The Women on the Island	Post-war conflict for single women with children
NGUYEN Kien	The Unwanted	Amerasian outcast's troubles post victory, 1980s
PHAM Andrew	Catfish and Mandala	Early 90's, Viet Kieu cycling round country
TRAM Dang Thuy	Last Night I Dreamed of Peace	Personal diaries found after war

On 8/7/2021 at 8:54 PM, LongTimeLurker said:

The Ragged Trousered Philanphropist - Robert Tressel

 

The Good Soldier Svejk - Jaroslav Hasek

Svejk?  Which volume do you LOVE best.

What a masterpiece.

Too few have heard of Hašek's Švejk.

Wasn't the third volume unfinished?

It's been a long time since I read of the great Švejk.

Two of the best non fiction books I have read about the Vietnam war; We Few and Whispers in the Tall Grass written by Nick Brokhausen. Excellent reads

Lost Horizon by James Hilton, 1933.

A real classic, as is the 1937 movie version by Frank Capra.

One of the opening scenes is the evacuation of Westerners from "Baskul" (Kabul) airport.

It is errily prescient of current events.

2 hours ago, ramrod711 said:

Two of the best non fiction books I have read about the Vietnam war; We Few and Whispers in the Tall Grass written by Nick Brokhausen. Excellent reads

Here are some more recommendations written by non-Vietnamese. If I were to pick out three for starters, they would be the Quiet American, Cu Chi Tunnels and Dragon Apparent. All for different reasons but all lending context.

 

APPY Christian G	Vietnam	Oral history from all sides
ASHWILL Mark	Vietnam Today	Culture insights
BERMAN Larry	Perfect Spy	Double life of Pham Xuan An
GREENE Graham	The Quiet American	The book that everyone has to read - prescient
FITZGERALD Frances	Fire in the Lake	War from Viet perspective
HERR Michael	Dispatches	Original war chronicle - sex, drugs and rock and roll
HERRINGTON Stuart	Stalking the Vietcong	Inside Operation Phoenix (psyops)
JAMIESON Neil	Understanding Vietnam	Academic treatise - sociology plus lit through history
KARNOW Stanley	Vietnam: A History	Celebrated history
LAMB David	Vietnam Now	Early 90's in Hanoi
MANGOLD Tom PENYCATE John	The Tunnels of Cu Chi	Hair-raising interviews with tunnel rats
O'NAN Stewart (Ed)	Vietnam Reader	Vietnam War anthology
PAGE Tim	Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden	Early 90's revisit from cult photographer
PERKINS Manderley	Hanoi Adieu	Memoir of French Indochina
SALLAH Michael, WEISS Mitch	Tiger Force	Soldiers out of control in Vietnam
SHEEHAN Neil	Two Cities: Hanoi and Saigon	Early 90's look-see
SHEEHAN Neil	Bright Shining Lie	Study of war through biography of Paul Vann
TEMPLER Robert	Shadows and Wind	Beneath surface and rhetoric
WINTLE Justin	Romancing Vietnam	1980s travelogue
KARBER Phil	Indochina Chronicles	Ex US veteran's travels - insightful
LEWIS Norman	A Dragon Apparent	1950s Vietnam under the French, beautifully written
TERZANI Tiziano	A Fortune-Teller Told Me	Journeys all over, having fortune told along the way

I see now that you requested non-fiction and realized my mistake soon after posting.

   But truth be told, much if not most "non-fiction" is anything but that, while some classic fiction is truer than true.

   Lost Horizon is a good example of that.

On 8/13/2021 at 1:32 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

Svejk?  Which volume do you LOVE best.

What a masterpiece.

Too few have heard of Hašek's Švejk.

Wasn't the third volume unfinished?

It's been a long time since I read of the great Švejk.

I have the unabridged and unbowdlerised translation of four volumes by Cecil Parrot.

 

The notes say there was to be 6 volumes but Hašek only completed 4.