Book Description
This comprehensive and vivid history of Laos is an ideal introduction for tourists, business travelers, and students. Informative and portable, it chronicles the history of Laos from ancient times, when the dynastic states of the region waxed and waned, to the turmoil of the Vietnam War and independence from France. This guide investigates these key events under a new light and presents serious challenges to the conventional views about Laos's intriguing history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comprehensive, insightful, culturally-sensitive
For a newcomer to Laos, Dr. Evans's volume would seem an excellent introduction to its history, politics and culture.For someone like myself, who had his own intense introduction to Laos in the late 60s and looks forward to a return, the book is an insightful refresher and update.It has helped me put my own experience in context and rethink the Laos I once thought I knew.This short history is thoughtful, well-written, and largely devoid of moral judgments.

The subtitle "The Land in Between" sums up an unfortunate reality -- for much of its history Laos has been caught between more powerful neighbors and sometimes their even more powerful patrons.But Evans does not stop with such a facile explanation of the Laos that has emerged.I particularly appreciate his continuing emphasis on the deep and enduring cultural roots of the peoples who inhabit Laos -- and the interplay among them.

With so many Western writers and readers still caught up in the battles that we fought in Laos in the 60s and 70s, Evans's book is a refreshing reminder that Laos merits attention -- indeed fascination -- in its own right. ... Read more

Book Description
The essays in this volume form a rich collage of the central Mekong basin spanning nearly 1,400 years of history. Gathered from an international group of scholars, each with a unique approach to the region, this research draws upon materials in more than a dozen languages scattered in archives around the world. Topics include basic structural problems in writing Lao history; political geography from the 600s to 800s; separate discussions of Lao, Vietnamese, and Western sources of early Lao history; the Lao-Tay-son alliance in the late eighteenth century; Lao millenarian movements and French colonial rule; and the geographical history of changing territorial boundaries of modern Laos. This collection breaks new ground, and is certain to stimulate new questions, ideas, and research. It is an invaluable new resource in Lao history. ... Read more

Book Description
This authoritative and wide-ranging history focuses on the period from the founding of modern Laos as a French colony to its independence, involvement in the war in Vietnam, the formation of the communist republic, and the present authoritarian government. The author shows how the nationalist struggle for independence and unity was subverted by foreign intervention, and how the country has now resumed its traditional role as a neutral state in Southeast Asia. This book provides essential background on modern Laos and the challenges it now faces. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good book, but more academic than I was hoping for.
This book is bascially a mid-upper division college text on the development of Modern Laos from the 1800's to the present.A fine book on the recent history of Laos, the author strives to be fair and evenhanded inplacing responsibility for the various troubles plaguing the country. However, I would have liked more general background on the country,especially the history that predated European contact.Only the historynecessary to explain some modern interactions is present from that period.More maps and figures would have been nice as well. Only four maps and nofigures are present, and the author refers to many locations that aren'tlisted explictly on the maps.The type is set rather close as well, makingfor a bit of a strain in reading.That said, the information was well laidout and seemed very well researched.I learned a great deal about thedevelopment of modern Laos.

The definitive modern history
Martin Stuart-Fox has produced a concise, comprehensive account of Lao history, with emphasis on the revolutionary and post-revolutionary eras. Stuart-Fox is arguably the leading English-language expert on the history of Laos, and this work proves it; his book is meticulously researched and skillfully written. ... Read more

Product Description
At the height of the Vietnam War, in 1968 and 1969, Reginald Hathorn flew 229 combat missions as a forward air controller for the U.S. Air Force. He inserted Special Forces teams into North Vietnam and Laos, completed missions for the CIA, and flew missions with the Lao Army. Most of the time, he flew into Laos and called in airstrikes against targets inside that country in a war which did not officially exist, about which the world knew nothing, and which the U.S. government denied. ... Read more

Book Description
This poignant collection of oral histories tells the stories of nine Laotians, four Cambodians and nine Vietnamese: what their lives were like before 1975, what happened after the Communist takeover that made them decide to flee their native countries, and how they escaped.The storytellers (housewife, Amerasian child, schoolteacher, government clerk, military officer, security agent, Buddhist monk, artist) create a broad and moving picture of the new realities of contemporary Indochina. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Essential reading
Offers a wealth of information about traditional Vietnamese culture and society...essential reading

In Favor Of Freedom
Stories that American have been reluctant to listen to-non-American participants' stories of the horrors of the Vietnam War itself, of escape from new but undemocratic countries, of conflict-ridden adjustment...personal details about the effects of the war...Scott's collection is prefaced by a dramatic frontispiece, a painting by a Vietnamese artist that depicts boat people on the high seas, titles "A people forced to go a dangerous drama across feats of darkness and turbulent seas in favor of freedom." Collected from Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese in Philippine refugee camps in October 1985 [through] May 1 1986, these twenty-five stories are the testimonies closest in time to many of the events they describes. Scott identifies empathetically with the refugees' search for "the freedom land," as well as with those who failed to come here. In lengthy appendices, she provides maps of the Laotian reeducation camps and memorializing lists of those who have disappeared in them. Pictures of the refugees in the Philippine camps supplement the written stories. Some narratives are told by camp advisors; some are presented by "Name Withheld." While one story was given to Scott "in perfect English," others were told only through an interpreter. Scott presents her subjects' narratives entire, occasionally segmented by asterisks, with provocative titles ("The Hope of Ho Chi Minh Is Fallen Now") and with brief headnotes characterizing the individual or the historical situation. The narratives are occasionally quite long; almost all are organized chronologically... Here is Khamsamong Somvong, a former first lieutenant in the Royal Lao army: "In the seminar camp there were a few men who were Communists. They were there to execute the policy of the Politburo. And it was they who decided who should be killed in the camp. We were supposed to respect the Party only. If one of the Communists said, `This is red,' we had to say, `Yes, this is red.' If we said, `No, this is black,' we would be killed. So I lived a very hard life in there. I saw many people killed before me."--Oral History Review 21/2 (Winter, 1993)

Harrowing Stories
Indochina's refugees, who in jungle death camps felt the chill of the heart or saw life turn cold in crowded boats, give their harrowing stories in this collection

Recommended for Most Libraries
These 22 memoirs focus on life after the Communist victories of 1975 and escape by land or sea. The stories are all from refugees at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center who have not yet reached the United States. They are an older group of survivors from a wide range of backgrounds. Each story is preceded by comments by the author on the storyteller or on life in and outside the Processing Center. Appendices listing the names of inmates in four "seminar" camps in Laos are included. Recommended for most libraries.--Library Journal, August 198

American POWs, the King and Queen of Laos
In this volume, Joanna Scott shares the personal stories of nine Lao, four Khmer, and nine Vietnamese refugees whom she interviewed at the Philippine refugee Processing Center between October 1985 and May 1986. "The one thing they had in common, both with their fellow-countrymen and their fellow Indochinese, was a fervent passion for freedom that overwhelmed their mourning for a lost country." The book is divided into three sections, "Vietnam-Land of the Boat People," "Cambodia-Land of the Killing Fields," and "Laos-Land of the Seminar Camps." The refugees speaking in this book come from all walks of life and include teachers, military officers, a Buddhist monk, a housewife, a farmer, an artist, and a student. Their stories not only relate their personal ordeals in surviving, but also provide their unique perspectives and details about the political situations of their countries. One Lao refugee even reveals information about American POWs still incarcerated in various areas of Vietnam. Another Lao refugee describes the sorry fate of the Lao Royal Family and includes a photograph of the king and queen in a seminar camp. A map of seminar camps in the Viengxay area of northern Laos and four lists (compiled from memory) of those who were incarcerated in the camps are also included in this publication. ... Read more

Book Description
Starting in 1960, Hmong guerrillas, under the command of General Vang Pao, functioned as the hands and feet of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's secret war against communist forces in Laos. Operating out of Long Cheng, the Hmong soldiers allowed the CIA to accomplish two objectives: to maintain the perception of United States neutrality in Laos and to tie up North Vietnamese troops in Laos who would otherwise have been sent to fight in South Vietnam.The U.S. had quietly pledged to General Vang Pao and the Hmong that the Americans would take care of them in the event that Laos fell. In May 1975, this promise was redeemed when the CIA generated an air evacuation that moved more than 2,500 Hmong officers, soldiers and family members out of their mountain-ringed airbase. Fifty or so Hmong and Americans involved in the evacuation provide herein a firsthand account of the 14 days of events leading up to and including the evacuation. Their accounts document both the political and human aspects of this unusual event. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

History at the source
Author Morrison has done a service by compiling a book of recollections about one of the most unknown events of our time: the air evacuation of Hmong General Vang Pao and many of his Hmong soldiers from Laos in May 1975.The Hmong were a staunch and effective American ally against the North Vietnamese and Lao Communists, but went down to defeat along with the Americans.Except for a few Americans, notably Jerry "Hog" Daniels of the CIA, the Hmong would have been abandoned to die in Laos.

Morrison gives little background and explanation for the events of May 1975, but plunges into the story with quotes from the participants, especially the Hmong.There are a number of rare and valuable photographs and good maps.The stories themselves are often priceless, first hand vignettes of history: for example, Gen. Heinie Aderholt's tale of hearing of the evacuation and his forthright -- and irregular -- finding and hiring of a C-46 pilot to fly the Hmong out of Laos.

Much of the material is compiled from the Hmong themselves, whose voices have only barely been heard in America.These were people on our side who deserved better at the bitter end of the Vietnam war.If you're not familiar with the outlines of the story some background reading may be useful.Roger Warner's, "Backfire" (also called "Shooting at the Moon") is good.

Smallchief

Compact, heartbreaking, rare photos
Morrison interviewed a lot of Hmong participants in those last days, as well as American pilots Jack Knotts, Dave Kouba, etc.Eye-opening insight into the abandonment of one of America's most clandestine installations of the secret war in Laos.Detailed accounts of Matt Hoff's and Les Strouse's final flights into 'LS20 Alternate' as well.Some truly rare photos -- Long Tien in 1972, '73, '74, '75.Knotts and Kouba at the evacuation ramp on May 14, 1975, the last day.The Hmong -- from top leader Vang Pao to in-the-street tribespeople, no less proud, and no less tragic.

Finally, a haunting pair of photos --top secret Long Tien in 1973, and another one, as mysterious as ever, from exactly the same angle and height (about 1000 feet above the runway), in 1995.

A compact, tightly-woven and compelling tale.

Sky is falling
I truly enjoyed this book. I came away with a very different point of view. I was directly involved with the evacuation of DaNang, Nha Trang and Saigon in April '75 and to some extent in Loas in May of the same year and saw the refugees, in mass panic carrying babies and what possessions they could, trying to flee before the communists came. Gayle related the evacuation of Long Chen (20A) from the eyes of the Hmong refugees. It is a view that I never saw and hope that I never have to witness again.

Must read for anyone interested in SE Asia '60-'70 history
There will be many people (beside the Hmong) thankful that someone has taken the time to record this important event in history. The book has a distinct niche (human) in my education on the "happenings" in Laos. This is my fifth Laos subject book and is a must read!USAF inThailand '69 veteran.

excellen book
Gayle Morrison has written an excellent book on the history and plight of the Hmong people in Laos during the Secert War in Laos.Her book's focus is the last battle these brave people fought, defending their mountainheadquarters in northern Laos.Morrison is a talented writer who capturesthe feelings and spirit of what it must have been like to have been there. An excellent read. ... Read more

Product Description
The Lao Name in History is a customized book offering a unique blend of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary about the Lao name.The book is just one of an entire series of family name books in the Our Name in History collection.Each book in the collection is printed on demand and is compiled from hundreds of millions of records from the world's largest online resource of family history, Ancestry.com.This particular book follows the Lao family name through history and makes the perfect gift for your family members and anyone interested in the Lao name. In the book you'll find out about where people with the Lao last name originated. You may discover the countries and ports they left behind, the ships they sailed and more. You'll get a better idea of where people sharing the Lao name settled and where they may reside today in the United States, Canada, England and other countries.You'll get all this information and much more in your Lao family name book. If your last name is not Lao, then check out our collection of nearly 300,000 family name books to find other available names in the series. ... Read more

Product Description
The Laos Name in History is a customized book offering a unique blend of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary about the Laos name.The book is just one of an entire series of family name books in the Our Name in History collection.Each book in the collection is printed on demand and is compiled from hundreds of millions of records from the world's largest online resource of family history, Ancestry.com.This particular book follows the Laos family name through history and makes the perfect gift for your family members and anyone interested in the Laos name. In the book you'll find out about where people with the Laos last name originated. You may discover the countries and ports they left behind, the ships they sailed and more. You'll get a better idea of where people sharing the Laos name settled and where they may reside today in the United States, Canada, England and other countries.You'll get all this information and much more in your Laos family name book. If your last name is not Laos, then check out our collection of nearly 300,000 family name books to find other available names in the series. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Australian Journal of Politics and History, published by University of Queensland Press on March 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1298 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: HISTORY OF LAOS.(Review)
Author: Kelvin Rowley
Publication: The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 1999
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 45Issue: 1Page: 147(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Australian Journal of Politics and History, published by University of Queensland Press on March 1, 2004. The length of the article is 821 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cultural Crisis and Social Memory: Modernity and Identity in Thailand and Laos.(Book Review)
Author: Martin Stuart-Fox
Publication: The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2004
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 50Issue: 1Page: 146(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2006. The length of the article is 682 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Post-War Laos: The Politics of Culture, History, and Identity.(Book review)
Author: Penny Van Esterik
Publication: Pacific Affairs (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 79Issue: 3Page: 552(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This collection of evocative personal testimonies by three generations of Hmong refugees is the first to describe their lives in Laos as slash-and-burn farmers, as refugees after a Communist government came to power in 1975, and as immigrants in the United States. Reflecting on the homes left behind, their narratives chronicle the difficulties of forging a new identity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

My thoughts
I thought the chineses' called Hmongs "Miao" and the Tais' called Hmongs "Meo." Don't quote me on that, I could be wrong.

Hmong peoples' stories are a bit different than most immigrants that came to the US. They are here because they assisted the US CIA with a "Secret War" against Indochina Communist and fled to the US to escape from death and imprisonment.

I agree that other races faced equal or more horrific conflicts, as well, but to bicker with PMS is a bit over the top. All of the reviews have brought much joy to me. At least there are people thinking deeply about the idea of Hmong and "reading" this cool book.

To the not so cool dude.Get a life!
I have not read this book personally, but the reviews I have read seemed like some of you are a little ticked off. It doesn't matter what "Hmong" really means to you, it's what it means to the author. But all of a sudden, some of you have become experts in the Hmong culture and language.Well send me your email address and I will personally send you a diploma, a B.S. in Hmong culture and language.

Now for the jerk that wrote the last review- The Hmong have put up with all kinds of stereotyping, but to say that they are inferior by looking at the way they live is really a slap in the face. I could say the same thing about the Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Chinese, or any other Asian groups in this country but I don't.What a person becomes is really up to that individual, so for you to pass judgement on others, especially a group of people, based on your narrow minded pea brain, I nominate you for the "Jerk of the Year" award.

Go get a life and stop ruining mine!

Cried and laughed all at once.
The author's intro was informative but lacks passion (some day, a Hmong author may be able to do a more passionate job on our plight).

The narratives were honest and sincere. There was no "sugar-coating"--I know! The narratives had a single common denominator: the sufferings of the human condition. Throughout the narration, I cried and laughed all at once. I cried: all the sufferings. I laughed: when one of the narratives failed the drivers' written test (in California) the first time because after she took the test, she didn't even realized it was in Spanish until her husband told her--she did not know Spanish.

The book gave me a sense of my history in a personal and down-to-earth way. The book is an excellent reference.

Helping young Hmong Americans find and identity...
I work in the healthcare field and have seen quite a few young (teenage +) Hmong Americans struggling with their sense of value.In particular, a young girl who had been "Americanized" AKA taken from her family when she was young because of supposed abuse - a common practice not that long ago.She was depressed, living with a loving but very white family in which she felt inferior.Asian gang activities in our area made her feel embarrassed.This book put a spark back in her eyes.I found it wonderful and would highly recommend it.

Hmong means free
I just want to say something about the two words Hmong and Meo because many people seem to misunderstand.

"Hmong" is what the Hmong called themselves long ago during Fishing & Gathering, agrarian, and horticulture civilization. On the other hand, "Meo" is what the Chinese named the Hmong due to prejudice and discrimination result from war: Chinese battled with the Hmong during pre-industrial society in the late 1700s.

Tou B. YAng ... Read more

Book Description
This second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Laos takes a more thorough look at the early history of Laos along with a more comprehensive survey of the social, economic, cultural and religious phenomena that characterize this small Asian country. In addition, the evolution of Laos as a nation, and its relations with other states, are given special attention. ... Read more