Koncocoo

Best Chinese History

The Art of War
The world’s most influential treatise on strategy. --Brian Bruya This new translation of the ancient Chinese military treatise includes chapters of historical analysis touching on its relevance to today's corporate environment.
Reviews
"Not just the best translation but the type of translation."
"As part of a class assignment I asked each cadet what book would they no-kidding read, military or not, related to their academic major or not."
"I ordered this book for a Psychology class I was taking, so it was a required read."
"The reference data mixed in makes the book difficult to read."
"I love having this book as a digital book because I can find passages easily ."
"Rather than a collection of lessons learned through the telling of historical events, it is rather more like a list of proverbs by which a general should carry out the act of war."
"But all of this aside, how successful is Mr. Gagliardi at his most basic task: competently translating Sun Tzu’s original text, The Art of War? The original Chinese characters for this line are: CHANG SHAN ZHI SHE. If you looked up each character individually via the internet you could definitely make a case that the line could read: ordinary mountain (of) snake. The problem is that professional translation doesn’t work this way (a one-for-one translation of characters), and you have to understand all of the nuances applicable to how these thoughts are put together, especially when you are talking about a millennia old text written in a language vastly different than its modern equivalent. Chang”. So while Gagliardi is perfectly content in his own ignorance that Sun Tzu is talking about an ordinary snake, what the text is really saying is that he needs his soldiers to be like an EXTRAordinary snake which possesses the magical ability to continue providing support to its endangered other half even after being cleaved into two separate parts. Heng, where this extraordinary snake supposedly lived (by the way, Sun Tzu gave the snake a name, the Shuairan, a fact that was completely missed by Gagliardi). Of course the name change does nothing to impact your understanding of the Art of War, but does illustrate the difference between buying a copy of the The Art of War from a professional Sinologist who understands both the translation issues and can provide relevant historical and philosophical background, and the rank amateur who does this for a hobby and wants to pass off an inferior product hoping you won't know the difference. There are too many professionally done Sun Tzu translations available by qualified individuals (Ames, Griffith, Sawyer, Ivanhoe, Mair, Minford) to justify paying the same amount of money for Mr. Gagliardi’s lackluster effort."
"This is a sad mass produced mess of a book."
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Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author. In Wild Swans Jung Chang recounts the evocative, unsettling, and insistently gripping story of how three generations of women in her family fared in the political maelstrom of China during the 20th century. Born just a few decades apart, their lives overlap with the end of the warlords' regime and overthrow of the Japanese occupation, violent struggles between the Kuomintang and the Communists to carve up China, and, most poignant for the author, the vicious cycle of purges orchestrated by Chairman Mao that discredited and crushed millions of people, including her parents. In 1949, while he drove 1000 miles in a jeep to the southwestern province where they would do Mao's spadework, Bao Qin walked alongside the vehicle, sick and pregnant (she lost the child).
Reviews
"Jung Chang passionately teaches the unfortunate story of life in China for three generations of women in her family."
"In my (admittedly narrow) experience, Chinese people who grew up during the Cultural Revolution tend not to want to talk too much about those years."
"Although the narrative is often intense, the book doesn't come across as overly critical of Chinese culture at the time, even though women in western nations didn't have to endure anything like women in the far east during the same time."
"When I first purchased this book (as a book accompanying a college class) I had very little interest in the book matter, and only saw a 500+ page book I was being forced into reading."
"Ms. Chang writes very dryly and dispassionately about her family's torment and trouble, I suspect because it is impossible for her to deal on an emotional level with the remembrance of such things as her mother's being made to kneel on broken glass. Yes, it IS history, and ought to be read as such, but it is also an affirmation of the survival of love, family, and the human spirit in incredibly tough times."
"It is a sweeping Memoir about how the coming of the communist age in China, and the madness of a man who wished to be Emperor or even God, affected only one family."
"I have always been interested in Russian history and so when I saw a quote for the book on Mao Tse-Tung by Chang Jung stating that one man had ruled one quarter of the worlds population in my lifetime, I decided to read the biography."
"Wild Swans give a detailed account of what daily life was like in areas that would become modern China."
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Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?
About the Peloponnesian War that devastated ancient Greece, the historian Thucydides explained: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.” Over the past 500 years, these conditions have occurred sixteen times. Yet, stressing that war is not inevitable, Allison also reveals how clashing powers have kept the peace in the past — and what painful steps the United States and China must take to avoid disaster today. In Destined for War, Allison lays out one of the defining challenges of our time—managing the critical relationship between China and the United States.”—Joe Biden, former vice president of the United States. “Can the United States avoid confrontation with China? If Graham Allison is right—and I think he is—China and the United States must heed the lessons in this superb study in order to build a strategic relationship that avoids a war which neither side would win.”—General (Ret.). I can only hope that all senior policy experts read this timely book to prevent our country from falling into the trap Professor Allison so ably warns us against.”—Christopher Reich, best-selling author of Invasion of Privacy , The Patriots Club , and Numbered Account “Do China and America want war? GRAHAM ALLISON is director of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the best-selling author of LeeKuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World ; Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe ; and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis .
Reviews
"Allison primarily frames the USA vs. China rivalry in the well-known paradigm of superpower rivalries going back to Athens vs. Sparta, Britain vs. {every European Empire + Russia + Japan + USA}, and finally the USA vs. the Soviet Union. The implication is that we should not allow ourselves to be drawn into war with China over petty incidents that are vital to China’s prestige, but not to ours. The USA and China have historically been in alliance against other expansionist powers, especially during WWII when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor after we demanded that the Japanese withdraw from their brutal conquest of China. Nevertheless, the possibility of war between the USA and China cannot be ignored. Allison outlines the scenarios of possible USA / China war: a conflict in the high seas around China that China claims as sovereign territory; a conflict over the trade imbalance; a declaration of independence by Taiwan; and of course a renewal of the conflict in Korea that could accidentally involve both the USA and China in a war neither wants. Allison makes no bones about China’s intentions: =====. China is ready to use the carrots and sticks of its economic power— buying, selling, sanctioning, investing, bribing, and stealing as needed until they fall into line....China enjoys such superiority in its balance of economic power that many other states have no realistic option but to comply with its wishes, even when the international system is on their side....The fact is that China’s economic network is spreading across the globe, altering the international balance of power in a way that causes even longtime US allies in Asia to tilt from the US toward China. =====. I thus learned more than I expected from the book. I would also recommend another book as a companion to this one, that portrays the USA / China relationship in more historical depth, and with a more positive spin: THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY (the USA is called "the beautiful country" by Chinese) AND THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (China) BY John Pomfret. My takeaway from both is: “We can manage our relations to China constructively so as to have a fascinating and prosperous future of mutual benefit to us ad all humanity; but only so long as we are very careful not to disrespect each other, underestimate each other, or do something stupid that will provoke a war, that does not need to be fought.”. Of course that idea is self-evident, but the books delve into the specific details of policy on HOW the vision of cordial relations and mutual prosperity between the USA and China can be achieved by both nations."
"It has fought in Korea and Vietnam and protected Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and the sea lanes in the region. Allison picks sixteen similar examples of great power conflicts over the last 500 years, only four ended peacefully. America started to apply the Monroe Doctrine and regarded the Western Hemisphere as its backyard. Teddy Roosevelt made it clear to the Europeans that the US would not tolerate interference in the Americas and it would fight to protect its interests. Foreign policy experts such as Ian Bremmer and Robert Kaplan have advised appeasement and suggested that we should terminate our obligations to Taiwan and Japan. He calls this “offensive realism.” The neo-cons who worked for the first President Bush wanted the US to become a global hegemon and they created the Wolfowitz Doctrine, which Allison does not mention. Allison believes that both America and China assume that they are special and inherently superior to other nations. China has made it clear it does not want be part of a world order dominated by the US and its liberal democratic values. Allison believes that there will soon come a time when the US would probably lose a military confrontation in the South China Sea. Some of Allison’s chosen historical lessons were not particularly relevant to the coming conflict with China and I often disagreed with his analysis. Germany’s decision to go to war in 1914 was mainly about its rivalry with Russia and maintaining hegemony over the European mainland, something Britain never had any interest in. Allison's list of key players in 1914 (e.g., Churchill, Edward VII, Bethmann Hollweg, and the Kaiser) is also wide of the mark. On the British side, Sir Edward Grey (Foreign Secretary) and David Lloyd George ultimately called the shots."
"Today, as an unstoppable China approaches an immovable America and both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump promise to make their countries “great again,” the seventeenth case looks grim. Moreover, its economic growth will soon allow it to outstrip the US in terms of GDP (even though is has surpassed the United States already if we use an alternative measure—PPP (Purchasing Power Parity; see https://www.investopedia.com/updates/purchasing-power-parity-ppp/)."
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Best History in French

France. 1598-1690 (French Edition)
Maximilien de Béthune (Rosny par sa grand'mère, et Sully par don du roi). était originaire d'un pays qui a donné des têtes ardentes sous grande. apparence de froid, de roideur.
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Best Confucianism

Third Eye: Third Eye Activation Mastery, Proven And Fast Working Techniques To Increase Awareness And Consciousness NOW ! - psychic development, pineal gland -
Do you want to know how to open your third eye ? The meaning of the third eye and how to get the third eye working The meaning of the third eye and how to get the third eye working Common techniques used to open your third eye and how to tell the 3rd eye is actually open Unconventional methods used to open your third eye What it means to be a psychic and what it means to be a medium How to hone your skills either as a psychic or even as a psychic medium Why you need to be selective about the psychic circle that you join How to know you have natural psychic abilities or if you are a natural medium How you stand to benefit from opening your third eye How to make money out of your psychic abilities How to reduce the impact of your third eye How to identify psychic auras in individuals How to tell that a child is an Indigo Child How to support an Indigo Child while growing up How to create harmony in your living environment How to improve your third eye using essential oils and crystals How to stimulate your third eye using yoga and other exercises How to protect your 3rd eye from blocking How to tell that you have succeeded in spiritual awakening And much,much more..
Reviews
"Third eye concept originates from India and other Asian countries, where Lord Shiva is said to have a third eye as a symbol of destruction and there were these Saints who practiced meditation for many year and were able to open their third eye, which was power beyond this world. Meditation is great anyways and if on the way you find something that can open the third eye , then you will be able at different levels , seeing the world totally different and with immense knowledge of present , past and future."
"This was an interesting read , I was always inquisitive when it comes to the topic of third eye mastery."
"When I clicked on the authors of the reviews, most of them have only one or two other reviews and the writing style of those reviews is very different from the style of the reviews here. To be clear: I have nothing against non-native speakers writing reviews in English. Very much like the 5-star reviews themselves. I used to rely on the Amazon reviewer process to help me make decisions regarding purchases, and have written many reviews myself in an attempt to provide helpful opinions for other consumers."
"This book is pretty much just a mashup of all the basics about crystals, yoga poses, oils etc."
"How sad when we can't even rely on Amazons reviews anymore because of people like this."
"I would definitely not recommend purchasing this book."
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Best National & International Security

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?
About the Peloponnesian War that devastated ancient Greece, the historian Thucydides explained: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.” Over the past 500 years, these conditions have occurred sixteen times. Yet, stressing that war is not inevitable, Allison also reveals how clashing powers have kept the peace in the past — and what painful steps the United States and China must take to avoid disaster today. In Destined for War, Allison lays out one of the defining challenges of our time—managing the critical relationship between China and the United States.”—Joe Biden, former vice president of the United States. “Can the United States avoid confrontation with China? If Graham Allison is right—and I think he is—China and the United States must heed the lessons in this superb study in order to build a strategic relationship that avoids a war which neither side would win.”—General (Ret.). I can only hope that all senior policy experts read this timely book to prevent our country from falling into the trap Professor Allison so ably warns us against.”—Christopher Reich, best-selling author of Invasion of Privacy , The Patriots Club , and Numbered Account “Do China and America want war? GRAHAM ALLISON is director of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the best-selling author of LeeKuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World ; Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe ; and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis .
Reviews
"Allison primarily frames the USA vs. China rivalry in the well-known paradigm of superpower rivalries going back to Athens vs. Sparta, Britain vs. {every European Empire + Russia + Japan + USA}, and finally the USA vs. the Soviet Union. The implication is that we should not allow ourselves to be drawn into war with China over petty incidents that are vital to China’s prestige, but not to ours. The USA and China have historically been in alliance against other expansionist powers, especially during WWII when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor after we demanded that the Japanese withdraw from their brutal conquest of China. Nevertheless, the possibility of war between the USA and China cannot be ignored. Allison outlines the scenarios of possible USA / China war: a conflict in the high seas around China that China claims as sovereign territory; a conflict over the trade imbalance; a declaration of independence by Taiwan; and of course a renewal of the conflict in Korea that could accidentally involve both the USA and China in a war neither wants. Allison makes no bones about China’s intentions: =====. China is ready to use the carrots and sticks of its economic power— buying, selling, sanctioning, investing, bribing, and stealing as needed until they fall into line....China enjoys such superiority in its balance of economic power that many other states have no realistic option but to comply with its wishes, even when the international system is on their side....The fact is that China’s economic network is spreading across the globe, altering the international balance of power in a way that causes even longtime US allies in Asia to tilt from the US toward China. =====. I thus learned more than I expected from the book. I would also recommend another book as a companion to this one, that portrays the USA / China relationship in more historical depth, and with a more positive spin: THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY (the USA is called "the beautiful country" by Chinese) AND THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (China) BY John Pomfret. My takeaway from both is: “We can manage our relations to China constructively so as to have a fascinating and prosperous future of mutual benefit to us ad all humanity; but only so long as we are very careful not to disrespect each other, underestimate each other, or do something stupid that will provoke a war, that does not need to be fought.”. Of course that idea is self-evident, but the books delve into the specific details of policy on HOW the vision of cordial relations and mutual prosperity between the USA and China can be achieved by both nations."
"It has fought in Korea and Vietnam and protected Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and the sea lanes in the region. Allison picks sixteen similar examples of great power conflicts over the last 500 years, only four ended peacefully. America started to apply the Monroe Doctrine and regarded the Western Hemisphere as its backyard. Teddy Roosevelt made it clear to the Europeans that the US would not tolerate interference in the Americas and it would fight to protect its interests. Foreign policy experts such as Ian Bremmer and Robert Kaplan have advised appeasement and suggested that we should terminate our obligations to Taiwan and Japan. He calls this “offensive realism.” The neo-cons who worked for the first President Bush wanted the US to become a global hegemon and they created the Wolfowitz Doctrine, which Allison does not mention. Allison believes that both America and China assume that they are special and inherently superior to other nations. China has made it clear it does not want be part of a world order dominated by the US and its liberal democratic values. Allison believes that there will soon come a time when the US would probably lose a military confrontation in the South China Sea. Some of Allison’s chosen historical lessons were not particularly relevant to the coming conflict with China and I often disagreed with his analysis. Germany’s decision to go to war in 1914 was mainly about its rivalry with Russia and maintaining hegemony over the European mainland, something Britain never had any interest in. Allison's list of key players in 1914 (e.g., Churchill, Edward VII, Bethmann Hollweg, and the Kaiser) is also wide of the mark. On the British side, Sir Edward Grey (Foreign Secretary) and David Lloyd George ultimately called the shots."
"Today, as an unstoppable China approaches an immovable America and both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump promise to make their countries “great again,” the seventeenth case looks grim. Moreover, its economic growth will soon allow it to outstrip the US in terms of GDP (even though is has surpassed the United States already if we use an alternative measure—PPP (Purchasing Power Parity; see https://www.investopedia.com/updates/purchasing-power-parity-ppp/)."
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Best Japanese History

Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan (Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series)
Told in the same page-turning style of Killing Lincoln , Killing Kennedy , Killing Jesus , Killing Patton , and Killing Reagan , this epic saga details the final moments of World War II like never before. “An enthralling, gripping account of the bloody battles, huge decisions, and historic personalities that culminated in the decision to drop the atomic bomb and brought the war in the Pacific to its climactic end. A masterful, meticulously researched work that captures the barbarity of the war waged by those who swore allegiance to the Japanese Emperor – and by those who crushed the military might of the Rising Sun.”. He holds a history degree from Marist College, a masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University, and another masters degree from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Reviews
"It is an insightful look at WW2's end with Japan and the decision by our President on using America's newest weapon, the Atom Bomb."
"I read a lot of history, and this book certainly appears to be in alignment with prior history I have read."
"I hope and pray that others will take the time to read this and understand the need to Make America Great Again."
"The "Killing" books are a great way to bone up on history."
"I am not a history reader but this book is written so that the roles played by all main characters are interwoven in a manner that you can just about place yourself in the middle of each scene."
"If all history teachers made history this interesting, many more kids would learn eagerly."
"My dad, after 3 years fighting in Europe, would have been part of the invasion of Japan."
"In the mid-70s, I commanded the US Army's intelligence unit in Japan, and had first hand knowledge of many of the scenes including Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
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Best Indian History

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity
In this brilliant, breathtaking book by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human through the dramatic story of families striving toward a better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects people to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on years of uncompromising reporting, carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds—and into the hearts of families impossible to forget. Winner of the National Book Award | The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award | The Los Angeles Times Book Prize | The American Academy of Arts and Letters Award | The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award. NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • USA Today • New York • The Miami Herald • San Francisco Chronicle • Newsday NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker • People • Entertainment Weekly • The Wall Street Journal • The Boston Globe • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsweek /The Daily Beast • Foreign Policy • The Seattle Times • The Nation • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Denver Post • Minneapolis Star Tribune • Salon • The Plain Dealer • The Week • Kansas City Star • Slate • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A book of extraordinary intelligence [and] humanity . beyond groundbreaking.” —Junot Díaz, The New York Times Book Review “Reported like Watergate, written like Great Expectations, and handily the best international nonfiction in years.” — New York “This book is both a tour de force of social justice reportage and a literary masterpiece.” —Judges’ Citation for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award “[A] landmark book.” — The Wall Street Journal “A triumph of a book.” —Amartya Sen “There are books that change the way you feel and see; this is one of them.” —Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “[A] stunning piece of narrative nonfiction . Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2012 : Katherine Boo spent three years among the residents of the Annawadi slum, a sprawling, cockeyed settlement of more than 300 tin-roof huts and shacks in the shadow of Mumbai's International Airport. This first book by a New Yorker staff writer (and Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for the Washington Post) jolts the reader’s consciousness with the opposing realities of poverty and wealth in a searing visit to the Annawaldi settlement, a flimflam slum that has recently sprung up in the western suburbs of the gigantic city of Mumbai, perched tentatively along the modern highway leading to the airport and almost within a stone’s throw of new, luxurious hotels.
Reviews
"I teach about these realities of the developing countries and the lives of the urban poor, but Katherine Boo's story brings it all to life in a way that lets you feel the anguish and the frustration and the harsh, grinding lack of options. It is all here: social conflict, caste, corruption, abusive authority, manipulative politics, systemic inhumanity, but also hope, and ambition, and caring, and human bonds, and desperate longing for something better."
"The detail, the vivid writing, the fully formed and rounded people who live an unwinding tangle of drama, unfairness, humor, sadness, love, windmill-tilting, chance and tragedy - all of it is a wonder. It made me realize that I have no idea what it's like to live in a society that is as capricious as this one - even as it echoes our extremes of poverty and wealth here in the U.S. We talk of freedom of opportunity here, which at its best is a reality we can grip and at its worst is a falsely given hope."
"They suffer at the hands of the police, of their family members, their neighbors whose envy can rise to murderous proportions, and their religions that are yet another means of keeping them down and separate."
"Because of my confusion with the different characters I used the Kindle x-ray feature (which is AMAZING) to develop my own character list that I shared with my book group and have posted on the following google doc - [...] (please feel free to print this off and use when reading the book!)."
"The depiction of slum is relevant to audiences in and outside India- the middle class in India often uses the labor of the lower classes, but pretends when it is opportune that it is a cumbersome, and embarrassing community."
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Best Central Asian History

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Steve Coll is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars and the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and from 2007 to 2013 was president of the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, D.C.
Reviews
"This is the best book for understanding the roll of the CIA in Afghanistan and the war on terror."
"Great memories of times gone past when I was a soldier over the past 33 years I served faithfully in a lot of these ops."
"There were no apparent gaps in the connected dots and most connections made solid sense."
"If you have interest in covert operations and the intelligence agencies of the united States, this is an amazing book."
"Great product, would definitely recommend to others."
""Ghost Wars" is a fresh, detailed, and fascinating assessment of the United States' experience with Afghanistan from 1979 to the eve of 9/11/2001. Coll's recounting of this twenty year saga goes far to explain the roots and development of the United States's inability to deter the danger that became so graphically evident the day after this book's narrative ends. Yes, the book is detailed, but it would be a disservice to back away from the intricacies of the story -- just as it has proven to be a mistake for the United States to have backed away from the complexities of Afghanistan once the Soviets withdrew. While one might wish to disengage from such interwoven complexities, the risk of ignoring a failing state such as Afghanistan is to allow the creation of a untamed country in which an extreme regime such as the Taliban and a group as dangerous as that sponsored by Osama bin Laden can take root and thrive. I do wish that Coll had carried through with an epilogue to shed light on the events in Afghanistan of the past two to three years and the relationship of the U.S. to that sad country today. I know Coll has more to say about how the United States' response to 9/11 in Afghanistan has affected our relations with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia."
"If you want to know what really happened, you need to read this book."
"There are no 'Ghosts' to be found but a lot of hauntings as Coll brings into focus a series of turns and events in a troubled part of the world where tribal histories and passions have produced and fueled some very determined fighters."
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Best Southeast Asian History

Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
The first battle book from Mark Bowden since his #1 New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down , Hue 1968 is the story of the centerpiece of the Tet Offensive and a turning point in the American War in Vietnam. The lynchpin of Tet was the capture of Hue, Vietnam?s intellectual and cultural capital, by 10,000 National Liberation Front troops who descended from hidden camps and surged across the city of 140,000. With unprecedented access to war archives in the U.S. and Vietnam and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden narrates each stage of this crucial battle through multiple viewpoints. A Christian Science Monitor , Kirkus Reviews , Military Times , Hudson Booksellers, and Chicago Public Library best book of the year. Hue 1968 is also an exploration of what is common to all wars: humankind's capacity for violence, cruelty, self-sacrifice, bravery, cowardice and love. Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . Bowden’s interviews, almost half a century on, with those who fought, on both sides, have produced unexampled descriptions of small-unit combat.” ―George F. Will, Washington Post. applies his signature blend of deep reportage and character-driven storytelling to bring readers a fresh look at the 1968 battle in the Vietnamese city of Hue . Bowden tells this story with a power and a wealth of detail that no previous history of this offensive has approached." Based on hundreds of interviews, news accounts, histories and military archives, the book combines intensive research with Bowden's propulsive narrative style and insightful analysis . What sets Bowden's account of the battle apart is his skill at moving from the macro―the history of the war, the politics surrounding it, the tactics of the battle―to the micro: the individuals, American and Vietnamese, who fought it and tried to survive it." "Bowden is one of the great journalists of our generation, and with this book he provides a captivating account of the pivotal battle that did so much to alter the trajectories of not just the Vietnam War, but also American politics and our nation's global posture. With its capacious research that includes the perspectives of combatants and civilians, Vietnamese and Americans, presidents and privates, it epitomizes what a definitive account should be." “An engrossing, fair-minded, up-close account of one of the great battles in the long struggle for Vietnam.” ― Washington Post , “50 notable works of nonfiction in 2017”. The heart and soul of Hue 1968 lies with its vivid and often wrenching descriptions of the 'storm of war' as soldiers and South Vietnamese citizens experienced it." “In a 539-page narrative, Bowden delivers a work of grand ambition: impassioned, powerful and revelatory at its best, and the most comprehensive yet on the Tet Offensive’s bloodiest confrontation.” ―Gregg Jones, Dallas Morning News. "For readers who enjoy learning about battle tactics and bloody encounters, Bowden delivers, as he did in Black Hawk Down . Most impressive of all, Bowden deftly blends clear descriptions of complex troop movements with careful attention to the human impact of the fighting . Bowden deserves enormous credit for calling new attention to an often-overlooked battle and especially for recovering the experiences of those who fought amid otherworldly horrors." Bowden revisits the historic battle with the same character-driven, grunt-level reporting style that made Black Hawk Down a bestseller. He lends a sympathetic ear to surviving soldiers on both sides, as well as guerrillas and civilians, and gives a vivid account of courage and cowardice, heroism and slaughter.” ―Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times. “ Hue 1968 pulls off a rare feat: it takes a conflict of terrible scale and consequence, and allows us to see it unfold at the street level, through the eyes of Vietnamese and American soldiers engaged in the struggle, journalists and activists observing the chaos, and the civilians caught in the crossfire . Not only are the personal stories Bowden uncovers at turns deeply moving and horrifying, but they also pose uncomfortable parallels with current events in the Middle East and Afghanistan.” ―Sebastien Roblin, National Interest. This is as much a book about what happens to peoples’ hearts, minds, and bodies in the swirling chaos of urban combat as it is a history of a specific battle and an assessment of its strategic significance. With a novelist’s eye for evoking the grim atmospherics of a hellish locale and the characters within it, Bowden reconstructs dozens of scenes of heart-pounding combat . “I am still recovering from the astonishment and appreciation of the reporting and writing in Mark Bowden’s latest book: Hue 1968 , a story of a single battle that encompassed so much of what occurred in that epic year of our history.” ―Mike Barnicle, Politico. This is the definitive account of a turning point in America's Vietnam strategy and in public opinion about the war.” ― Wall Street Journal , “top 10 nonfiction books of 2017”. “[A] skillful, gripping account of the turning point of the Vietnam War.” ― Christian Science Monitor , “30 best books of 2017”. “Bowden confronts head-on the horrific senselessness of battle and the toll it takes on people, and he grants Hue the regard it deserves as a defining moment in a war that continues to influence how America views its role in the world.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review). "In this meticulous retelling of one critical battle, Mark Bowden captures the nuanced and often invisible threads of America's political, military and cultural blindness in Vietnam. “Bowden interviewed people on both sides, to great effect, and weaves a dense but compelling narrative about a battle that was a microcosm of the entire conflict.” ―Alex Prud’homme, Omnivoracious , favorite reads of 2017. Building on portraits of combatants on all sides, Bowden delivers an anecdotally rich, careful account of the complex campaign to take the city. One of the best books on a single action in Vietnam, written by a tough, seasoned journalist who brings the events of a half-century past into sharp relief." "An epic masterpiece of heroism and sacrifice, and a testament to the tragic futility of the American experience in Vietnam." gives voice to dozens, including Nguyen Quang Ha, whose five-man team emerged from underground caves to strike the first blow for North Vietnamese forces, Bob Thompson, a career marine officer charged with taking back the US stronghold at the Citadel, President Lyndon Johnson and General William Westmoreland in Washington, DC and reporters David Halberstam, Michael Herr, Gene Roberts, Walter Cronkite and others who changed the way Americans perceived the war." " Hue 1968 unravels one of the great mysteries of our time―how a puny force of North Vietnam regulars and local sympathizers could without warning occupy South Vietnam's second largest city, hold it for a month, then disappear into the mountains, beyond reach and largely unbloodied. While giving due respect to the abilities, actions and fighting spirit of the U.S. and ARVN Marines and soldiers who participated, Mark Bowden brought clarity to the larger intelligence, political and strategic shortcomings that made the prosecution of this battle so much more challenging and costly than it needed to be." "The longest and fiercest fighting of the Tet Offensive took place in and around Hue in early 1968 where Communist North Vietnam suffered a terrible military defeat. Yet the fight for Hue became a political victory for the leaders of North Vietnam and a turning point for US involvement and support for the war. Relying on archival documents now available after 50 years, he also examines the considerations and decisions of political and military leaders at the highest levels. This book is a tragic tale of misunderstanding but also one of great heroism and sacrifice by those who fought in the streets of Hue and in the nearby rice paddies and villages." "Mark Bowden uniquely describes the battle from both sides of the front lines and vividly captures the remarkable courage and valor of those that participated in the crucible of war that was Hue City in January to March 1968. "I am a US Marine Vietnam veteran who participated as a tank crewmen in the Tet 1968 battle for Hue City. “Powerfully told, and a vivid depiction of individual courage and national hubris.” ―William J. Burns, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. More than anything, Hue 1968 is the story of the entire Vietnam War in microcosm.” ―Michael M. Rosen, Claremont Review of Books. Mark Bowden is the author of thirteen books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down . He reported at the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for the Atlantic , Vanity Fair , and other magazines.
Reviews
"My criticism is only that the author glosses over the fact that journalists did have a staggering effect on the fighting, and often their stories did fuel the anti-war movement back home. It occurs to me that if journalists had written about the Battle of the Bulge in the same tone that Walter Cronkite and others portrayed Hue, we would have sued for peace with Germany."
"5 Stars. If you only ever read one book about Vietnam, you could do a lot worse than Bowden’s “Hue 1968.” Other good choices would be Karnow’s “Vietnam: A History” and Sheehan’s “A Bright and Shining Lie.” However, Hue 1968 delivers not only the facts of the American tragedy in Vietnam , or even a particular point of view of the facts, but it also accurately depicts the feelings of the Americans serving in Vietnam, as well as those of Americans at home, and the Vietnamese who could not escape the war."
"While the author paints a very sympathetic portrait of most of the marines and soldiers caught in the fighting, he generally has a veryr unflattering view of US higher commanders, who simply wouldn't believe that the North Vietnamese could take and hold a major city, because it did not conform to their preconceptions of what the enemy was capable of, or what strategy they would adopt. As a result, for several days after the city had fallen, US commanders sent laughably small contingents--individual companies of a couple of hundred men--to retake the city, occupied by up to 10,000 enemy troops."
"Bowden gives us the best explanation of why the battle of Hue was the key turning point of the war, how U.S. government and military leaders deliberately lied to the American public about progress, and how carefully the Peoples Army of (North) Viet Nam and the National Liberation Front troops deceived the Americans into believing the big attack would come along the borders rather than the cities like Hue."
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Best Korean History eBooks

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
An eye-opening account of life inside North Korea—a closed world of increasing global importance—hailed as a “tour de force of meticulous reporting” ( The New York Review of Books ). NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST In this landmark addition to the literature of totalitarianism, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il (the father of Kim Jong-un), and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life. She takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors, and through meticulous and sensitive reporting we see her subjects fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we witness their profound, life-altering disillusionment with the government and their realization that, rather than providing them with lives of abundance, their country has betrayed them. Her subjects are instantly relatable—they fall in love, raise families—but as their country grows increasingly isolated, totalitarian, and repressive, and is ravaged by unemployment and famine, they risk everything to leave. Her chilling impressions of a dreary, muffled, and depleted land are juxtaposed with a uniquely to-the-point history of how North Korea became an industrialized Communist nation supported by the Soviet Union and China and ruled by Kim Il Sung, then collapsed catastrophically into poverty, darkness, and starvation under the dictator’s son, Kim Jong Il. Mi-ran explains that even though her “tainted blood” (her father was a South Korean POW) kept her apart from the man she loved, she managed to become a teacher, only to watch her starving students waste away.
Reviews
"We learn about a young man left an orphan whose father had been Party member, a pediatrician whose greatest dream was to be allowed to join the Party, a housewife with 2 young children and an abusive husband, a young woman and her "forbidden" boyfriend, a factory worker who had absolute loyalty to the regime, and several more. This book also covers the operation of the government and its regimentation over people's lives from a historical viewpoint, how this all changed (slightly for the better) during the starvation years of the 90's, and the newer changes (for the worse) under Kim Jong-un."
"Astonishing reveal of the harsh reality of life during the 1980's in North Korea under that strict propagandist regime."
"It follows a number of individuals lives while living in North Korea."
"I was completely rivited by this book!"
"While I am an author myself, I don't know the author and no one asked me to review this."
"The constant propaganda, brainwashing, fear of being turned in by a neighbor, wife or son, the limits and downright bans on their freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of economy, freedom to choose their own paths, and the absolute desert of information about the outside world is a staunch warning to everyone, including we Americans, who see the seedlings of many of these bans and controls and limits and increased surveillance and the drying up of information."
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