CONTEXTS - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 443

Prize-nominated correspondent during the Second Indochina War, ranges from the personal
to the political as it follows the Hmong from the battlefields to life after the war.
Victor T. King Explorers of Southeast Asia: Six Lives . Six different authors examine the
journeys of various nineteenth-century European explorers, including Frenchmen Henri
Mouhot and Francis Garnier.
Christopher Kremmer Bamboo Palace: Discovering the Lost Dynasty of Laos . A continu-
ation of the author's earlier Stalking the Elephant Kings , which tracked his journey into re-
mote Laos in search of the monarch who disappeared shortly after the communists took over
in 1975. By interviewing a former inmate of Laos' re-education camps, Kremmer is able to
piece together the last days of the royal family, some of whom perished due to harsh living
conditions in the caves of Hua Phan province.
Alfred W. McCoy The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade .
Laos, not surprisingly, figures prominently in this exhaustively researched, revised and ex-
panded version of McCoy's landmark The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia .
ChristopherRobbins The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos (o/p). Although difficult
to find, this guide on America's secret war is well worth reading. Many of the details of
America's secretive Laos operations during the Second Indochina War didn't come out until
this gripping work by Robbins, a British journalist, was published in 1987. Based on inter-
views with American pilots who fought in Laos, this guide is well worth tracking down.
StanSesser The Lands of Charm and Cruelty: Travels in Southeast Asia . Among the five
insightful essays in this superb book is a 53-page segment on Laos during the late 1980s
and early 1990s. In presenting a well-observed account of the country as it struggles to re-
build itself after the war, Sesser mixes reflections on Laos's recent history with insights into
the country's political leadership, culture and economic reforms. The topic builds on articles
Stesser originally wrote for The New Yorker .
Martin Stuart-Fox A History of Laos . Written by an Australian scholar who covered the
Second Indochina War as a foreign correspondent, this work is the best available overview of
Laos's history, although it's extremely light on the country's early history.
MartinStuart-FoxandMaryKooyman Historical Dictionary of Laos . An encyclopedia of
key people and events in the history of Laos which, though expensive and difficult to find, is
worthwhile for the many insightful nuggets of information tracked down by the authors, and
the extensive bibliography.
Roger Warner Shooting at the Moon: the Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos .
Winner of the Overseas Press Club's award for the best book on foreign affairs, Warner's
thoroughly researched and crisply written account of American involvement reads like an ad-
venture novel. Letting tragic events speak for themselves, Warner brings to life the key play-