A poignant description of Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam in 1950, with all their beaut
y, gentleness, grandeur and intricate political balance intact - Restores this l
ost world, like a phoenix, from the ashes of the Vietnam war and its aftermath -
shows the Vietnamese guerilla movement in its infancy, ranged against the Frenc
h colonial powers, and the early affects of imported Western materialism - a bes
t-seller when first published, and venerated by all the Saigon-based war corresp
ondents in the '70s - inspired Graham Greene to go to Vietnam and write The Quie
t American.
