Okay, not a book, but still one of the finest sources of writing of and about the greater Mekong region in this or any other year (with the occasional foray into Japan and surrounds).

Cambodia and the region is very fortunate indeed to have the MR which, every three months ensures that fortune shines upon us, with the alighting of a new edition onto the shelves of the more discerning outlets of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

Launched in November 2015, at the very first Kampot Writers and Readers Festival (Howl was there 🙂 ), then and in the years since Minh Bui Jones and his team have moved mountains and type-face to get the latest issue to us.

In 2019 its reviews and articles were augmented by some of the best reportage and analysis of the crisis engulfing Hong Kong. Perceptive, detailed and heart-felt, the Mekong Review and its sister website ‘Mekong Teahouse’, reigned supreme as sources of information and clarity on the events occurring to our north.

‘Five demands, not one less / Four editions, not one less’

Thank you Mekong Review

James E. Parker

In late 1971 the People’s Army of Vietnam (NVA) launched Campaign “Z” into northern Laos, escalating the war in this country with the aim of defeating the last Royal Lao Army troops and the Hmong irregulars supported by the CIA. General Giap’s orders included the destruction of the CIA-sponsored Hmong army, under command of the indigenous warlord Vang Pao, and the occupation of his headquarters in the Long Tieng valley of northeast Laos (once known as the ‘most secret place on earth’). To accomplish this the NVA would need to take the strategic Skyline Ridge.

Despite the odds being overwhelmingly in favour of the NVA, the battle did not go to plan, and although it raged for more than 100 days—the longest of any battle in the second Indo-Chinese War—the North Vietnamese failed to take the ridge, the pivotal objective that would have assured them victory. 

Authored by James Parker, who served in Laos with the CIA and who, unfortunately, died three months prior to publication, the book reflects his values and biases, but in bringing the battle to light he succeeds in drawing attention to an engagement, its combatants and history, that would have otherwise remained largely unknown.