This book was written basically to demonstrate the procedures that Sgt Peter Trunce used in trying to get refugees safely out of Burma and away from the Japanese during World War II. Some of these refugees were their own worst enemies. They died because of their own foolish mistakes, lack of reason and discipline, and lack of knowledge. It was obvious from the letter he wrote that Sgt Trunce had much compassion for the people he was there to help.

In A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah tells a riveting story in his own words: how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life."Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"

After the brutal suppression of an unarmed national uprising, which cost thousands of lives, Rory MacLean seized the chance to visit Burma. Travelling from Rangoon to Mandalay and Pagan, into the heart of the Golden Triangle, he heard stories of freedom fighters, government censors, basket weavers, farmers and lovers -- ordinary people struggling to survive under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in the world. He met Aung San Suu Kyi, the most courageous woman of our time and t...

The antique Silk Road that connected the Chinese and Mediterranean Worlds for more than a millennium, facilitating the exchange of both goods and cultures, is widely known and celebrated. Less familiar is its more southerly equivalent, the ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ that once linked the lush gardens of southwest China with the frigid wastelands of Tibet and – beyond – the torrid plains of northern India. The latter is also sometimes called the ‘Southern Silk Road’, though this is something o...

Prose, Poetry, and Photos set in China and Hong Kong.

My First Book of Chinese Calligraphy is a fun and engaging introduction to one of China's most popular arts and crafts for kids. Calligraphy—the art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush—has been around for thousands of years. In this fun calligraphy for kids book, readers will follow along with Mimi, an eight year old, who takes her first steps towards learning this magical art. Dive in, and explore:The Evolution of Chinese Writing—how...

Until a few weeks before the fall of Rangoon, the British had not dreamt the Japanese would invade Burma. So in early 1942, British soldiers trained for desert warfare fought a Japanese Army trained and equipped for the jungle. Those who survived this fierce fighting faced malaria, air attack, and lack of food and water, on the long walk out through the Valley of Death. Ragged groups of soldiers and civilians were forced to trek out of Burma through some of the most inhosp...

The true story of a soldier who survived Japanese capture, a sinking hell ship, and the bombing of Nagasaki, all while his family fought their own battle in the Burmese jungle.While leading an attack on Hong Kong's Golden Hill, Jack Devereux of the Royal Scots is shot through the head. Then a Japanese officer attempts to behead him in order to blood his samurai sword. Waking briefly, Devereux kills his would-be executioner, impressing his captors. Fascinated by thei...

It is one of the meanest, nastiest animals alive. The Tasmanian Devil hates just about everything. Her are some fun facts about these angry little creatures.What is a Tasmanian devil's favorite food?How much can a Tasmanian devil eat in 30 minutes?How big is a Tasmanian devil when it is born?What happens to a Tasmanian devil's ears when it gets angry?Learn the answer to these questions and many more in this 15-Minute Book. Tasmanian devils are among the...

A blind obsession. A driving ambition. A relentless, unrestrained, single-minded pursuit of a shiny metal. These are the symptoms of a condition known as gold fever, and, like Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, American mining engineer Captain Humbert Reynolds has got it bad.Possible side effects include: temporary insanity, a propensity for violence, and death.The search for gold has taken Reynolds from the ruins of the Yucatan to the mountains of Ecuador to the w...

The vast lands and wealth of Siberia were claimed for Russia in the sixteenth century by a renegade soldier named Yermak Timofeyevich, an explorer whose accomplishments rival those of Columbus, Cook, and Magellan. Here, in this short-form book from award-winning author Timothy Severin, is his incredible and seldom-told story.

For fifty-two years, Chanu, a Lahu-Lisu tribal man from northern Thailand, lived an adventurous life packed with danger as well as joy. Slave, farmer, prisoner, hunter, bandit, smuggler, soldier-guerilla, lover, winner, and loser-- Chanu wore many faces. His story spans a fascinating, tumultuous historical period in the infamous Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia. Follow Chanu and witness his life of unusual circumstances in Run for the Mountains. During some fifteen years of working, trave...