Eric's Beijing Diary

For several years in the noughties, I wrote reviews for Amazon. It just seemed simpler to publish them on that site. Recently I have started putting new reviews here on my blog. It's just simpler. But the old reviews from Amazon will also be listed here.

Amazon Book Reviews

This is a collection of book reviews I published on the Amazon website years ago. Most of them are still there and available to read.

Buddha's Child: My Fight to Save Vietnam

This book is essential to understanding the endgame in Vietnam. Mind you, this is one person's story told from his perspective. So it should be balanced by other reading. Still, it is immensely useful in building an understanding of the war and how and why it failed.

Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell's classic Civil War novel set before, during, and just following the American Civil war, and written in the South during the Jim Crow period of the first half of the twentieth century.

Mao's Last Dancer

Fascinating portrayal of a boy from the countryside of China who was chosen to become a professional dancer. His descriptions of country life, especially in terms of relationship, are very real and quite compelling.