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War Child
War Child
Oct 11, 2024 4:24 AM

Author:Juliette Lac

War Child

Am I unlucky because of the terrible things that happened to me as a child, or am I lucky because of the life I lead now? I hardly know myself. All I can tell you is that no sane person would ever choose war over peace. War is inhuman madness. War is what people do to each other when they have completely forgotten the sacredness of life.

In 1978, Juliet Lac fled war-ravaged Vietnam in a fishing boat, desperately hoping to find freedom in America. Conditions on the small, overcrowded vessel were horrific, and eight days into the journey, disaster struck. As the craft came in sight of shore, it was hit by a ferocious storm. The boat sank with the loss of half of the 350 passengers on board, but miraculously Juliet escaped, eventually making her way to the USA to begin her new life.

Aged only 11, Juliet had witnessed at first hand the barbarity of war, and after the death of her father and her younger sister, she and her mother were left to struggle on in poverty. But their flight to the West did not have a fairy-tale ending, and in the coming years they faced a struggle to integrate into their new society.

This is a remarkable and inspirational story of a war child's fight first for survival in the devastated landscape of Vietnam and then for acceptance in the affluent West.

Reviews

A gripping personal account . . . [Lac] writes with poetry, passion, pace and self-knowledge

—— Daily Telegraph

An admirable story of courage and success

—— Independent on Sunday

A heartening and uplifting tale

—— The Good Book Guide

The best book I read in 1993 was A History of Warfare...a dazzling display of historical pyrotechnics.

—— Paul Johnson , Sunday Times, Books of the Year

Magnificent

—— Sunday Telegraph

He examines every branch of warfare in its history, psychology, metallurgy, genetics, logistics, archaeology, tactics and strategy...He is as much at home in the Empire of Babylon as he is on the Somme...On every subject he has something fresh to say. His learning is staggering and his gift for exposition unequalled.

—— Nigel Nicolson , Daily Telegraph

Keegan's power as a writer derives from the fact that he does not see himself merely as a chronicler of battles, but as a student of the human condition. It is the breadth of his grasp of civilisation, as well as of the soldier's art, that makes this book so formidable.

—— Max Hastings , Evening Standard

A definitive record... The fact we won is remarkable, and Holland brings the events vividly to life *****

—— News of the World

A full and fascinating account... Edge-of-the-seat exciting

—— Saga

Holland is a narrative historian par excellence who believes that people should eb at the heart of any story and brings the characters of the age to life... [an] excellent, highly-readable volume

—— Navy News

Full of lively accounts of aerial contests and well-observed details

—— BBC History Magazine

History told with panache and an excellent grasp of the technical details

—— The Sunday Times

Holland's narrative is impressively comprehensive and is a superb introduction to one of the great turning points of the last war. More importantly it is stirring, occasionally even exhilarating, as any history of this period is obliged to be

—— Literary Review

A fitting, and beautifully illustrated, tribute to the Few, while not forgetting the unsung heroes of Bomber Command

—— Times Educational Supplement

There have been many books about the Battle of Britain but few as exhaustive - and readable - as this scholarly account

—— Choice Magazine

Facts and figures say a great deal, but the most compelling accounts come from those who featured in the battle. Like any good author, Holland allows the participants to tell the story in their own words

—— The Good Book Guide

A major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book

—— History Today

Innovative and most important

—— Contemporary Review

Compelling and engaging ... an excellent read

—— Soldier

Edgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition

—— Peter Moreira , Military History

Britain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war

—— Nigel Jones , Spectator

Masterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network

—— Mail on Sunday
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