Can be compared in intensity with the war writings of Robert GravesThere is ongoing public interest in the war in Vietnam and the stories of 'ordinary' soldiers'One of the best told narratives to come out of the Vietnam War. The book, in effect, is the chronicle of Donovan's forging an honorable, effective presence in an ambiguous setting' Military Book Club, USA'David Donovan powerfully projects the loneliness, the strains and the dangers he and the Vietnamese shared as they fought and many died to protect their community.His book discloses a fascinating dimension of the war at the village level which has gone largely unnoticed and for which Donovan deserves much praise' Ambassador William E. Colby, Director of Civil Operations and Rural Development Support in Saigon, 1968-71.