Young draws on his reporting from Vietnam during the war and on his return in 1985, and adds a travel narrative from visits in 1995/96. The unifying theme is the story of the family he befriends in Hue and their dispersal to Saigon, America and Germany through the upheavals of the war and the subsequent communist rule.

Young's characteristic even-handedness, candour and eye for detail are present here as in his other books and overall this is a useful examination of Vietnam from a Vietnamese point of view. Perhaps the strongest material in the book are the numerous letters from various members of Madame Bong's clan as Young seeks to help them escape the country. The writing from the war is also excellent, especially the account of the death of a South Vietnamese recruit which has however been published in another book by Young (I forget which). The last section, in which the author goes back to the country in the nineties, feels disconnected and relatively inconsequential. ( )