Book Review of
The Erawan War
Vol. 1: The CIA Paramilitary Campaign in Laos, 1961-1969
Author: Ken Conboy
Helion & Co. Asia@War Series no 24
ISBN: 978-1-914377-06-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-914377-06-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $29.95
HISTORY:
During a National Security Council meeting in March 1971, Henry Kissinger commented to those around the table, “When the CIA reaches the point of having the largest army in Southeast Asia, we better review the program”.
He was referring to the secret war brewing in Laos , where the Central Intelligence Agency was training, funding, and leading tens of thousands of indigenous guerrillas within the kingdom and occasionally across its borders.
The Erawan War mini-series strips away the veil surrounding this conflict, recounting in detail the CIA’s largest paramilitary operation of the Cold War, as well as the Royalist armed forces that battled for decades against communist opponents. It includes hundreds of outstanding photos featuring case officers, military hardware, and battle scenes. These volumes are a must for anyone interested in the Vietnam War, military history, special forces units, and CIA paramilitary operations.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. is based in England.
This book is soft-cover of 58 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Hmong SGU group of 6 soldiers standing in a field, above a color side-view profile of a Bell 204 helicopter.
The back cover shows a cover shows color side-profiles of the Twin-pioneer and the Turbo-porter, which are repeated in the book in the side profile section again.
The book begins with CONTENTS, ABBREVIATIONS, a list of 5 chapters and a SOURCES and BIBLIOGRAPHY at the end of the book.
There are 75 black and white photos of combatants and their weapons.
There are also 5 color photos of the combatants and their weapons.
7 maps, a photo of a SR headquarters and bases and a color photo of a crashed aircraft and a black and white photo of a PT-76 amphibious tank.
Color illustrations of clothing unit patches include:
4 SGU shoulder patches
4 SF shoulder patches
Color side-view profiles are of:
2 of the Dornier Do 028
A Twin-Pioneer
A Lockheed L-100-20
A Swiss-built Turbo-Porter
A Bell 204 helicopter
This book will be of mild interest to modelers. More so to historians.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. Books and all Helion titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
During a National Security Council meeting in March 1971, Henry Kissinger commented to those around the table, “When the CIA reaches the point of having the largest army in Southeast Asia, we better review the program”.
He was referring to the secret war brewing in Laos , where the Central Intelligence Agency was training, funding, and leading tens of thousands of indigenous guerrillas within the kingdom and occasionally across its borders.
The Erawan War mini-series strips away the veil surrounding this conflict, recounting in detail the CIA’s largest paramilitary operation of the Cold War, as well as the Royalist armed forces that battled for decades against communist opponents. It includes hundreds of outstanding photos featuring case officers, military hardware, and battle scenes. These volumes are a must for anyone interested in the Vietnam War, military history, special forces units, and CIA paramilitary operations.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. is based in England.
This book is soft-cover of 58 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Hmong SGU group of 6 soldiers standing in a field, above a color side-view profile of a Bell 204 helicopter.
The back cover shows a cover shows color side-profiles of the Twin-pioneer and the Turbo-porter, which are repeated in the book in the side profile section again.
The book begins with CONTENTS, ABBREVIATIONS, a list of 5 chapters and a SOURCES and BIBLIOGRAPHY at the end of the book.
There are 75 black and white photos of combatants and their weapons.
There are also 5 color photos of the combatants and their weapons.
7 maps, a photo of a SR headquarters and bases and a color photo of a crashed aircraft and a black and white photo of a PT-76 amphibious tank.
Color illustrations of clothing unit patches include:
4 SGU shoulder patches
4 SF shoulder patches
Color side-view profiles are of:
2 of the Dornier Do 028
A Twin-Pioneer
A Lockheed L-100-20
A Swiss-built Turbo-Porter
A Bell 204 helicopter
This book will be of mild interest to modelers. More so to historians.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. Books and all Helion titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Recommended.