''Storm over Laos, a contemporary history'' was written in 1961 by Prince

Sisouk na Champassak Prince Sisouk na Champassak (; 28 March 1928 in Pakse, Champassak, Laos – 10 May 1985 in Santa Ana, California, United States) was the eldest son of Chao Bounsouane na Champassak, who was in turn the eldest son of the last King of Champassa ...

. It is written in English. It is a book on Laos from 1945 to 1961. It goes into much detail about the Secret War in Laos. It also talks about the rise of the

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao (), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and political organization, organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group ultimately gained control over the entire country of ...

, from its beginnings as a dusty guerrilla unit. Prince Sisouk not only talks about

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

but also the surrounding struggles of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and China. Upon trips to

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

, Prince Sisouk describes his views on the rising totalitarian governments of

' neighbors. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 5, "Journey to Peking" when Prince Sisouk and other

delegates met with Chinese Minister of Defense, Marshal

Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (October 24, 1898November 29, 1974; also spelled as Peng Teh-Huai) was a Chinese general and politician who was the Minister of National Defense (China), Minister of National Defense from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor ...

''We were impressed by the strong personality of our host, dubbed "the tiger of Korea" for his military exploits at head of the Chinese "volunteers" in the Land of the Morning Calm. Assuring us that China would never attack Laos, since she only desired to maintain good neighborly relations with all countries of Asia,
Peng Peng may refer to: * Peng (surname) (彭), a Chinese name * Peng (state) (大彭), a state during the late Shang dynasty * Peng (mythology) (鵬), a legendary Chinese creature * ''Peng!'', 1992 album by Stereolab * ''PENG!'', a 2005 comic * P.Eng. ...
declared in his energetic tone, "We are not afraid of the U.S. We beat them in Korea. We do not have atom bombs, but we have great manpower. Even if they were to use their atom bombs in case of war, they could never kill more than 300 of 400 million Chinese. That would still leave 200 million which would easily be enough to be them." These aggressive statements revealed to us the Chinese leaders' profound contempt for human life.''

Reception

In a review for ''

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' (''APSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf ...

'',

Bernard B. Fall Bernard B. Fall (November 19, 1926 – February 21, 1967) was a prominent war correspondent, historian, political scientist, and expert on Indochina during the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Austria, he moved with his family to France as a child after ...

criticized the book as "little else but a plea ''promo domo'' for the official viewpoint of the Laotian regime of Prince

Boun Oum Prince Boun Oum (also Prince Boun Oum Na Champassak; ; ; ; 2 December 1911 – 17 March 1980) was the son of King Ratsadanay, and was the hereditary prince of Champassak and also Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Laos from March 1949 to Febr ...

and of pro-American strongman Gen.

Phoumi Nosavan Major General Phoumi Nosavan (; 27 January 1920 – 3 November 1985)Stuart-Fox, pp. 258–259. was a Laotian military officer who served as the military strongman of Laos during the Laotian Civil War in the 1960s. Early life Phoumi Nosavan w ...

References

{{reflist 1961 non-fiction books History books about Laos