Professor Anderson's endorsement

"A haunting account of a young, indomitable Vietnamese woman' s life and love that describes the two intertwining wars coexisting in Viet Nam -- the American war against Communism and the Civil war between those supporting the Americans and the authoritarian South Vietnamese regime and the 'nationalists' who supported Ho Chi Minh's struggle to regain independence and freedom for Viet Nam.

Ms Lam emphasizes the profoundly negative impact of the 'strategic hamlet' program and the US bombing that stirred fierce opposition to the American-backed regime and empowered the 'nationalists'. Late Blossom also provides extraordinary descriptions of the great events at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the 'Tet offensive' in 1968, and the fall of the Sai Gon regime in 1975, illuminating insights into the reactions of ordinary South Vietnamese."

Desaix Anderson. Charge d'Affaires, 1995-1997, US Embassy in Ha Noi.