Sanwiched between Us-supported Thailand and Communist North Vietnam, the tranquil Buddhist kingdom of Laos - the original Shangri-La - became the centre of a major Cold War crisis in the earlyt sixties, when Mervyn Brown served there as deputy to the British Ambassador. He has written a fascinating and highly readable account of his often hazardous experiences, which included the battle of Vientiance passing through his garden and a gruelling month as a prisoner of the left-wing Pather Lao guerrillas in remote mountainous jungle inhabited by Stone Age aboriginal people. His his story is ser against the political and military crisis which developed in the USA administration in the face of the perceived Communist threat in the region but 'War in Shangri-La' remains a personal experience of a remarkable episode and a memorable account of Laos and its people.