The War in Laos 1960-75

Osprey Men at Arms #217

by Kenneth J. Conboy, Simon McCouaig (Illustrator)

As World War II drew to a close, the Imperial Japanese military seized control of Laos, a French protectorate, and encouraged nationalist movements to forestall the revival of French power in the region. Despite these efforts the French re-entered Indochina and methodically retook the protectorate. By 1957, the government of Laos and the core of the Communist Laotian forces, known as the Pathet Lao, entered an uneasy truce, which plunged the country into 15 years of war. This text explores the resulting war, providing a summary of events and profiling the Laotian government forces, the government Allied forces and the Communist forces.

Genres: History, Military History, War, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 1989

About the author

Kenneth J. Conboy is a former policy analyst and deputy director at the Asian Studies Center in Washington, D.C., and author or coauthor of seventeen books, including The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet and Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam and, most recently, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces.

Reviews

[John E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and well illustrated

While the Vietnam War is the subject of countless books , movies and television documentaries, the war is Laos remains obscure. This book provides a brief but informative history of the war in Laos. The government forces , along with the indigenous tribal forces, performed well against the Communists forces and the North Vietnamese forces until approximately 1974. The illustrations are excellent but do not purchase it on Kindle because they are difficult to view in that format.