I've read other Kramer books and love them as I’ve always had a passion for history. It doesn’t matter so much whether work like this is fiction or non-fiction as the research that has gone into them is so detailed and obviously well researched. A Gracious Enemy is a story about the three Indochina Wars, and it so well written I felt a part of the action. Michael Kramer is a writer who cares for the details in his books. They are believable, full of facts, interesting plots, and characters with real personality and depth. I can recommend this book to anyone who loves history in general or wants to find out more about Indochina colonisation time.

CodeMonkey star 5.0

You rarely sit down and think about what the people of a nation go through when a war takes place. Often the story is told through the eyes of the oppressor and the oppressed don’t have a voice. This author has given the voice back to the oppressed, this is a heart wrenching rendition of how the lives of the Vietnamese people were affected during the war. This book is not about politics, it is spoken from the heart of those whose lives were invaded and destroyed because of a bitter power struggle. This was a powerful book to read, it has had a lasting effect on me and I think I will carry the memories of what these people went through for the rest of my days.

Christine Lough star 5.0

A Gracious Enemy takes us through three Indochina Wars. The first war was the Indochinese people against the French and their USA allies. The second war was the Indochina people on one side and the coalition of Australia, USA, New Zealand, and South America on the other. Indochina was composed of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. This war is popularly known as the Vietnam War.

This book explores the Vietnamese readjustment after the Toy Son Brothers uprising in 1770. It examines how the Vietnamese brought to an end the oppression by Trin and Nguyen families on the Vietnamese people. Additionally, the role of the Catholic Church, Missionary Pineau de Bahrain, and Bishop of Adran are closely examined.

After the French colonized Indochina, they prohibited the use of Chinese and Vietnam. The second war was a game-changer. It showed that Caucasian people could be defeated. During the First Indochina War, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnam War saw the withdrawal of the American soldiers from Vietnam. The Vietnamese then successfully invaded the Kampuchea in the third Indochina war. It is an interesting historical read.

Rev. Stephen R. Wilson star 5.0

The amount of research and passion that went into this book is inspiring. This isn’t the type of book you can read from start to finish in one sitting, and there’s a few errors in grammar/syntax here and there, but overall this is a solid book about the history of the main Germanic tribes.

The story takes the persona of a ghost of Horsa, historically a legendary tribal war lord and moves forward as this narrator explains a lot of the history/origins of various groups in the early Germanic Viking time period (from the Engels to the Saxons and everything in between).

The writing is presented as fact, and it was hard at times for me to remember this is a fictional story with loads of facts following a realistic timeline about two brothers who carry a lot of history in the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes.

This is an ambitious story written by a passionate author, and if you get over the little flaws you’ll find this is a great piece worth your time.

Grymm star 5.0

Everybody loves an underdog, and this guy seemed to be one all his life. I loved the kid that he was, getting into fights all the time because he wouldn’t take crap from anyone. I loved that he was loyal to his dad, even though the guy was a jerk. I rooted for him when various people tried to stick it to him, especially that lot at Australian Immigration.

But there was just so much anecdotal stuff to digest! I didn’t really need to know THAT much about Army field manuals, Soviet weapons, engineering math and legal documents. In the end it’s really a story about a guy who tries to overcome ridiculously frustrating challenges. We’ve all had a bit of that in our own lives, so in that respect, Full Circle for Mick really touched a chord.

This book had a slow start -- but don't stop reading! You will appreciate the writer's humor and easy going style of sharing a story. I give this 4 stars out of 5.

Ikay Moreno star 5.0

There is a boundary in Europe today between where people prefer to drink beer and where people prefer to drink wine, where the Romance languages based on Latin are spoken and where the Germanic languages are spoken. There is a famous battle largely responsible for this, a battle that halted the expansion of the Roman Empire of Augustus into northernmost Europe.

That battle is the famous the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where in 9 AD 3 Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus where ambushed and wiped out almost down to the last man. The Romans were to lead several successful raids and campaigns into Germania afterward, but they NEVER attempted to conquer Germany east of the Rhine river again.

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest is accurately described as the greatest defeat Rome ever suffered, and as one of the most decisive battles in European and world history.

In FOR THE LOVE OF ARMIN it is somewhat fictionalized and imagined, but the basic cast of characters and turning of events are accurate to history. A lot of time is spent on the Germanic warrior Armin, his wife Thusnelda, and their son who is sold into slavery as a Gladiator and I highly recommend this book for all students of Roman and European and military history. I cannot recommend it highly enough as a crucial book in the research of the early history of the Roman Empire.

This is a compelling account of the battle that defined Europe for all time afterwards.

Mina star 5.0