Fields of Poppies: As Far as the Eye Can See - Softcover

Oggeri, Etienne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1425101372 ISBN 13: 9781425101374

Publisher: Trafford Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

The odyssey of Karl Haze of the French Foreign Legion among the mountain tribes of Vietnam. A tale of the destructive power of racial discrimination overcome only by the greater power of love.

About this title

About the Author:

Etienne Oggeri is a descendant of colonists who, for four generations, contributed to the development of Vietnam by building roads, bridges and tunnels. His fascinating life until he was arbitrarily expelled from the country at the age of 32 would have tempted the pen of a Hemingway or a Graham Greene. Like many Frenchmen of that period, he was jailed by the Japanese during their occupation, then by the Viet Minh in October 1945, until he was freed by the return of the French army. A decree exempting unique sons of widows from military service shortened his training in the Foreign Legion. Later he acquired a world-wide reputation as a professional big game hunter guide which enabled him to have prestigious clients like Berry B. Brooks, one of the five recognized greatest hunters in the world. His destiny made him meet Lechi, the sister of Madame Nhu, the very powerful First Lady of the Ngo Dinh Diem government nicknamed 'The Dragon Lady' by the American press because of her cruel remarks about the public suicide of the Vietnamese monks in protest of her government's wrong doings. Madame Nhu gave Etienne a choice: either a huge amount of money if he gave up Lechi or his expulsion from the country. He refused the money. This caused him to be expelled after a stay in the President's brother Nhu's secret underground jail where he was tortured, inoculated with the cholera virus, then led under heavy escort into Cambodia. Lechi's parents, then Ambassadors to Wachinton DC, succeeded in helping him come to the United States. Etienne and Lechi had to struggle to live honorably in the American society. Working during the day and going to the university in the evening, they acquired the degrees enabling them to have a good position first in the Department of the Defense, then for Lechi as a university professor. Now in their property on the side of a lake, Etienne writes his memoirs while Lechi becomes a professional artist

About this edition

• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1425101372
• ISBN 13: 9781425101374
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 340