Books with title DRAGONS ON THE ROOF: Unravelling Vietnam

Journalist and travel writer Carol Howland was so beguiled by Vietnam that she spent a year travelling the length of this long, thin country. Delving into Vietnam's mysterious three thousand-year-old civilization, she meets a man who creates 'antique' Buddhist statues, a woman who 'sculpts' royal banquets, the aged manservant of the last dowager queen and one of the men who might have become emperor – if Vietnam still had an emperor. She wanders through Vietnam's oldest pagodas, through the palaces of the last imperial capital and takes us behind the scenes of Hanoi's classical opera and the traditional water puppet theatre. Carol Howland penetrates Vietnam's traditional culture in a way that no writer ever has.

An ideal companion for those who want more than a guidebook, for those who wish to dig a bit deeper into this enigmatic country. Journalist and travel writer Carol Howland was so beguiled by Vietnam and saw it changing so fast that she rushed back to spend a year, travelling the length of this long, thin country – to capture its traditional culture before it disappears. Delving into this two thousand-year-old civilization, she meets a man who creates 'antique' Buddhist statues, a woman who 'sculpts' royal banquets, the aged manservant of the last dowager queen and one of the men who might have become emperor – if Vietnam still had an emperor. She leads us through the palaces of the last imperial capital, now a World Heritage Site, and takes us backstage at Hanoi's classical opera and the traditional water puppet theatre. The writer penetrates Vietnam's traditional culture in a friendly, bemused and insightful way, through the stories and the lives of the people and the cultural leaders she met.