This overview ranges across the history, sociology, politics and economy of this small landlocked kingdom turned People's Republic. Theravadins stand for the majority Lao Loum Buddhist population.
Commissars stands for the soldier-bureaucrats who struggled to rebuild Laos in a communist mould.
However, the question how the communist Pathet Lao movement trimphed against all adversity, remains unanswered. This book weaves together a number of threads in the endeavor to answer these and other questions. An overview of recent research and suggestions for the way forward concludes the book. While the book forms a unity, the essays stand alone and may be read as parallel histories in their own right. Book Order Form of White Lotus Press.