LAOS Dawn Ellis and Tom Butcher 1 873429 16 9 £16.95 246pp 24 colour plates 62 maps and diagrams practical information full index sewn pbk with double gatefold 230 x 260 mm portrait It was said of Indo-China in the old days that the Cambodians plant the rice, the Vietnamese sell it, while the Lao just listen to it grow. Much has changed since this proverb was first spoken - and Laos is now open to visitors as never before - but the new Pallas Guide to Laos shows the traveller that the old Asia still survives. This is the first major book on Laos to be published in English since the turn of the century. The traveller and the student alike will find it an essential companion to the Lao people, their beliefs, architecture and crafts, and the gentle Buddhist rhythm of their life. Much of the information is unavailable elsewhere in English, and much of the photography of places and people is unique. But for many readers it will be the use of traditional folk tales that gives the book the true flavour of this beautiful, unspoilt country. The authors, Dawn Ellis and Tom Butcher, both read English at Cambridge and have travelled extensively in Laos and South East Asia collecting material and photographs for this book