The Foreign Service Journal, November 2008

mances, he has delighted and charmed children for cen- turies. The tales are based on the story of a Chinese monk, Xuan Xang, who went to India in the 7th century to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. Monkey King is born from a rock and proclaims himself king of all monkeys. The clever, impish king, however, troubles the gods and is punished until he promises to protect a Buddhist monk making a difficult journey to India. Along the way, Monkey King wields magical tricks and secret weapons. With his traveling companions Pigsy, Sandy and Horse, he encounters demons, monsters and chal- lenging situations. The stories take place in a world in which “Buddhas have achieved enlightenment, a celestial emperor manages the affairs of men, souls seek rebirth and magic permeates everything.” There are as many versions of these stories as there are storytellers. As a child, the author heard them from her mother, and this version is based on those tales. Teresa Chin Jones, the wife of retired FSO David Jones, is an environmental, science and technology writer and analyst who lives in Virginia. She spent 24 years overseas in Canada and Belgium. To purchase the book, contact Nancy Ippolito at pvp2@mind spring.com. All Hail Caesar: An International Dog Anne L. Terio, Xlibris, 2008, $21.99, paperback, 40 pages. Here is the story of a dog with lots of frequent-flyer miles. Caesar is a golden Labrador, who joined For- eign Service officers Charl- es and Anne Terio in Egypt as a puppy, accompanied them from there to the U.S., then to Haiti, and back again to Washington, D.C., and is still going strong at age 13. Caesar has had many adventures around the world, told in this book with accompanying pho- tographs, that animal lovers of all ages will appreci- ate. Anne L. Terio, a retired FSO, has a passion for his- tory and writing. She is a member of Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames XVII Century. She has previously written two children’s books, The Adventures of Edward the Clown and When All the Planets Came Together!! Easter Came to the Polar Bears . This book can be ordered online at www2.xlibris. com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=49174. Travel From Agincourt to Zanzibar: A Where-in-the-World Guide to 300+ Places Don Hausrath and Paul Wasserman, Capital Books, 2008, $19.95, paperback, 462 pages. “Don’t let the alphabetical order fool you,” says Robert Eis- ner, professor emeritus of classics and humanities at San Diego State. “This book is an alternative history of the world, both eccentrically conceived and sensibly executed.” Both authors have globetrotted around the world and compiled this list of more than 300 intriguing places, providing readers with brief historical details, name backgrounds, and unusual information about each site. They also suggest books that further explore the spot. The book takes readers on an extraordinary journey from the real Klondike region in Canada to the myth- ical Atlantis, from the Putrid Sea to Kokomo, from the Great Rift Valley to the manmade Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The sheer number of sites makes for an exciting read filled with fascinating information and unusual tidbits. The entries are organized alphabeti- cally, but there is a useful index that reorganizes the places by theme: among them are biblical sites, defunct cities, locations celebrated in movies and songs, and mythical places. Don Hausrath retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 1995 and lives in Tucson, Ariz. Paul Wasserman is a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies and lives in Bethesda, Md. They are the authors of Washington D.C. from A to Z (Capital Books, 2003) and Weasel Words: The Dictionary of American Doublespeak (Capital Books, 2005). 44 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8