The Foreign Service Journal, November 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2012 41 Mossy Memoir of a Rolling Stone Thompson Buchanan, New Academia Publishing, 2011, $24, paperback, 210 pages. “Russian cab drivers, Tsarist palaces, Kremlin leaders, Foggy Bottom and the African jungle—they are all here in Tom Buchanan’s witty and fast-paced memoir of a fascinating life in the Foreign Service,” says retired Ambassador Edward Hurwitz. In Mossy Memoir of a Rolling Stone , Russia expert and Foreign Service officer Thomas Buchanan reflects on his career in the Soviet Union and Africa and his childhood, education and service in World War II with charming style. His service in Moscow coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. During the latter incident, he witnessed the amazement of Russians that such an egregious act could occur in the land of the free. He offers insightful commentary on cultural differences while highlighting somber truths about the disastrous Soviet tour- ism failures and the crises in the agricultural and most other economic sectors. His memoir, which is a volume in the ADST Memoirs and Occasional Papers series, is at once informative and enthralling as readers get a glimpse of one man’s part of U.S. foreign policy history. Thomas Buchanan joined the State Department in 1948 as an intelligence specialist on the Soviet Union and entered the Foreign Service seven years later. He has served overseas in Paris, Moscow, Bujumbura, Libreville, Oslo and Leningrad. Since his 1981 retirement, he has periodically worked for State and USAID. Sunsets in Singapore: A Foreign Service Memoir William S. Shepard, Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2012, $2.99, Kindle Edition. This personal memoir of diplomatic service spans a quarter-century, from the author’s administrative duties as a general services officer in tropical Sin- gapore to political analysis behind the Iron Curtain in Budapest. The work shows how American diplomacy works overseas. It gives the reader an insider’s view of a typical American embassy, the responsibilities of each section and how they work together. From personal security to representation, the career skills needed for modern diplomacy emerge here. So do the experi- ences of diplomatic families as they move around the globe, accumulating the memories of a lifetime. An absorbing read, the book has also proved useful for some new Foreign Service members. “I recently passed the Oral Assessment portion of the Foreign Service Exam, and can attest to the relevance of William Shepard’s experiences to the type of hypothetical situations raised by the examiners,” one writes. “An FS candidate will learn not only from the specific examples cited in the book, but more importantly fromMr. Shepard’s thought process while handling a wide variety of issues facing members of the diplomatic corps.” Career FSOWilliam S. Shepard, who retired as consul general in Bordeaux, also served in Singapore, Saigon, Budapest, Athens and Washington, D.C. He has written more than a dozen books on a variety of topics, most recently a history of “unknown” con- flicts (see p. 30) a nd a new collection of mysteries (see p. 51). FICTION & POETRY The Flowers of War Geling Yan (Translated from Chinese by Nicky Harman), Other Press LLC, 2012, $15.95, paperback, 256 pages. The Flowers of War begins in 1937 just after the Japanese Imperial Army has entered Nanking. The St. Mary Magda- lene mission becomes the residence of schoolgirls and courte- sans from a nearby brothel. Mortician John Miller has come to the convent to bury the recently deceased head priest. However, as the Japanese enter the city and start wreaking havoc on its citizens, he decides to pose as the priest in order to protect the girls. The story centers on the themes of survival, fear and, ulti- mately, sacrifice. There is also a strong dichotomy between the innocent schoolgirls and the worldly visitors from the brothel. It is a quick but fascinating read about one of the most tragic and infamous events of the 20th century. A movie based on the book, starring Christian Bale as Miller, was released in December 2011. Geling Yan published her first novel in 1985 and has written numerous works since, including two novels— The Uninvited (Faber, 2006) and The Lost Daughter of Happiness (Hyperion, 2001). Her husband, Lawrence Walker, is a Foreign Service officer.