David Donovan arrived in the Mekong Delta in April 1969, raw, idealistic and fresh from Special Warfare School.

He was in charge of an isolated four-man team sent to a remote rural area to co-operate with village chiefs and local Vietnamese militia against the infiltrating Vietcong.

As chief commanding officer of his unit, Donovan led patrol and combat missions, and he recounts the suspense and sheer terror of night ambushes, surprise attacks and man-to-man warfare.

Donovan had great power over the lives of the locals he was sent to train and fight with. They came to trust and respect him. He was their provider, leader, sometimes doctor and friend. They inducted him into a Vietnamese brotherhood - the honorary "warrior kings".

Donovan, now a university professor, tells his harrowing story with great compassion. Moving and brilliant, this book is the finest account of the USA's ill-fated foray into Vietnam I have read, and testimony to why invading forces should never ride roughshod over another country's cultures. Witness Iraq today.

Updated: 08:40 Saturday, March 12, 2005