This is the first completely up-to-date Hmong history book ever written by a member of the Hmong people. It describes the earliest civilizations of the Hmong and Miao in China, and why some of the Hmong migrated into Southeast Asia in the early 19th century, particularly to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand; and how the Hmong of Laos were involved with the Lao civil war, especially the secret war from 1962 to 1975 that caused almost a hundred thousand Hmong to flee to Thailand and Western countries as political refugees after the Communists takeover. This book also includes backgrounds on the current Hmong refugee crisis at Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand and the arrest of former General Vang Pao by the U.S. authorities. "[It] is full of fascinating materials [and] a wonderful book. Congratulations," commented by Dr Nicholas C. T. Tapp, Senior Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University.