This is the first detailed study of the modern political history of Laos, a subject often clouded by party political rhetorics. The origins of the anti-colonial efforts, the impact of World War II on French policies and the many communist and non-communist strands which made up Laotian national identity and transnational linkages, are all discussed and described. The concluding chapter deals with the Pathet Lao triumph of 1975. With archival references, chronology, bibliography and index.