Tess Johnston has spent her life seeking adventure and excitement and she had plenty of that in Germany before the Wall came down and in China for more than thirty years. But the pinnacle of her experiences was seven years in Vietnam, 1967-74, during the war, where she found even Saigon too tame and snared a job with one of the most famous (or infamous) American wartime leaders, John Paul Vann. In her latest book, Tess recounts stories of her Vietnam years, including her eye-witness account of the Tet Offensive, and what it was like to be one the few American women there during those harrowing years.

Tess Johnston has served abroad for more than half a century, including seven years in East and West Berlin and more than 40 years in Asia, 33 in Shanghai, and seven in Vietnam (1967-74). Tess moved to Shanghai in 1981 to work at the US Consulate General and in 1996, after over 30 years in the Foreign Service, retired and stayed on until her 2016 repatriation. She now writes, researches, and lectures in Washington, DC. She and her co-author, photographer Deke Erh (Er Donqiang), have published more than twenty books, including 10 volumes on Western architecture and the expatriate experience in old China.