Perhaps to do penance, he faithfully recounts their stories, kindnesses and biases--slips of conversation that speak volumes about Vietnam's often frenetic present and its war-scarred past.

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When the Great War finished, politicians struggled to marry a battle-scarred generation with a penchant for gambling with the genteel, traditional values of a society that was otherwise untouched by the carnage of war.

WSJ: Two-Up, A Game Australians Flip Over, Loses Luster When Legalized

It is a continuation of the British obsession with the housing market, that has scarred public policy throughout the post-war period.

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But some have gone further west to the coastal city of Izmir - a place itself scarred by wanton killing and destruction in World War I.

BBC: A new wave of refugees in the city that was Smyrna