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Edward Lansdale The Unquiet American
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Book Synopsis Edward Lansdale, the Unquiet American by : Cecil B. Currey
Download or read book Edward Lansdale, the Unquiet American written by Cecil B. Currey and published by Potomac Books. This book was released on 1998 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Village Voice called the complex life of U.S. Air Force major general and CIA agent Edward G. Lansdale one of "Technicolor fascination". The maverick military thinker's brilliant counterinsurgency tactics preserved democracy in the Philippines, but his subsequent efforts to create "a broad-based, open society" in Vietnam failed following his return to the United States in 1956. Lansdale later led an undercover organization dedicated to bringing down Fidel Castro. This important biography of the legendary intelligence operative and master of political and psychological warfare is now available as a Brassey's Five-Star Paperback.
Book Synopsis The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam by : Max Boot
Download or read book The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam written by Max Boot and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (Biography) A New York Times bestseller, this “epic and elegant” biography (Wall Street Journal) profoundly recasts our understanding of the Vietnam War. Praised as a “superb scholarly achievement” (Foreign Policy), The Road Not Taken confirms Max Boot’s role as a “master chronicler” (Washington Times) of American military affairs. Through dozens of interviews and never-before-seen documents, Boot rescues Edward Lansdale (1908–1987) from historical ignominy to “restore a sense of proportion” to this “political Svengali, or ‘Lawrence of Asia’ ”(The New Yorker). Boot demonstrates how Lansdale, the man said to be the fictional model for Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, pioneered a “hearts and minds” diplomacy, first in the Philippines and then in Vietnam. Bringing a tragic complexity to Lansdale and a nuanced analysis to his visionary foreign policy, Boot suggests Vietnam could have been different had we only listened. With contemporary reverberations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, The Road Not Taken is a “judicious and absorbing” (New York Times Book Review) biography of lasting historical consequence.
Book Synopsis The Quiet American by : Graham Greene
Download or read book The Quiet American written by Graham Greene and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2018-03-13 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “masterful . . . brilliantly constructed novel” of love and chaos in 1950s Vietnam (Zadie Smith, The Guardian). It’s 1955 and British journalist Thomas Fowler has been in Vietnam for two years covering the insurgency against French colonial rule. But it’s not just a political tangle that’s kept him tethered to the country. There’s also his lover, Phuong, a young Vietnamese woman who clings to Fowler for protection. Then comes Alden Pyle, an idealistic American working in service of the CIA. Devotedly, disastrously patriotic, he believes neither communism nor colonialism is what’s best for Southeast Asia, but rather a “Third Force”: American democracy by any means necessary. His ideas of conquest include Phuong, to whom he promises a sweet life in the states. But as Pyle’s blind moral conviction wreaks havoc upon innocent lives, it’s ultimately his romantic compulsions that will play a role in his own undoing. Although criticized upon publication as anti-American, Graham Greene’s “complex but compelling story of intrigue and counter-intrigue” would, in a few short years, prove prescient in its own condemnation of American interventionism (The New York Times).
Book Synopsis Ugly American by : William J. Lederer
Download or read book Ugly American written by William J. Lederer and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1999-01-05 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ineffectual Ambassador is just one of the handicaps facing the Americans as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly involved with Communism.
Book Synopsis Edward Lansdale's Cold War by : Jonathan Nashel
Download or read book Edward Lansdale's Cold War written by Jonathan Nashel and published by Culture and Politics in the Company. This book was released on 2005 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The man widely believed to have been the model for Alden Pyle in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, Edward G. Lansdale (1908-1987) was a Cold War celebrity. A former advertising executive turned undercover CIA agent, he was credited during the 1950s with almost single-handedly preventing a communist takeover of the Philippines and with helping to install Ngo Dinh Diem as president of the American-backed government of South Vietnam. Adding to his notoriety, during the Kennedy administration Lansdale was put in charge of Operation Mongoose, the covert plot to overthrow the government of Cuba's Fidel Castro by assassination or other means. In this book, Jonathan Nashel reexamines Lansdale's role as an agent of American Cold War foreign policy and takes into account both his actual activities and the myths that grew to surround him. In contrast to previous portraits, which tend to depict Lansdale either as the incarnation of U.S. imperialist ambitions or as a farsighted patriot dedicated to the spread of democracy abroad, Nashel offers a more complex and nuanced interpretation. At times we see Lansdale as the arrogant "ugly American," full of confidence that he has every right to make the world in his own image and utterly blind to his own cultural condescension. This is the Lansdale who would use any conceivable gimmick to serve U.S. aims, from rigging elections to sugaring communist gas tanks. Elsewhere, however, he seems genuinely respectful of the cultures he encounters, open to differences and new possibilities, and willing to tailor American interests to Third World needs. Rather than attempting to reconcile these apparently contradictory images of Lansdale, Nashel explores the ways in which they reflected a broader tension within the culture of Cold War America. The result is less a conventional biography than an analysis of the world in which Lansdale operated and the particular historical forces that shaped him--from the imperatives of anticommunist ideology and the assumptions of modernization theory to the techniques of advertising and the insights of anthropology.
Download or read book Facing the Phoenix written by Zalin Grant and published by W. W. Norton. This book was released on 1991 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journalist/author Grant writes about the defeat of the US in Vietnam, focusing on Tran Ngoc Chau, a Vietnamese soldier and statesman who advocated a subtle application of political and military programs instead of the heavy-handed military approach that was adopted by the US. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book On Their Own written by Joyce Hoffmann and published by Da Capo Press, Incorporated. This book was released on 2008-06-24 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Staring back into another time -- Called to the colors -- Going against the grain -- Challenging the conventional wisdom -- Foreign journalists report the war -- The war on television -- A force of nature -- A place in history.
Book Synopsis America in the World by : Michael J. Hogan
Download or read book America in the World written by Michael J. Hogan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of the historical literature on intelligence and national security during the Cold War.
Book Synopsis The Hidden Hand by : Richard H. Immerman
Download or read book The Hidden Hand written by Richard H. Immerman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-04-07 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE HIDDEN HAND Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has played an outsized role in the political life of the United States, whether by formulating and implementing policy or by fueling popular culture and imagination. The Hidden Hand is an accessible and up-to-date history of the agency that succinctly takes the reader from its early days of intelligence gathering and analysis to its more recent involvement in the execution of foreign policy through covert operations, psychological warfare, and other programs. In manageable chapters and easy-to-digest prose, the author — a respected scholar who has researched intelligence for more than 30 years and also served as a high-ranking officer in the intelligence community — covers all aspects of the CIA from its mission to its performance to its record. He draws on the latest evidence and research to assess the agency’s successes and failures over the last half century, highlighting key operations of the past and present. Throughout, his assessment is balanced and thorough with an eye on the complex and controversial nature of the subject. This is a masterful account that demythologizes the CIA’s role in America’s global affairs while addressing its integral place within American political and popular culture.
Book Synopsis A Companion to John F. Kennedy by : Marc J. Selverstone
Download or read book A Companion to John F. Kennedy written by Marc J. Selverstone and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: b”A COMPANION TO JOHN F. KENNEDYA COMPANION TO JOHN F. KENNEDY “Marc J. Selverstone has compiled an indispensable volume of essays on John F. Kennedy and his presidency, written by a stellar cast of scholars. What stands out in sharp relief in this wide-ranging and authoritative book is how consequential were Kennedy’s thousand days for the United States and for the world, and how controversial is his legacy. Fredrik Logevall, Stephen and Madeline Anbinder Professor of History, Cornell University “Marc J. Selverstone has brought together a remarkable group of scholars who illuminate the many important ideas of, and events that occurred during, this brief administration. This book is the best record of the Kennedy years.” Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of American History, Columbia University “This collection of talented scholars and their research and thoughts on John F. Kennedy is an invaluable resource: a deeply informed conversation for the ages.’ Richard Reeves, writer, syndicated columnist, and senior lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California
Book Synopsis Vietnam War [2 volumes] by : James H. Willbanks
Download or read book Vietnam War [2 volumes] written by James H. Willbanks and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 853 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This detailed two-volume set considers the Vietnam War, one of America's longest and bloodiest wars, from a topical perspective, addressing the main characters and key events of the war and supplying many relevant primary source documents. The Vietnam War not only claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 Americans and more than a million Vietnamese, but the prolonged conflict also resulted in a firestorm of protest at home that shook the foundations of the country and made U.S. citizens question the moral principles and motivations behind our foreign policy and military actions. Written in a very accessible style by recognized authorities on the war, Vietnam War: A Topical Exploration and Primary Source Collection provides students and general readers with a complete overview of the conflict in Vietnam—a broad topic that remains an important part of the American history and world history curriculum. Using a topical approach to cover all aspects of the war, the set enables students to see the complete picture of the conflict through its presentation of reference entries and documents arranged in cohesive, compelling chapters. Examples of the primary documents in the set include "Communist Party: Evaluation of the Tet Offensive" (1968) and President Richard Nixon's Speech on Vietnamization (1969). These primary sources are augmented by oral histories of soldiers who fought in the Tet Offensive. Additionally, maps and images in each section enhance the aesthetic appeal of the book and heighten students' understanding of the material. Readers will come away with both a strong comprehension of the Vietnam War as well as an appreciation for how significant this proxy conflict was as a lead-up event to the global Cold War.
Book Synopsis The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships, Part IV by : William Conrad Gibbons
Download or read book The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships, Part IV written by William Conrad Gibbons and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 986 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fourth volume of a five-part policy history of the U.S. government and the Vietnam War covers the core period of U.S. involvement, from July 1965, when the decision was made to send large-scale U.S. forces, to the beginning of 1968, just before the Tet offensive and the decision to seek a negotiated settlement. Using a wide variety of archival sources and interviews, the book examines in detail the decisions of the president, relations between the president and Congress, and the growth of public and congressional opposition to the war. Differences between U.S. military leaders on how the war should be fought are also included, as well as military planning and operations. Among many other important subjects, the financial effects of the war and of raising taxes are considered, as well as the impact of a tax increase on congressional and public support for the war. Another major interest is the effort by Congress to influence the conduct of the war and to place various controls on U.S. goals and operations. The emphasis throughout this richly textured narrative is on providing a better understanding of the choices facing the United States and the way in which U.S. policymakers tried to find an effective politico-military strategy, while also probing for a diplomatic settlement. Originally published in 1995. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Our Man written by George Packer and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography* *Winner of the Los Angeles Times Prize for Biography* *Winner of the 2019 Hitchens Prize* "Portrays Holbrooke in all of his endearing and exasperating self-willed glory...Both a sweeping diplomatic history and a Shakespearean tragicomedy... If you could read one book to comprehend American's foreign policy and its quixotic forays into quicksands over the past 50 years, this would be it."--Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book Review "By the end of the second page, maybe the third, you will be hooked...There never was a diplomat-activist quite like [Holbrooke], and there seldom has been a book quite like this -- sweeping and sentimental, beguiling and brutal, catty and critical, much like the man himself."--David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe Richard Holbrooke was brilliant, utterly self-absorbed, and possessed of almost inhuman energy and appetites. Admired and detested, he was the force behind the Dayton Accords that ended the Balkan wars, America's greatest diplomatic achievement in the post-Cold War era. His power lay in an utter belief in himself and his idea of a muscular, generous foreign policy. From his days as a young adviser in Vietnam to his last efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, Holbrooke embodied the postwar American impulse to take the lead on the global stage. But his sharp elbows and tireless self-promotion ensured that he never rose to the highest levels in government that he so desperately coveted. His story is thus the story of America during its era of supremacy: its strength, drive, and sense of possibility, as well as its penchant for overreach and heedless self-confidence. In Our Man, drawn from Holbrooke's diaries and papers, we are given a nonfiction narrative that is both intimate and epic in its revelatory portrait of this extraordinary and deeply flawed man and the elite spheres of society and government he inhabited.
Book Synopsis The U. S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships by : William Conrad Gibbons
Download or read book The U. S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships written by William Conrad Gibbons and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 990 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a study of U.S. government policymaking during the 30 years of the Vietnam war, 1945-75, beginning with the 1945-1960 period. Although focusing on the course of events in Washington and between Washington and U.S. officials on the scene, it also depicts major events and trends in Vietnam to which the U.S. was responding, as well as the state of American public opinion and public activity directed at supporting or opposing the war."--Preface.
Book Synopsis Anthropology and the United States Military by : P. Frese
Download or read book Anthropology and the United States Military written by P. Frese and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-10-03 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An edited collection of ethnographic research that seeks to provide visions of and for US military culture from a solid anthropological base. The volume explores several important but relatively unknown cultural variations in the defense community through a variety of lenses. A strong list of contributors highlight important issues such as: anthrax vaccines, the 'Golden Age' culture of the military, gender roles among army spouses, weight control and physical readiness, the military advisor, and the United States Naval Academy.
Download or read book Why We Fought written by Peter C. Rollins and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2008-07-25 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Film moves audiences like no other medium; both documentaries and feature films are especially remarkable for their ability to influence viewers. Best-selling author James Brady remarked that he joined the Marines to fight in Korea after seeing a John Wayne film, demonstrating how a motion picture can change the course of a human life—in this case, launching the career of a major historian and novelist. In Why We Fought: America's Wars in Film and History, editors Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor explore the complexities of war films, describing the ways in which such productions interpret history and illuminate American values, politics, and culture. This comprehensive volume covers representations of war in film from the American Revolution in the 18th century to today's global War on Terror. The contributors examine iconic battle films such as The Big Parade (1925), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), From Here to Eternity (1953), and Platoon (1986), considering them as historical artifacts. The authors explain how film shapes our cultural understanding of military conflicts, analyzing how war is depicted on television programs, through news media outlets, and in fictional and factual texts. With several essays examining the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, the book has a timely relevance concerning the country's current military conflicts. Jeff Chown examines controversial documentary films about the Iraq War, while Stacy Takacs considers Jessica Lynch and American gender issues in a post-9/11 world, and James Kendrick explores the political messages and aesthetic implications of United 93. From filmmakers who reshaped our understanding of the history of the Alamo, to Ken Burns's popular series on the Civil War, to the uses of film and media in understanding the Vietnam conflict, Why We Fought offers a balanced outlook— one of the book's editors was a combat officer in the United States Marines, the other an antiwar activist—on the conflicts that have become touchstones of American history. As Air Force veteran and film scholar Robert Fyne notes in the foreword, American war films mirror a nation's past and offer tangible evidence of the ways millions of Americans have become devoted, as was General MacArthur, to "Duty, honor, and country." Why We Fought chronicles how, for more than half a century, war films have shaped our nation's consciousness.
Book Synopsis US Special Forces and Counterinsurgency in Vietnam by : Christopher K. Ives
Download or read book US Special Forces and Counterinsurgency in Vietnam written by Christopher K. Ives and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-01-24 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines US Army Special Forces efforts to mobilize and train indigenous minorities in Vietnam. Christopher K. Ives shows how before the Second Indochina War, the Republic of Vietnam had begun to falter under the burden of an increasingly successful insurgency. The dominant American military culture could not conform to President Kennedy’s guidance to wage 'small wars', while President Diem’s provincial and military structures provided neither assistance nor security. The Green Berets developed and executed effective counterinsurgency tactics and operations with strategic implications while living, training, and finally fighting with the Montagnard peoples in the Central Highlands. Special Forces soldiers developed and executed what needed to be done to mobilize indigenous minorities, having assessed what needed to be known. Combining Clausewitz, business theory and strategic insight, this book provides an important starting point for thinking about how the US military should be approaching the problems of today's ‘small wars’. US Special Forces and Counterinsurgency in Vietnam will be of much interest to students of the Vietnam War, Special Forces operations, military innovation and strategic theory in general.