Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam
An extraordinary book, brilliantly conceived and cogently argued.Millertranscends the scholarly and political polemics of Vietnam War literature, presenting readers with a fresh and original take on Ngo Dinh Diem and South Vietnam's relationship with the U.S.Misallianceis sure to be greeted with widespread acclaim. (Andrew Preston, author ofThe War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam)Millerrejects the simplistic and partisan interpretations that have dominated earlier accounts of America's partnership with Vietnam.Misalliancewill be not only a major advance in our understanding of Ngo Dinh Diem and U.S.-Vietnamese relations, but it will fundamentally alter the direction of scholarship on the Vietnam War. (Keith Weller Taylor, author ofThe Birth of Vietnam)A monumental contribution to our understanding of America's misguided intervention in Vietnam. Great books advance knowledge as well as historical debate, and this is exactly whatMillerachieves.Misalliancecould easily be the best new book of the year. (Larry Berman, author ofZumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt, Jr.)An exemplary work of research and scholarship.Millerdispels in definitive fashion the myth that Ngo Dinh Diem owed his appointment as prime minister of a nascent South Vietnam to American intercession or that he was ever a 'tool' of the Americans. (Rufus Phillips, author ofWhy Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned)[Miller's] book skillfully places the establishment of the new nation in the great debate after World War II between the high modernist (Walt Rostow et al.) and low modernist (The Ugly American) development schools. Miller's command of the various parties and factions that jostled for power at the collapse of, first, Japanese occupation and then French rule is exhaustive, and his analysis of the economic development programs--land reform, the Agrovilles, the Strategic Hamlet program--is fascinating in its own right. (Charles TrueheartWeekly Standard2013-06-10)[Miller] mines new Vietnamese and French sources to advance important arguments. Miller offers numerous new details of Diem's early career to present him as a serious modernizer seeking to retain traditional principles. He illuminates Diem's close personal friendship with the iconic Vietnamese anticolonialist Phan Boi Chau, with whom he spent long hours discussing the relevance of Confucianism--its moral and philosophical precepts--to modern politics and society.(Mark MoyarWall Street Journal2013-06-28)