ROAD NOT TAKEN | EDWARD LANSDALE AND THE AMERICAN TRAGEDY IN VIETNAM

In this biography of Edward Lansdale (1908-1987), the man said to be the model for Greene’s The Quiet American, Max Boot demonstrates how Lansdale pioneered a ‘hearts and minds’ diplomacy, first in the Philippines, then in Vietnam. It was a visionary policy that, as Boot reveals, was ultimately crushed by America’s giant military bureaucracy, steered by elitist generals who favoured napalm bombs over winning the trust of the people.