Review by Choice Review
Looking back on the tragedy of the Vietnam War, one has to ponder how the US became involved. What was the US thinking when it gave unconditional backing to devout Roman Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem to rule a country that was 90 percent Buddhist? This question is well answered by Jacobs (Boston College), who demonstrates the role of influential Catholics and the anti-communist hysteria and profound ignorance of Asian affairs at that time. Indeed, this work succeeds much better as an indictment of the US government's manipulation of the truth, combined with an unquestioning press, than it does as a biography of Diem. Like Jacobs's earlier work, the well-received America's Miracle Man in Vietnam: Ngo Dinh Diem, Religion, Race, and US Intervention in Southeast Asia, 1950-1957 (CH, Dec'05, 43-2419), this story is well told and engagingly written. The book is well documented, with an adequate index but, regrettably, no glossary. Scholars will find the bibliographic essay very useful and the photographs well chosen. Despite the book's many attributes, the author still did not reveal Diem the man. Why, for instance, did he permit his sister-in-law, the notorious Madame Nhu, to go on a speaking tour of the US--the greatest public relations disaster of his regime? Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. M. O'Donnell formerly, CUNY College of Staten Island
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
