CASTLE : At war in the shadow of Vietnam (ajánló)
At War in the Shadow of Vietnam is the first book to recount the full story of U.S. covert activity in Laos from 1955 to 1975. Based on declassified materials as well as interviews with scores of key American and Laotian participants, it describes in detail the structure and execution of America's "secret war" and its long-term consequences.
In an effort to defend the Lao kingdom—and to disrupt the flow of communist arms, material, and soldiers traversing Laos en route to South Vietnam—the U.S. created and clandestinely administered a covert military aid plan that fueled a unique and little known conflict. Castle chronicles the close relationship between the CIA and the Lao army, the role of the CIA's proprietary airline, Air America, and the evolution of U.S.-Thailand cooperation and the impact of Thai support on the Lao military assistance program.
"Meticulously researched in records and interviews, At War in the Shadow of Vietnam presents a balanced and accurate account of a 'secret war' the United States conducted over many years in the almost mythical mountain kingdom of Laos. . . . Castle draw[s] a clear path through the tangles of American bureaucratic and political problems to show how an ad hoc solution to a novel dilemma was constructed and operated. He has made a distinct contribution to America's history and to the finest traditions of scholarship."
• William E. Colby, CIA Director (1973–1976)
"Based on an astonishing variety of previously classified material and interviews with participants, Timothy Castle's At War in the Shadow of Vietnam will become the standard work on the secret American war in Laos. Everyone interested in the Indochina wars will read and use the book for years."
• Robert D. Schulzinger, University of Colorado, Boulder
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
