I was motivated to check out the book because of the comments found at "The Colonel Fletcher Prouty Reference Site" that "I believe this book was ordered and delineated by the CIA." Having checked it out I have to agree. It's a warmed over make-up job of a colonizer. If people might find anything interesting about the Prouty corroboration of this fact, it would only be because a former comrade of Lansdale's also speaks with experience.

Well I actually haven't read the book, but wasn't Lansdale photographed passing the 'three tramps' in the street shortly after Kennedy was killed? Lansdale's good at overthrowing governments, isn't he? (Philipines, Vietnam...)

William Colby, the late Director of Central Intelligence, rated Edward Lansdale as one of the ten greatest spies in modern history. Edward Geary Lansdale was indeed a most unusual character: regarded as a maverick by many in the U.S. Defense and State Departments, yet greatly appreciated and even loved by nationals of the countries in which he spent much of his career: the Philippines and South Vietnam. Rising to the rank of major general in the Air Force, Lansdale worked his entire career in either military intelligence, psychological warfare, or special operations, with the O.S.S., C.I.A., and DoD. Lansdale's most successful efforts were in the Phillipines in the late 40's and early 50's, helping defeat the communist insurgents (Huks) and establish democratic reforms. In "Bright Shining Lie" Neil Sheehan called Lansdale the "father of South Vietnam," and this is largely true. But despite two long assignments in country (1954-57 and 1965-68) not even the legendary Lansdale could stabilize South Vietnam, largely because senior U.S. leaders would not support his ideas. Lansdale was against the predominant U.S. "big battle" strategy, but rather believed the fight was a "people's war" which required working with villagers to help them defend themselves. This is the strategy Andrew Krepenivich espoused in "The Army and Vietnam." Lansdale believed that helping nationals fight a people's war was a form of brotherly love, inspired by the Founding Fathers' concepts of respect for the rights of individuals. He felt an important way to learn Asians' culture was to learn their folk songs (always playing along on his harmonica) and to let them know that Americans accepted them as equals. In the long anti-Vietnam period after U.S. withdrawal in 1973, Lansdale has often been unfairly maligned. This book finally gives him a fair treatment, while pointing out criticisms from both the left and the right. Lansdale is a legend, and with good reason. Few people's lives involve the amount of intrigue similar to, for example, the character Reilly, "Ace of Spies," who worked for British intelligence. To learn about the noble ideals behind American Cold War foreign policy (despite often tragic miscalculations), the fascinating life of Edward Geary Lansdale is an enlightening tale.