The extraordinary story of North Vietnam's most successful spyDuring the Vietnam War, Time reporter Pham Xuan An befriended everyone who was anyone in Saigon, including American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA's William Colby, and the legendary Colonel Edward Lansdale—not to mention the most influential members of the South Vietnamese government and army. None of them ever guessed that he was also providing strategic intelligence to H...

In this shocking exposé on the betrayal of South Vietnam, premier historian Larry Berman uses never-before-seen North Vietnamese documents to create a sweeping indictment against President Nixon and Henry Kissinger.On April 30, 1975, when U.S. helicopters pulled the last soldiers out of Saigon, the question lingered: Had American and Vietnamese lives been lost in vain? When the city fell shortly thereafter, the answer was clearly yes. The Agreement on Ending the Wa...

"Takes an historically important decision, places it in its immediate stream of policy development, perceptions and events and adds what was missing from the Pentagon Papers."—Richard E. Neustadt, Harvard University"A thoroughly researched and highly perceptive study of the decisions that turned the tribal struggle in Vietnam into an American war. Berman's book fully documents the role of domestic policy in our tragic involvement. As one who watched the process at ...

“Painstakingly researched and crafted, Larry Berman’s Zumwalt is a compelling and rich portrait of one of the nation’s great patriots.”—Walter Anderson, former editor and CEO of ParadeZumwalt is a compelling portrait of the controversial military man who is widely regarded as the founder of the modern U.S. Navy, Admiral Elmo Russell “Bud” Zumwalt. Chief of Naval Operations during the decades-long Cold War crisis, Zumwalt implemented major strategic innovations that endure t...

Democracy cannot be taken for granted, whether at home or internationally, and eternal vigilance (along with civic intelligence) is required to protect it. Approaching Democracy provides students with a framework to analyze the structure, process, and action of US government, institutions, and social movements. It also invites comparison with other countries. This globalizing perspective gives students an understanding of issues of governance and challenges to democracy here and e...

"Stunning....The portrait of the embattled and unyielding president that emerges is vivid and memorable."—Publishers WeeklyBy 1968, the United States had committed over 525,000 men to Vietnam and bombed virtually all military targets recommended by the joint Chiefs of Staff. Yet, the United States was no closer to securing its objectives than it had been prior to the Americanization of the war. The long-promised light at the end of the tunnel was a mirage. This abs...

Crooked Bamboo is a political memoir centered on Nguyen Thai’s inside account of South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem regime. Thai was a close personal aide for Diem as well as Director General of Vietnam Press, giving him significant access to Diem and other Ngo family members. Although the Diem era is the focus of the memoir, Nguyen Thai’s post-1963 career as a government official, businessman, and confidant of several key South Vietnamese figures sheds light on the aftermath of the Diem regime...

A larger-than-life account of family, greed, and a courtroom showdown between Big Oil rivals from the New York Times–bestselling author of Private Empire.Pulitzer Prize–winning author Steve Coll is renowned for "his ability to take complicated, significant business stories and turn them into quick-reading engaging narratives" ( Chicago Tribune). Coll is at the height of his talents in this "riveting" tale of one of the most spectacular—and...

**A New York Times–bestselling author's "superbly reported" account of the dismantling of the world's largest corporation ( The Washington Post).Written by the two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Ghost Wars and Private Empire, The Deal of the Century chronicles the decade-long war for control of AT&T.When the US Department of Justice brought an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T in 1974, the telecommunications giant hel...

"A rousing, well-researched biography" of the Texan piano prodigy who crossed the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War ( Kirkus, starred review).A National Book Critic's Circle FinalistIn 1958, an unheralded young pianist named Van Cliburn traveled to Moscow to compete in the First International Tchaikovsky Competition. The Soviets had no intention of bestowing their coveted prize on an unknown American; a Russian pianist had a...

National Book Award Finalist: "A learned, thoughtful, witty legal history for the layman" ( The New Yorker).What do the thoughts of a ravenous tiger have to do with the evolution of America's legal system? How do the works of Jane Austen and Ludwig van Beethoven relate to corporal punishment? In The Law of the Land, Charles Rembar examines these and many other topics, illustrating the surprisingly entertaining history of US law.Best known f...

Peter Ackroyd has been praised as one of the greatest living chroniclers of Britain and its people. In Rebellion, he continues his dazzling account of the history of England, beginning with the progress south of the Scottish king, James VI, who on the death of Elizabeth I became the first Stuart king of England, and ending with the deposition and flight into exile of his grandson, James II.The Stuart monarchy brought together the two nations of England and Scotland into on...