Description
Jim Thompson landed in Thailand at the end of World War II, a former American society dilettante who became an Asian legend as a spy and silk magnate with access to Thai worlds outsiders never saw. As the Cold War reached Thailand, America had a choice: Should it, as Thompson believed, help other nations build democracies from their traditional cultures or, as his ex-OSS friend Willis Bird argued, remake the world through deception and self-serving alliances? In a story rich with insights and intrigue, this book explores a key Cold War episode that is still playing out today.
- Highlights a pivotal moment in Cold War history that set a course for American foreign policy that is still being followed today
- Explores the dynamics that put Thailand at the center of the Cold War and the fighting in neighboring Laos that escalated from sideshow to the largest covert operation America had ever engaged in
- Draws on personal recollections and includes atmospheric details that bring the people, events--and the Thailand of the time--to life
- Written by a journalist with extensive experience in Asian affairs who has spent years investigating every aspect of this story, including Thompson's tragic disappearance
Author: Joshua Kurlantzick
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 11/01/2011
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.04lbs
Size: 10.12h x 6.63w x 0.91d
ISBN13: 9780470086216
ISBN10: 0470086211
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Business
- Political Science | Intelligence & Espionage
- History | Asia | Southeast Asia
About the Author
JOSHUA KURLANTZICK writes regularly about Asia for "Newsweek" and the "New Republic." He also contributes to "Mother Jones," the London "Review of Books," the "New York Times," "Foreign Policy," the "Atlantic," and "Time." In 2007, Yale University Press published his book on China's soft power, "Charm Offensive."