Book description
How the West's greatest spy in Asia tried to stop the new American
way of war-and the steep price he paid for failing
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
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.
