The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War Contributor(s): Kurlantzick, Joshua (Author) |
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ISBN: 0470086211 ISBN-13: 9780470086216 Publisher: Trade Paper Press OUR PRICE: $23.36 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2011 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Business - Political Science | Intelligence & Espionage - History | Asia - Southeast Asia |
Dewey: B |
LCCN: 2011034994 |
Physical Information: 0.91" H x 6.63" W x 10.12" (1.04 lbs) 272 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Southeast Asian - Chronological Period - 1940's - Chronological Period - 1950's - Chronological Period - 1960's - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher 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.
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