In the book "False Alliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, America and the Fate of South Vietnam", author Edward Miller clearly and multi-dimensionally sketches the image of Ngo Dinh Diem and offers his own explanation of the relationship. between Ngo Dinh Diem and America.
The book "False Alliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, America and the fate of South Vietnam" was published in English by Harvard University Press in 2013, then copyrighted by the National Political Publishing House Truth. , organized the first translation and publication in Vietnamese in 2016 with the support of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.
Author Edward Miller and Mr. Le Nguyen Long (Researcher, translator, lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University) interact with readers. Photo: dangcongsan
The book opens with a day in June 6, when Ngo Dinh Diem set foot on the vibrant land of Saigon with a welcoming ceremony for the new prime minister of the South Vietnamese government and ends on November 1954, 1. 11, with the event that Diem and his younger brother, advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu, were killed in the M-1963 armored car.
With a time delay of 60 years, based on rich sources of documents about Vietnam in the period from 1954 - 1963, especially Vietnamese documents of the government of the Republic of Vietnam from the archives of Western countries. , author Miller pointed out that between Diem and the US, despite sharing the same goal of "anti-communism", there are still frequent disagreements between these two allies, creating conflict and competition.
According to Miller, the conflict over the different visions and strategies of the Americans and Ngo Dinh Diem regarding the destiny of South Vietnam in the post-colonial period was an important factor causing the relationship full of ups and downs between the US and the US. Diem and the fate of the Republic of Vietnam government, leading to the collapse of the US-Diem alliance in 1963.
Based on his point of view, stance and exploited sources, the author has some interpretations and assessments of some events and characters that are different from the assessments of Vietnamese historical researchers. South, as assessed by President Ho Chi Minh; about communism, the southern revolution, the Dong Khoi movement; about Ngo Dinh Diem personally; about the causes leading to the failure of the Saigon government... Respecting the author's political opinions and for readers to conveniently research and refer to, the Publisher tries to keep the content as original, while affirming that this is the author's own opinion.
This is a book worth reading, as said by Larry Berman, author of the book The Perfect Spy: The Unbelievable Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Spy. commented when the book was first published in 2013 in the US: "A great contribution to our understanding of America's misguided intervention in Vietnam. Great books advance historical knowledge and debate, and this is exactly what Miller has achieved. False Alliance could easily be the best new book of the year.”
Besides, when the book was published in the US, it created a "fever" both in the US and Vietnam. Professor Keith Weller Taylor - an expert in Vietnamese history at Cornell University, a veteran who fought in Vietnam commented on this book: "...not only is it a big step forward in understanding." about Ngo Dinh Diem and the US-Vietnam relationship, which will fundamentally change the direction of academic research on the Vietnam War."
Speaking at the seminar, introducing the book, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Nga, Director of the Truth National Political Publishing House Branch in Ho Chi Minh City said that in this edition, the book has added a The author's research work on religious revival and the political aspect of national construction - another perspective on the "Buddhist Incident" in 1963 in South Vietnam, placed in the Appendix to provide additional sources. Information and documents from foreigners about a difficult historical period of the Vietnamese people, serving the learning and research needs of scholars, lecturers, graduate students, and students majoring in history. history and politics,... as well as readers interested in this topic.
At the book introduction seminar, readers heard two speakers share valuable and interesting information about the content, process of compiling, translating and publishing the book. At the event, author Edward Miller signed books for readers who attended and purchased books at the discussion.
PV (th)
