The Lost Mandate of Heaven: The American Betrayal of Ngo Dinh Diem President of Vietnam

Remembering Diem and the Tragedy of South Vietnam

Readers who share a “revisionist” desire to understand the American intervention in Vietnam as a “lost victory” (as the CIA’s William Colby described it) will find a lot to like in Shaw's book. But those looking for a more historical and contextual reading of Ngo Dinh Diem and the South Vietnam state he led may have to wait a while longer.