Nguyen Van Linh (1914-1998) was one of the most clandestine figures in the entire hierarchy of the Vietnamese Communist Party, itself famed for its clandestine character. He was virtually unknown until emerging from his shadowy jungle warfare duty in 1975. His postwar political fortunes hit a peak when he served as his party's secretary-general from 1986 to 1991.

During the first 35 years of his career of service to the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Van Linh lived and operated in the hostile political environment of South Vietnam. These years displayed his wily ability to devise and lead covert operations against North Vietnam's enemies. His skill was not simply revolve around his being a revolutionary insurgent or even a spy and secret police agent; rather, covert persona was so brilliant and complex that it propogated a disinformation campaign about him which, with the exception of a few top officials in Hanoi, meant no...