"I watched all this from relative safety, hunched in the reeds nest to the Maquis chief. I realized, not without some surprise, that I could stomach the sight of death." Chapter Four, Page 29

"Diem's inability to conceive of himself as a popular leader meant that he would have to put his regime in permanent thrall to American aid and protection." Chapter Five, Page 39

"South Vietnam was a society without leadership and without direction - and these essentials the Americans could not provide. They could not impose order on chaos." Chapter Six, Page 59

"Most damning of all, he had murdered many patriots who had fought in the struggle against France and had tied his existence to the patronage of the United States, France's successor. To many nationalist-minded Vietnamese, whose emotions were those of people just emerging from a hundred years of subjection to foreigners, Diem had forfeited all claims...