| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 212 words from this article are provided below; about 548 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Asia

Philip E. Catton. Diem's Final Failure: Prelude to America's War in Vietnam. (Modern War Studies.) Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 2002. Pp. x, 298. $34.95.

Murdered after surrendering to a cabal of U.S.-supported military officers in the fall of 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, paid the ultimate price for being out of step with America's interests in South Vietnam. After nine years of Washington and Saigon talking past one another, and Diem's escalating repression of the country's Buddhists and other regime opponents, the Kennedy administration was eager for change. And, although President John F. Kennedy was reported to have been truly shocked by the assassinations, the successful coup brought about rejoicing in the American Embassy in Saigon. Kennedy's own death, just weeks later, has engendered a host of speculative histories. Similarly, had Diem remained in power, Indochina might well have evolved in a very different manner. What we do know is that within two years of his death, America was taking over the war and establishing a domineering foreign presence antithetical to Diem's avowed vision for Vietnam. Philip E. Catton's engaging study is, therefore, especially helpful in assessing the nature of nearly a decade (1954–1963) of critical U.S.-South Vietnamese relations.

. . .

There are about 548 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.