MixedThe Washington PostMax Boot capably and readably tracks the fascinating but ultimately depressing trajectory of this shadowy figure, who, as a murky undercover operative and a literary and cinematic avatar, looms over or lurks behind some of the crucial moments in U.S. foreign policy in the decades following World War II, culminating in its greatest disaster … Boot’s long history of right-leaning politics and his book’s title aroused apprehension, in this reviewer at least, that The Road Not Taken might be less a work of historical scholarship than a partisan polemic arguing that the U.S. military plunge into Vietnam was proper, necessary and/or winnable, and could have preserved an anti-communist bastion in Saigon were it not for nefarious Democrats (and inept military commanders) who botched and ultimately sabotaged the American effort … It also seems likely that Lansdale’s ‘road not taken’ would have ultimately led, in Vietnam, to a similar destination. No sale.
Max Boot
MixedThe Portland Press HeraldMax Boot capably and readably tracks the fascinating but ultimately depressing trajectory of this shadowy figure, who, as a murky undercover operative and a literary and cinematic avatar, looms over or lurks behind some of the crucial moments in U.S. foreign policy in the decades following World War II, culminating in its greatest disaster ...The closest Boot comes to charting an alternate history is when he faults Washington for withdrawing Lansdale from Saigon in late 1956...but it also seems likely that Lansdale’s ‘road not taken’ would have ultimately led, in Vietnam, to a similar destination. No sale.
