A Great Place to Have a War

Engrossing.... [Kurlantzick] argues persuasively that the so-called secret war in Laos which eventually was discovered by the press set a pattern for future conflicts.... His book shows how critical it is for American leaders to be clear-eyed about their purposes and honest with their public before embarking on a war that will inevitably take on a gruesome momentum of its own. * The New York Times Book Review * A must read...This eminently well-written and well-researched book deserves deep reflection and wide readership. From moral and human perspectives, the book makes chilling reading. * Forbes * Superb! Joshua Kurlantzick joins the ranks of preeminent Southeast Asia chroniclers like David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan and Stanley Karnow with what will become the benchmark book for an important part of Americas quagmire in that regionthe CIAs secret war in Laos. A Great Place to Have a War is rich and jarring in its historical insight, fast in its pacing, and gripping in its read. You wont want to put it down. -- Douglas Waller, author of Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan A vivid portrait.... At the heart of Kurlantzicks deftly paced book are conflicted CIA operatives and the Hmong led by the charismatic Gen. Vang Pao who did the bulk of the fighting on behalf of the U.S. But what the book does best is examine the CIAs transformation from an intelligence-gathering organization to a war-fighting one. * NPR * Gripping. Of all the CIA's strange adventures during the Cold War, the secret war in Laos may have been the most bizarre. Joshua Kurlantzick has crafted a true drama with an improbable and colorful cast. An eye-opening, carefully researched, and wrenching yarn of what can go wrong when East meets West. -- Evan Thomas, author of The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA A compelling portrait.... Its a harrowing story, and Kurlantzick tells it well.... One puts the book down with a deeper, richer understanding of this sordid chapter in the history of American interventionism. * The Washington Post * Joshua Kurlantzick's story of the CIA's secret war in Laos brilliantly illuminates one of the most obscure yet harrowing chapters of the Vietnam conflict. WIth sure pacing and a gallery of rich characters, Kurlantzick shows how a modest operation to harass Communist forces escalated into a military onslaught that killed and displaced tens of thousands and wrecked a country. This is a cautionary tale of arrogance, recklessness, and unrestrained power that, tragically, finds echoes in many of today's battlefields. -- Joshua Hammer, author of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu The wars entire compelling tale can be found in the lucid prose and revelatory reporting of Joshua Kurlantzicks new book.... * The Economist * Pacy and... leavened with vivid portraits of the main personalities. * Financial Times * This riveting read belongs in the pantheon of works such as Jane Hamilton Merritts Tragic Mountain and William M. LeoGrandes Our Own Backyard. Highly recommended for those wanting insight into the Hmong people and Cold War thinking. * Library Journal * Accurate and informative. * The Wall Street Journal * Excellent.... Using an effective combination of firsthand reporting and a thorough reading of the best primary and secondary sources, Kurlantzick tells... an instructive tale... [that] continues to have relevance in the 21st century." * Publishers Weekly * In this important book, Kurlantzick writes in excruciating detail how the decisions by Eisenhower and Kennedy would turn the CIA from a spy organization to one whose primary role was covert warfare, involving the agency in ever-more controversial actions across the world.... * Asia Sentinel * Kurlantzick tells a story often filled with equal parts un

Joshua Kurlantzick is a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been a correspondent in Southeast Asia for The Economist, a columnist for Time, the foreign editor of the New Republic, a senior correspondent for the American Prospect, and a contributing writer for Mother Jones. He has written about Asia for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The New York Times Magazine. He is the winner of the Luce Scholarship and was selected as a finalist for the Osborn Elliot prize, both for journalism in Asia. He is the author of multiple books on Asia, including A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA. For more information on Kurlantzick, visit CFR.org.