"The Vietnam War was remarkable for the number of unsuccessful initiatives to end it through negotiation and the active involvement of noncombatant nations seeking peace. The analyses and conclusions gathered in this volume focus on both the domestic and the international sources of such efforts, as well as the relationship of these attempts to the larger Cold War, of which the Vietnam conflict was but a part."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This book, first published in 1989, examines the creation and implementation of Communist policy in Vietnam during the crucial period between the 1954 Geneva Conference and the establishment of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam in December 1960. This study challenges long-held views about the origins and nature of the Viet Cong. It carefully examines the various stages in the struggle for ‘national liberation’ during this period, reviews the consequences of the failure of purely political means to achieve reunification and then focuses on the struggle between the Diem regime and the Communists.