It is the summer of 1945, the last and very dangerous days of World War II. The United States is working closely with the Viet Minh against the Japanese, and a team of hand-picked special operations soldiers is parachuted into Tonkin, northern Vietnam to lead these efforts on the ground...
...led by Major John Guthrie and his second-in-command, Captain Edouard Parnell, experienced officers fresh from the fighting in Europe, the Office of Strategic Services team’s mission is to work directly with Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese in the fierce contest for control of Indochina. Both officers are well experienced in resistance operations from their earlier assignments in occupied France and Belgium. Nonetheless, they have to quickly adjust to the entirely different context of Vietnamese politics in order to encourage communist operations against the Japanese. The relationship that Guthrie and the rest of the OSS team develop with the Viet Minh leadership proves to be of distinct annoyance to French ambitions to regain control of their colony, Indochina. Based on the little-known true story of American and Viet Minh collaboration in 1945, this novel challenges the later-accepted dogma of both those supporting and those opposing the American role in the Vietnam War. It notes how what is seen at a later time is often inadequate to understand what actually went on. Its contemporary relevance is simply a mirror of what is always the case in international affairs: today’s enemies can and may be tomorrow’s friends—and most importantly, the reverse is true also.
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George H. Wittman served in the US Army during and after the Korean War and, in the following decades, he became intimately involved in national security, global intelligence matters and international business. As his career developed, he undertook extensive sensitive assignments across the globe. In addition, he took over direction of the family's mining and international trade business, which as G.H. Wittman, Inc. would later undertake international security and political risk management. He served as founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy, lectured periodically at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, and had a consulting relationship with the FBI's New York field office. Along the way, he managed businesses, founded public service organizations, and wrote prolifically. He was a veteran of forty-five years of international security operations and analysis. Even in retirement, he continued to write and offer analysis on international affairs and security matters. He was a regular contributor to several publications including The American Spectator, The Washington Times, and AND Magazine. In his quieter moments, he found time to write several novels. His first, "A Matter of Intelligence" was published by Macmillan in 1975. Above all, he viewed and presented himself as an American patriot, resisting political affiliation and committed to what he believed was in the best interest of the nation.
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"The at-times humorous dialogue and the descriptions of the settings transport us to the era. One can easily imagine a movie based on the novel’s scenes, with similar edge-of-the-seat excitement. The novel aptly illustrates the ever-changing political relationships between nations and competing factions within them." Historical Novels Review
"George Wittman drops us into the middle of this chaotic time and place with a book that is nothing short of a riveting read." The VVA Veteran
"Wittman took a literally novel approach to recounting this history by creating fictionalized characters reliving it. In this manner, the reader comprehends what happened through the eyes of the characters so as to better understand the complexities of the multi-national interests in Vietnam – the future of which was up for grabs in the summer of 1945." Lt. Col. James Zumwalt
"The atmosphere rings true as soldiers battle their own side's inertia as much as the Japanese." Historical Miniatures Gaming Society
"...fervid, riveting... intrinsically intriguing..." ARGunners.com
"Casemate has a long history of publishing high quality military history non-fiction. Lately, they have expanded their range of work to include well written novels using wartime settings." WWII History Magazine
"...a deftly written and inherently fascinating read from cover to cover." Midwest Book Review
Available at selected used bookstores,Abe Books, and Amazon.
“George Wittman’s ‘A Matter of Intelligence’ is the best spy novel I’ve read in years. Not just because it is a well written and compelling story, but, more important, it captures the sense of bureaucracy and internal game playing that dominate intelligence agencies. This, more than the usual kidnap-shootemup……..is the way it is.“ David Halberstam (Pulitzer prize-winning author “The Best and the Brightest”)
"An intimate cut of life in the national security establishment of both superpowers. This first book solidly establishes Wittman......in the art of the espionage novel." Peter Grose Former Moscow correspondent for N.Y. Times, and member - Editorial Board
“George Wittman is clearly an expert in the field….There is exciting virtuosity in the subtle accretions (of the KGB agent)….and the byzantine denouement is a dazzler.” Library Journal
“A superior example of the genre….This is a spy story of real quality to be ranked with the best from Britain…Remember the author’s name. You will hear it again." John Barkham Reviews
“…is that rare work of fiction that by the force of its narrative and validity of detail is as authoritative as a non-fiction work…This may be the best work of fiction on the interplay of KGB and CIA organizational and operational attitudes that’s yet been written." Warren Damian ManshelPublisher, Foreign Policy
“This book gives an idea of the thrust and counterthrust of the rival systems…peculiarly authentic.” Newgate Callendar, The New York Times
*Online book magazine, BOOVE has named it number three in its “20 Best Intelligence CIA Books to Read in 2021” book list.
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