'Based upon exhaustive research in American, Canadian, and especially Vietnamese archival sources, this superb book provides one of the best scholarly analyses available of the Republic of Vietnam's concept of nation building. It articulates the positive and negative features of Ngo Dinh Diem's vision for his country drawn from his administration's own records.' David L. Anderson, California State University, Monterey ... Read moreBay 'In this meticulously researched book, Geoffrey Stewart details the rise and fall of Diem's national revolution in South Vietnam. Making extensive use of South Vietnamese archives, Stewart offers an intimate look at how and why the Diem government failed to create a viable South Vietnamese nation state. Placing South Vietnamese officials front and center in his narrative, Stewart gives agency back to the actors who had the most to win, or lose, as they struggled to maintain their footing in the cross currents of a Cold War and decolonizing world.' Kathryn C. Statler, University of San Diego 'Vietnam's Lost Revolution: Ngo Dinh Diem's Failure to Build an Independent Nation, [1955]-1963, is the first - and a very good - study of the Civic Action Programs developed in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) by the government of Ngo Dinh Diem, president from 1955 to his assassination in 1963. ... The author makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of Saigon's efforts in the late 1950s to develop a non-communist revolutionary program to modernize rural society in South Vietnam, and Geoffrey Stewart should be much congratulated on this accomplishment.' Olga Dror, The American Historical Review Advance praise: 'Based upon exhaustive research in American, Canadian, and especially Vietnamese archival sources, this superb book provides one of the best scholarly analyses available of the Republic of Vietnam's concept of nation building. It articulates the positive and negative features of Ngo Dinh Diem's vision for his country drawn from his administration's own records.' David L. Anderson, California State University, Monterey Bay Advance praise: 'In this meticulously researched book, Geoffrey Stewart details the rise and fall of Diem's national revolution in South Vietnam. Making extensive use of South Vietnamese archives, Stewart offers an intimate look at how and why the Diem government failed to create a viable South Vietnamese nation state. Placing South Vietnamese officials front and center in his narrative, Stewart gives agency back to the actors who had the most to win, or lose, as they struggled to maintain their footing in the cross currents of a Cold War and decolonizing world.' Kathryn C. Statler, University of San Diego 'Vietnam's Lost Revolution: Ngo Dinh Diem's Failure to Build an Independent Nation, [1955]-1963, is the first - and a very good - study of the Civic Action Programs developed in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) by the government of Ngo Dinh Diem, president from 1955 to his assassination in 1963. ... The author makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of Saigon's efforts in the late 1950s to develop a non-communist revolutionary program to modernize rural society in South Vietnam, and Geoffrey Stewart should be much congratulated on this accomplishment.' Olga Dror, The American Historical Review Show Less