The Americans had supplied arms to Vietminh guerrillas who fought against the Japanese during the war.

ECONOMIST: Nguyen Co Thach

In 1954 some 10, 000 French troops surrendered at Dien Bien Phu to a Vietminh army under General Vo Nguyen Giap.

ECONOMIST: Nguyen Co Thach

Mr Thach, a lieutenant-colonel in the Vietminh army, was Giap's aide.

ECONOMIST: Nguyen Co Thach

Set in the early 1950s, when Vietminh fighters were driving colonialist France out of Indochina, the book was framed as a political thriller plus a murder mystery.

WSJ: 'Quiet American': A Fine Film