Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Out of Country War Volume 1: The Secret War Begins, Laos 1954-1960

Out of Country War Volume 1: The Secret War Begins, Laos 1954-1960

Grandolini, Albert
Hooton, E. R.

Paperback

Series: Asia@War

Armed ForcesGeneral Asian HistoryVietnam War

Publisher Price: $29.95

ISBN10: 1804518638
ISBN13: 9781804518632
Publisher: Helion & Company
Published: Jan 8 2026
Pages: 92
Weight: 0.95
Height: 0.25 Width: 8.12 Depth: 11.58
Language: English
...this book examines the war in neighboring Laos, especially in the 1950s. It's a fantastic recap of the coups and counter-coups and the military effort behind each. - Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

The United States of America lost South Vietnam (the 'In-Country War') because it was defeated in Laos and Cambodia (the 'Out-Country War'). This is the first of a series which will, for the first time, reconstruct in detail the full story of the 'Out-Country War' and the influence of decisions in Washington, Hanoi and Bangkok.

The Secret War Begins shows how Hanoi's determination to make Laos a Communist state wrecked the 1954 Geneva Agreement. It shows, in detail, how its Pathet Lao puppet regime helped to polarise the nation and Hanoi then ignored a second Geneva Agreement in 1962. The strategic reasons for this included the need to develop the Ho chi Minh Trail to support the struggle in South Vietnam. In response the Americans and their allies, who followed the second agreement in name if not spirit, began a cover proxy war with CIA-backed guerrillas and by using air power. But by now Laotian anti-Communist leaders were almost out of control leaving Laos by the end of 1963 a powder keg ready to explore.

Reaching back - often for the first time ever - upon numerous local sources to augment those published in the West, The Secret War Begins tells the full story. It looks not only at the military aspects of this confrontation with far-reaching consequences - like battles on the ground - but, also the growing deployment of air power as well as the political decisions and developments that influenced them, including surprising French influence. The book is richly illustrated with authentic and rare photography, many of which was never published before, detailed maps, and custom-drawn colour profiles.

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