As an American advisor to Vietnam from February 1971 to August 1972, the author's job was to root out the insurgency in the villages and hamlets. Operation Phoenix (the code name for the central organization formed to gather information on the Vietcong) had already found out how difficult this was. Local officials were reluctant to cooperate for fear of retaliation and distrust of foreigners. The villagers were silent. Without help from the people, uncovering the shadow government that supported the Communists was impossible. To interrogate a captured Vietcong by torture -- the method of the local authorities -- was unproductive. Herrington's method was different. The process of turning a Communist insurgent into an informer, to get him to "rally" to the government of South Korea, was delicate and dangerous. Each defector is a character unto himself, well delineated, well understood. The elements of a spy story surround them, but it is all tragically true -- ambush, assassination, betrayal. -- From publisher's description.