"The history of the Vietnam War has rarely been told from the Vietnamese perspective - and never by a leader of South Vietnam, a nation that ceased to exist in 1975. In Buddha's Child, Nguyen Cao Ky reveals the remarkable story of his tumultuous tenure as premier of South Vietnam, and offers unprecedented insight into the war's beginning, escalation, and troubling conclusion.". "Buddha's Child offers Ky's perspective on the crucial events and memorable images of the Vietnam War: the coup against and assassination of Prime Minister Diem; the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk, and the radical Buddhists' attempt to topple Ky's government; the communists' bloody Tet Offensive; the shooting by Saigon's police chief of a Vietcong prisoner, one of the war's most notorious incidents; the Paris Peace talks that sold out South Vietnam; and the last, desperate days of Saigon. In frank language, Ky discusses his own successes and failures as a leader and dramatically relates the progress of the war as it unfolded on the ground and behind the scenes, including anecdotes about Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, William Westmoreland, Henry Cabot Lodge, William Colby, Henry Kissinger, and many others." "Buddha's Child is Ky's revelatory, fascinating account of the United States' beleaguered Southeast Asian ally in the war that became the focus of the 1960s and 70s."--BOOK JACKET.