A Tract of Time
Encyclopedia
A Tract of Time is an antiwar novel from 1966 by Smith Hempstone
, that covers the time period about 1960, when there was an attempted coup
of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem
. Even as the United States backed Diem's government during the war, its American advisers worked with the Montagnard
people who opposed Diem, to help them fight the Viet Cong, whom they also opposed. The book follows one CIA operative, Harry Coltart, as he works with the Montagnard mountain tribesmen in the Central Highlands. Harry is initially successful in getting the Montagnards to fight against the Viet Cong, but then the Montagnards are betrayed and South Vietnamese troops are sent in. Harry has to be rescued as the Montagnards join the Viet Cong.
The book has been considered to be an important novel from the time, and has been cited in at least one history book. It was listed in Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine in a list of the top 51 Vietnam War novels.
Smith Hempstone
Smith Hempstone was a journalist, author, and the United States ambassador to Kenya in 1989–93. He was a vocal proponent of democracy, fighting for free elections in Kenya in 1991.-Biography:...
, that covers the time period about 1960, when there was an attempted coup
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
. Even as the United States backed Diem's government during the war, its American advisers worked with the Montagnard
Degar
The Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
people who opposed Diem, to help them fight the Viet Cong, whom they also opposed. The book follows one CIA operative, Harry Coltart, as he works with the Montagnard mountain tribesmen in the Central Highlands. Harry is initially successful in getting the Montagnards to fight against the Viet Cong, but then the Montagnards are betrayed and South Vietnamese troops are sent in. Harry has to be rescued as the Montagnards join the Viet Cong.
The book has been considered to be an important novel from the time, and has been cited in at least one history book. It was listed in Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine in a list of the top 51 Vietnam War novels.