Villian of Graham Green's The Quiet American and hero of Edward G. Lansdale's In The Midst of Wars, dissident General Trinh Minh The (1922-1955) skyrocketed to prominence as a leader of a "private army." But his violent death remained a historical mystery and Trinh Minh The dropped into oblivion. This book endeavors to examine many questions. Was Trinh Minh The an uniformed hoodlum or a national leader in the making? Did he really die in a street skirmish or fell victim to conspiracy? The importance of the book springs out of the author's enthusiasm for the subject and his belief that the crisis of April 1955 came as a pivotal point in the history of Vietnam. In order to elucidate the origins and nature of Trinh Minh The's army, their role in the fighting of Saigon in the spring of 1955, and implications of Trinh Minh The's tragic death, a thorough study was undertaken. This complex story borders a non-fiction version of Greene's The Quiet American.