'The Road Not Taken,' a biography of Edward Lansdale, makes no secret of its belief in its hero
Military theoreticians since Thucydides have alluded to two kinds of warfare: the raw military contest for capturing territory and killing soldiers, and the more subtle business of winning the hearts and minds of the enemy, effectively convincing them to fight your opponent for you. The second kind of warfare had no more vocal champion in the hotbed of mid-20th century brushfire wars than General Edward Lansdale (indeed, he popularized the phrase “hearts and minds” and is still virtually synonymous with it), the subject of, a big and contentious new book by Max Boot.
