From his arrival in war-torn Vietnam in 1968 to his reluctant departure twenty-five months latter, John Cook served as an advisor in the district of Di An and took part in the systematic operations of the Phoenix Program to destroy the Infrastructure, the political organization of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces.  The Advisor is the story of those twenty-five months of fighting and laughing and hoping, and of the people who shared them -- Major Chau, a man who so tremendously symbolized dedication to the destruction of the Infrastructure, that the Viet Cong made several attempts on his life; Lieutenant Hau, Captain Cook's Vietnamese counter-part and close friend; Colonel Andersen and Major Allen, two of Di An's senior advisors; and other American and Vietnamese colleagues who -- fighting a war at it's "Rice Roots," rather than viewing it through myriad news analyses and peace demonstration demands -- found it impossible to remain objective about such a conflict.  More than the story of bombings, sweep operations, enemy confrontations, and hamlet pillages, The Advisor tells how one man came to see the Vietnam War as His war, how he became involved in the district villagers' struggle for their freedom from terrorism and how he learned the true costs of freedom.

A Schiffer Military History Book

316 pages, Hardbound with jacket

The Author

John Cook was born and raised in the coal fields of southern West Virginia.  He attended the University of Delaware and Boston University.  After serving twenty-one years in the U.S. Army, he retired in 1988, and now lives in Calvert County, Maryland with his wife of twenty-three years, Sara and their two sons, Zachary and Joshua.  Although he has written two other books since The Advisor was first published in 1973, Cook considers this the best work he has done so far.  "It may be the best thing I ever do," he concedes, "because it is so damn brutally honest.  There is no way I can make it any better."