Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter & Vietnamese Communist Agent

by Larry Berman

One of the greatest strengths of a spy is to remain calm and have many friends; to be consistent with everyone so that no attention is drawn.

The most wishful departure leaves behind it some melancholy.

“The lucky spy is the one not yet caught”

“successful espionage is derived from the piecing together of tiny items of information which, taken by themselves, appear to be unimportant, but which, when placed with dozens of other snippets, build up the picture from which commanders plan.”

“these were my friends, I would not hurt them, but terrible things happened to many innocent people in the war. I was defending my country.”

All I wanted to do was be like Tarzan, go off with my Jane and my animals and be left alone.

Like every revolution, we called it a people’s revolution, but of course the people were the first to suffer…. as long as the people sleep in the street, the revolution was lost.

This peace that I fought for may be crippling this country, but the war was killing it. As much as I love the United States, it had no right here. The Americans had to be driven out of Vietnam one way or another. We must sort this place out ourselves.’”