Face to Face with the CIA

Face to Face with the CIA is the riveting memoir of one of communist Vietnam’s spymasters during the Vietnam War. In this beautifully translated book, Nguyễn Tài tells the story of his time in a South Vietnamese prison and his battle of wits against his Vietnamese and American interrogators. Tài takes us into one of the least understood battlefields of this conflict—the war of the intelligence services. It’s a fascinating read. – Christopher Goscha, professor of international relations at Université du Québec à Montréal
The story of Nguyễn Tài’s incarceration is more than a Vietnam War story; it is an absorbing exploration of the psychology of torture. Unsettling and even revolting at times, the book offers perspectives and insights that are as thought-provoking as they are illuminating. It also serves as a stark reminder that the United States—and not just its enemies—has a long history of flouting the laws of war. – Pierre Asselin, author of Vietnam’s American War: A New History
This unique, powerful memoir by Nguyễn Tài, a senior communist security official captured by South Vietnamese forces, illuminates his stubborn resistance in a cat-and-mouse game to protect his secrets against clever American interrogators. A rare volume. – George J. Veith, author of Drawn Swords in a Distant Land: South Vietnam’s Shattered Dreams
A fascinating firsthand account of North Vietnam’s most heralded intelligence agent during the war. We follow Nguyễn Tài from his mission living among those he was assigned to betray to his capture, interrogation and, torture. Ultimately this is a memoir of human resilience. Quan Manh Ha and Merle L. Pribbenow provide an artful translation along with an insightful introductory essay. – Larry Berman, author of Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent

Nguyễn Tài (1926–2016) was a prominent Vietnamese revolutionary and senior communist intelligence officer whose life was deeply intertwined with Vietnam’s fight for independence, from resisting French colonial rule to leading counterespionage efforts during the war with the United States. After the country’s reunification, he came under suspicion of cooperating with his American interrogators but was eventually cleared and subsequently held influential positions in the postwar government before retiring in 1992.

Quan Manh Ha is professor of English at the University of Montana. He is the cotranslator of Other Moons: Vietnamese Short Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath (Columbia, 2020) and Bảo Ninh’s Hà Nội at Midnight: Stories (2023), among other books.

Merle L. Pribbenow is a former CIA Vietnamese language and operations officer who since his retirement has been a researcher and author specializing in the Vietnam War. He is the translator of Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People’s Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975 (2002), among other works.

Lien-Hang T. Nguyen is Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia at Columbia University.

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