Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'. As his naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as he intervenes he wonders why: for the sake of politics, or for love... 'A superb storyteller...he had a talent for depicting local color, a keen sense of the dramatic, an eye for dialogue, and skill in pacing his prose.'