America and Vietnam: The Elephant and the Tiger

by Albert Marrin

Fought in a small Asian country unfamiliar to most Americans at the time, the Vietnam War became a cause that divided the nation and defined a counter-culture. The first televised war, newscasters became a force creating the greatest anti-war movement in history, while American boys suffered and died in jungles and rice paddies against guerilla soldiers they rarely saw face to face.

As Marrin does so well, he brings an objective look at the complex issues that brought America into this war, that compelled her to stay there, and that prevented her from pursuing a definitive conclusion. Beginning with a history of Vietnam from ancient times, readers will understand the cultural, religious, and geo-political forces that made Vietnam a desirable territory conquered again and again by rival nations. They will learn how America's initial efforts to support anti-communist forces led to greater and greater involvement eventually spanning the administrations of Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, and Nixon.

Through photographs, perceptive epigraphs and first-person accounts, Marrin puts a human face on a multifaceted war. As Everett Alvarez, the longest-held POW in Vietnam, says of this book, "One of the book's strong points is that it portrays the war the way the men who fought remember it."

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Asia, Read For School, School

277 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1992

About the author

Albert Marrin is a historian and the author of more than twenty nonfiction books for young people. He has won various awards for his writing, including the 2005 James Madison Book Award and the 2008 National Endowment for Humanities Medal. In 2011, his book Flesh and Blood So Cheap was a National Book Award Finalist. Marrin is the Chairman of the History Department at New York's Yeshiva University.

Reviews

[Teresa TL Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this as "did not like," but I am glad I read it.

Several years ago I read this to gain a greater understanding of the Vietnam war. It was a VERY difficult book to read, not because of his writing but because of the content. Marrin clearly shows the motivations and strategies which shaped the conflict, and he shows the horrific consequences with equal clarity.

I recommend this to anyone who doesn't know the story of this awful period in history, but I do so with this WARNING: some of the descriptions are gruesome, not because the author sensationalized them but because of the nature of the atrocities that took place.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author writes excellent history for mature middle school and high school readers. He does such a good job laying out moral complexity and nuance and doesn't caricature these events by oversimplifying them.

[Trisha Fleitz Truman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born three years after the Vietnam War’s end, I’ve heard talk about Vietnam, watched movies, and secretly watched China Beach from the top of the stairs while my parents thought I was in bed,😳 but all I knew was that Vietnam was an unpopular war that America lost. Reading this book connected all the bits and pieces I’ve picked up over the years. What a great introduction to the war; a real eye-opener. I’ve missed a very important piece of modern American history and I can’t wait (but also dread) to learn more.

[Bree Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me as a YA nonfiction book. While I will disagree about it being YA, it was an interesting read about the Vietnam war. I feel like I learned a lot.

However, the author seemed to have a definite slant on the war. And the use of words like "idiotic decision" made it difficult to take at face value.

The saddest chapter was the one about the veterans returning to home. And the most eye opening was the information on how the North Vietnamese felt about Americans and media and how to influence elections by their practices. Written in 1992, this could have been written in 2020.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albert Martin is such an excellent writer of history for mature high school students. This is a very even-handed and thorough book about the Vietnam war. His writing style makes his difficult subject easy to read and “enjoyable” (for a horrific topic). He writes history in such a way that you feel like you’re reading a story, not a list of facts. Highly recommended, along with all of his other books. I wish more Americans would read this book to help them understand what really happened in Vietnam.

[Hope Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t like this book a lot because it had a lot of description of everything, which was definitely very hard and unpleasant to read. But that was the truth of the war, and sometimes people need to know what really did happen. Albert Marrin is an incredible author, and did a very good job on this book, despite the language and goriness, and this book definitely strengthened my knowledge on lots of different people involved in the Vietnam War. a good read!

[Jude Milloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short account of The Vietnam War that provides a lot of useful information. This book provides a basic rundown of events in a concise manner, while maintaining the emotional and human aspect of the war. I would especially recommend this for students interested in expanding their knowledge of Vietnam.

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really depressing, but that's appropriate--how could a book about the Vietnam War be anything but? But it was very insightful, and I now know things about it. I liked the unbiased way events are presented; it doesn't sugarcoat things, and seems to lay blame where it belongs.

[Sheryl Hanefeld]

Excellent. It helps people understand the complexities of the Vietnam War is fairly simple terms. It's a historically accurate book I would like for all my World History students to read in the Social 11 course. It gives the importance of understanding such an American tragedy.

[Andrew Thorpe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative, and opinionated.

[Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books by Albert Marrin. He brings history to life even better than a good piece of historical fiction without the fiction. The early part of my life was filled with scenes from this war on the TV after dinner. My friend's big sister grieved deeply over the loss of her boyfriend~they had graduated high school on a couple months earlier. I sat glued to the set, as President Nixon resigned and the POWs came home. Because I was so young, I didn't understand any of it until reading this book.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very descriptive, imformative book on the Vietnam War! Albert marrin does a great job explaining and telling many events during the Vietnam War. I found this book to be fairly interesting; I really enjoyed quotes and descriptions from neat people like Jeremiah Denton who was a POW. I recommend this book for ages 15+

[Abigail Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mom read this book aloud to my sister (14), brother (12) and I (17) when we were were studying Modern History. It has some descriptions of the sadness and horror of war that a different brother of mine was still too sensitive to read or listen to when he was 13 years old.

[Dawn Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent, very readable overview of Vietnamese history and the complete Vietnam conflict. Seems a bit intense for the Veritas 6th grade list, but the length and level of detail is good for middle schoolers.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most gut-wrenching stuff I've ever read.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great chronicle of this big part in our history.