Vietnam: A War Lost And Won

by Nigel Cawthorne

The book offers a comprehensive and balanced account of the emotive impact of the first “media” war, charting not only the course of the war in Vietnam, but also seeking to place American involvement in Vietnam in historical perspective. Contains previously classified material on US offensive movements and offers original, authoritative, and thought-provoking arguments from a highly regarded author.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Military History, Historical, American History

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the Vietnamese, the war had begun many centuries before the Marines landed. In their minds, it started in AD 40 when the Trung sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, led the first Vietnamese insurrection against Chinese rule. One woman who fought with them, Phung Thi Chinh, supposedly gave birth during the battle, but continued fighting with the infant strapped to her back.

Vietnam is a war cloaked in pop culture kitsch, generating enough movies, games, books, iconography, and even a soundtrack, to contend with either of the World Wars in cultural consciousness. That alone is quite a testament to its impact.

However, despite this, the wars depiction is infused with an Americentrism that foregrounds the tragedy in fundamentally American terms. The Vietnam War was a proxy war between America and Russia, yes, but there's a reason its not called the America-Russia war. Yet, popular media exploring this history rarely tries to give a face to the country devastated by it. Through this lens, Vietnam is just another Cold War battleground rather than a country with its own people, culture and political turmoil.

Consequently, Vietnam conjures images of America: draft dodgers, protesters, competing ideologues and returning G.I.'s — with post-traumatic stress disorder and absent a limb. Refreshingly, Cawthorne provides an antidote to this by actually prioritising the politics and toll of the war on north and south Vietnam. What is most affecting is the sheer simplicity with which Cawthorne relates the scale of brutality and loss.

At the same time, this is not meant to be a comprehensive exploration of the war, and should be read as more of an introductory piece. But a no less essential one.

[Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good overview of the situation in Vietnam, including the American War.
What I had forgotten and relearned: Gulf of Tonkin resolution which basically gave Johnson the authority to do what he wanted (from US perspective), is reminiscent of Iraq and George Bush.

The indiscriminate killing of civilians, often in a terrible way too reminds us of what has been happening in Afghanistan, Iraq and in Palestine. That the value of the lives of these people is less than that of the US soldiers......continues.

Friendly fire: this again seems a very American thing....as we have heard about in Afghanistan, Iraq, WWII. Is it just human error, or are these soldiers tooooo young, irresponsible, trigger happy, scared?

The human cost to the American War in Vietnam is horrendous. The 50,000 US lives lost....worth this....the 2million Vietnamese? And followed by the Khmer Roughe....I didn't know US actually gave them support! On this tiny country more bombs, defoliants, gasses of different kinds were used than in all of WWII! How could we have hated these people or not valued their humanity in such a way.

I am so glad I worked to oppose this war....sorry I only joined the bandwagon in 1967-68.

[Michalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a different kind of 5 stars because it’s a work of non-fiction. The more I thought about it, the less I could justify withholding 1 star — whilst this book lacked some of the things that (in my opinion) are necessary for a 5 star rating, it wasn’t a fictional novel so it needed to be held at completely different standards to my usual criteria.

I bought this book on a whim, thinking I probably wouldn’t read it because usually non-fiction is super boring. However, this book was surprisingly engaging and I learnt SO much. I think it says something that I wanted to continue reading even after I took a break from it to read a fiction novel — usually it’s difficult to go back to a book once I start another one.

I really enjoyed the different sections. It wasn’t necessarily in chronological order, which some people found confusing, but I’d say I found it quite easy to follow. I actually liked how some events came back in later sections, and were placed in slightly different contexts to slowly develop their impact.

I can’t really fault it! The facts were presented in an unbiased way and I was motivated to keep reading (surprising considering it’s not a work of fiction). The book wasn’t overly detailed or long, everything was explained quite well, and it definitely held my interest — all aspects that make it worth 5 stars.

I’m happy to announce that this is my first non-fiction book to become 5 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Truman Brody-Boyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

In terms of historic overview and analysis, this book is a mixed bag. It does a great job in illustrating how senseless and violent the war in Vietnam was, but its organization and pacing is quite lackluster and at times confusing. Other reviewers have made a solid point about how it seems more like a collection of essays than a cohesive history about the war.

With a conflict like Vietnam, maybe this disjointed-ness is unavoidable. I wish the author also included more first-person descriptions of what it was like on the ground rather than brief narratives and lots of illustrative numbers on bomb tonnage dropped and number of helicopters lost, etc.

I would have given it three stars, but the ending of the book is very frustrating. The title claims Vietnam is, “A War Lost and Won,” but the author only backs up this claim of the US being the longterm victor with two weak paragraphs right at the end and maybe three other paragraphs spaced throughout the book. We definitely can’t claim victory in any respect in this conflict. I’ll continue to search for a concise, effective history of the war in Vietnam.

[Jeff Swystun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tidy history is a great introduction for those new to the topic or those looking for a refresher with fresh tidbits. It is full of facts but suffers from a less clear narrative. I have read over 25 books on this conflict and remain fascinated. The strategic and tactical decisions look foolish in hindsight. The scale of the U.S.' efforts stretch credibility but still they lost the conflict. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, the air war, atrocities on both sides, and its length make this a war that will be studied forever.

[Geraldine Tew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book from a bargain big years ago and it was sitting on my bookshelf unread for ages. I dont know why I picked it but I whipped through it in no time. Its a concise, well written and balanced history of the war in Vietnam and also some history around Laos and Cambodia. While its focus from an American angle, it also also give a clear picture of the atrocities committed on all sides. The most chilling thing about this book is the similarities between the war in Vietnam and the "war against terror". It certainly wants to make me read other similar books to brush up on hostoric knowledge that often gets cloudy in detail over time. Recommended

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A too quick summary of the American history in the Vietnam War, a topic covered much more thoroughly in Michael MacLear's "The 10000 Day War". There were a few things briefly mentioned that were not covered by MacLear, but the brevity made the mentions unsatisfying. Also, there were topics covered (hippies in San Francisco, for example) that were so cliched that I wondered if the research for the entire book was gleaned just from headlines of the era.

[Glen McLaughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 80% of this books content it accomplishes the goal of being a decent enough overview and liberal perspective summarising the war in vietnam. Unfortunately that liberal perspective seems to have been blinding for Cawthorne as he somehow holds on to the embarrassing and shameful idea that the war was in any facet a US victory. an overall decent historical overview marred by western liberalism and American hegemony

[Natasha Ley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Read as revision for an exam on the Vietnam War, so I had previous knowledge on the subject. This book is split into chapters based on topic rather than chronology, so it may be hard to follow for people without prior knowledge. Can sometimes get a little heavy on numbers which tends to shut my brain down, but full of interesting facts and ideas and a very worthwhile read.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief superficial history of the Vietnam War, especially America's involvement. Follows some military engagements and politics of the war which was America's first televised war that brought into American living rooms. The author describes the ant-war movement to include anti-war movies. It was also one of America's longest single conflicts outside the country.

[Kieran Guckian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this after reading Matterhorn, I tend to read in patterns one book leading to another. I wanted to learn more about Vietnam, the history before, during and after, this book did just that. All I can say is read it, its superb, focused and subjective.

[Andrew Wardle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, but sadly a missed opportunity. This could have been 5 stars with a bit of care and attention devoted to it. It is a short, concise, but comprehensive history of the US involvement in Vietnam, well-balanced between stirring accounts of individual battles and broader historical analysis of the conflict, together with the controversies and scandals and troubles on the USA's Home Front. The author offers good, balanced historical analysis, and is very even-handed in his description of the political machinations, double-dealing and bad faith of both communist and "Western" governments. Atrocities and war crimes are dealt with dispassionately and attributed to both sides. More, and more detailed, maps would have been helpful, and the organisation of the chapters leads to some repetition, but these are minor flaws common to much military history writing.
The author can obviously write very well, and can wield an argument and a pithy phrase to memorable effect. The parodic initial US Marine Corps landing at Da Nang, troops in full battle order storming ashore as if assaulting a fortress position, to be greeted by smiling Vietnamese schoolgirls who garland them with flowers, is described with rich irony.
And the attack on Hamburger Hill: "Charlie Company was in the lead, but their commander fell wounded, his radio fell silent, C Company fell back, and the attack fell apart." A very fine sentence indeed, the repeated use of "fell" in different contexts powerfully conveying the inevitability of the attack's failure and the "here we go again" of the PBI.
But far too much of the language in this book is shamefully sloppy. It reads as if it were dictated in a lesson to a class of 13-year-olds, whose notes were then printed as a book without correction or proofreading. The text is littered with grammatical errors, misnomers, and random use of punctuation. Complex sentences start coherently enough but their subordinate clauses go missing in action as if the author's train of thought had been interrupted. This book gives the impression that the manuscript was delivered to the publisher and sent straight off to be printed without anyone else reading it before the end-user.
One of several examples: "With an area of 66,200 square miles and a population of some 60 million, it was a country bigger than England and Wales put together with less than a third of the population. On the other hand, imagine the population of Texas crammed into an area less than a quarter of that state's size." A bewildering paragraph in which the figures seem inaccurate anyway, but which also gives no clue as to what point the author wished to make.

The history itself is more solid, although some errors creep in there too: The Americal (23rd Infantry) Division is referred to throughout as the "American" to confusing effect.
"National Servicemen" assist the police in dealing with civil disturbances in the US - National Guardsmen, surely ?
The book contends in an early chapter that US involvement in Vietnam was increased as a deliberate policy after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 in order to shift the USA's proxy war against international communism to a more distant, safer region and reduce the chance of escalation to nuclear war. This was an interesting insight which I had not previously encountered. But it is unreferenced and actually appears on further research to be just the author's opinion unsupported by any evidence.
US servicemen are brought home in body bags, keeping the controversy over the war simmering, whereas "British servicemen killed overseas consider it an honour to be buried in the land in which they fell." Er, no. Britain's colonial wars simply occurred at a time before refrigeration and air transport made repatriation feasible.
The story of the V-sign having originated with English archers at Agincourt showing the French they still had their bowstring fingers is trotted out as truth. In fact this is a later invention - a 20th century myth unsupported by any contemporary evidence.
Nguyen Ngoc Loan's casual summary execution of a Viet Cong suspect, the film of which shocked the world during the Tet Offensive, is explained by the General's having just been informed that the man had murdered the family of one of his subordinates. In fact this story did not appear until much later and sounds very much like a piece of post-hoc propaganda. General Loan's initial self-justification was that the suspect had been armed but not in uniform, and "they have killed my men and yours" - i.e. he shot him as a franc-tireur.

So, if you want a bitesize history of the USA's war in Vietnam, this is generally a good one - but it should have been so much better !

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cawthorne's history of the Viet Nam war is essentially a series of essays covering different aspects of the conflict. First he puts the region into a historical context with a brief history of the region and it's occupiers and tensions, including the French occupation. Then we get the origins of the American involvement, escalation, the collapse in morale, the war at home etc.

It's very well written and the author has obviously done his research, as endless statistics are included of number of bombs dropped, casualties, etc. What comes through most is how utterly barbaric the war was, on both sides. The Viet Cong thought nothing of attacking in wave after wave until the bodies were piled high. The Americans bombed the country almost into the stone age, ruining what had been one of the most beautiful places on earth. The inhumanity on both sides is jaw dropping. Torture was commonplace, atrocities an everyday occurrence.

It soon became clear that America could not win and the aftermath of the war would divide the country and cause a huge psychological blow to the American psyche.

What troubles me is the book's subtitle: A War Lost And Won. I'm not entirely sure what Cawthorne means, since there is little analysis in the book, any conclusions drawn being confined to a brief epilogue. He seems to suggest that American capitalism won out in the end, with South East Asia becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the world based on cheap labour (and in many cases child labour) in appalling conditions. Even China relaxed it's strict Communist ideals to accommodate a certain amount of free market thinking.

But is that a victory? The economic enslavement of millions? If so that's a pretty hollow victory.

So, this is a readable account of an awful war. Just don't expect any revelatory conclusions.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this coming up to and during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, when it was obvious to anyone that we were about to see a repeat of the fall of Saigon, and it was a carbon copy. Everyone could see it coming but the politicians.
This is a useful overview of the Vietnam War apart from one important thing: the title calls it 'a war lost and won' then goes into 240 pages showing that it was a war unequivocally lost. I felt so strongly that I relabelled the cover and title pages: 'a war lost and never won'.
Winning, or even the hope of it, wasn't countenanced in the book. He left it to the very last line to throw a sop: "America might have lost on the ground in one small corner of Southeast Asia, but in global and in historical terms it won". I read that sentence three times and ended up deciding that the editor must have been an American, unable to face up to the fact of a crushing defeat, and insisting on a sweetener at the end. It ruined the book for me.

[Dave Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ignoring the obvious punji sticker traps of it not only involving the Americans, or indeed the greater context of the French wars that preceded it that the author didn’t wholly avoid, I think given the brief nature of this book, it was always going to feel rushed and incomplete … written in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR, the author also made some miss assumptions on the direction the world would head, which does not reflect the modern realities of a resurgent Russia or the industrial might of China and its belt and road initiatives … the last few chapters especially feel like the author was overwhelmed by the enormity of task, and was desperate for it all to end … ironically just like the Americans by 1975 … the authors main assertion that it could be argued that the Americans in fact won is almost Trumpian in its attitude to reality …

[Guus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative short history of the Vietnam War including reasons, major battles, strategies, war crimes, political fallout. It adds further truth to the adage "War is Hell".
While U.S. involvement initially was justified By George Kennan theory of containment of communism and the dominoes theory that it soon became an attempt of obliteration of the North by an unprecedented bombing campaign, chemical warfare and napalm was clear in this book
The book shows this was caused the by political leaders caving in to all the demands from the Military and going deeper and deeper in the hole. A good description on how lesser political people and their cohorts finally put a stop to this and also how the North's resolve was underestimated.
The main political and military players and their deeds are examined no one came out smelling like roses.

[Ruth Helen Helm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tell it like it is.

As I have Alexa read these, rather pathetic books. I wonder why the grunts feel compelled to tell it as it is.
I see why they want to change the past, they are deeply unmanned. They come back home expecting to be regarded as heroes instead they find themselves treated as the worst kind of criminals, baby killers.
They remember all the things they have done. Burning children gives the marines post traumatic stress. They are astonished there are still people who do not expect soldiers to commit war crimes. So many pretend the war made them poorly. This is one of the first books I have read that acknowledges not only the disgusting things they did but what their politicians and police did to prevent the people knowing what was going on.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a frustrating read. I was excited to start this book; however, it quickly turned into a dull, tedious read. The author inundates you with factual statistics and numbers. The author fails to create any sort of interesting plot. It does inform the reader about the general history of Vietnam.
The last 1/3 of the book is about the history of Southeast Asia in that time period. It seems like the author at one time had thoughts of making books about Laos and Cambodia, but ditched these thoughts as he clumped his research into this book.

[Jim Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars seems high but two stars is too low. This is a very basic, poppish review of the Vietnam War. If you know nothing about the war, it will give you a basic overview. If you lived through the conflict, it will add nothing to the conversation. The best part is the mention of the Cambodian conflict near the end. The thing I most disliked was the author’s portrayal of the most extreme aspects of the war as typical; felt as if it offered a distorted view.

[Asif · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introductory book on the Vietnam war, it touches the American’s involvement and military engagements and politics of the war which was America's first televised war that brought into American living rooms.

[Mike Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoy reading any and all vietnam war true story books. This one explains everything in detail. learned alot.

[Tom Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey

[Derek Towson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent accounting. Some rough spots. Oddly anti-Sylvester Stallone. But some good info

[Jake Wyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but found it dry and a slow read

[Linda Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough read - all the suffering and death, still glad I read it.

[Kobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect first Vietnam War book for me! Interesting stories that are never drawn out, but give enough details to feel engaging and more than enough to go on re: further reading :)

[Leahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vietnam War has always been one of the most interesting Historical topics to me, so I will happily read any book about the subject I can get my hands on! This book offered a comprehensive overview of the war, both an American and Vietnamese perspective.

The book is very detailed and all the facts and dates well structured, so you do travel through the war through a series of the most important events, spending longer on some aspects (such as the Tet Offensive) where more happened, and there is more information available regarding its importance. From reading this book you do get a very clear picture of the War's structure and what led to America's failings and eventual withdrawal. I particvualrly like that a good section was spent on American opposition to the war through home protests, including student led marches and the Hippie movement oppostion.

Now, I did say that this book claimed to cover both American and Vietnamese perspective and it didn't. There is really not much explored from the Vietnamese side aside from the obvious need to mention the Vietcong's tactics and how Vietnam as a country changed throughout the war. There is nothing about a civilians experience or how they reacted to the war. The everyday Vietnamese villager's voice does not come across in this book, which is disappointing.

A worthy read if you are interested in this area of History as I am.

[Hilmi Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sebuah buku mengenai Perang Vietnam yang sangat bagus untuk dibaca. Terutamanya kepada generasi baharu hari ini yang tidak pernah melalui era tersebut. Saya sendiri lahir pada tahun Post-Vietnam War,iaitu pada tahun 1986. Jika dihitung,saya lahir di dunia ini 11 tahun selepas perang tersebut berakhir pada tahun 1975.
Buku ini juga sesuai dibaca kepada mereka yang mungkin selama ini tidak mengetahui langsung mengenai Perang Vietnam. Penceritaan yang ditulis oleh penulis adalah ringkas tetapi padat. Hasil pembacaan saya juga,penulis tidak bias. Juga disertakan beberapa gambar yang menyerikan lagi persembahan buku. Sesuai dijadikan buku permulaan atau pengenalan sebelum membaca buku-buku yang lebih mendalam maklumatnya mengenai perang ini.

[Frank Cardenas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, we all know about the Vietnam war and its aftermath, it is all very sad and horrendous; however there are other ways to describe a very serious account in a more attractive way; well done for the facts, though.

[Wan Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is real stuff where so much suffering. I have visit Vietnam and visited the war muzeum, but this book tells all.