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Giap: The General Who Defeated America in Vietnam
An in-depth look at the strategy and tactics of the visionary commander who beat the United States in the Vietnam War.General Vo Nguyen Giap was the commander in chief of the communist armed forces during two of his country's most difficult conflicts—the first against Vietnam's colonial masters, the French, and the second against the most powerful nation on earth, the United States. After long and bloody conflicts, he defeated both Western powers and their Vietnamese allies, forever changing modern warfare. In Giap, military historian James A. Warren dives deep into the conflict to bring to life a revolutionary general and reveal the groundbreaking strategies that defeated world powers against incredible odds. Synthesizing ideas and tactics from an extraordinary range of sources, Giap was one of the first to realize that war is more than a series of battles between two armies and that victory can be won through the strength of a society's social fabric. As America's wars in the Middle East rage on, this is an important and timely look at a man who was a master at defeating his enemies even as they thought they were winning.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2012
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209 people want to read
About the author
James A. Warren
10 books13 followersJames Warren is a freelance writer specializing in modern American military history. He has written books on the Vietnam War and the cold war, and contributed the chapter on the Vietnam War to The Atlas of American Military History (1993). His reviews and articles have appeared in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, as well as in Society and The Providence (RI) Journal.
He is the author of a highly acclaimed History of the U.S. Marines from Iwo Jima to Iraq, American Spartans, and Portrait of a Tragedy: America and the Vietnam War. He lives in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
He is the author of a highly acclaimed History of the U.S. Marines from Iwo Jima to Iraq, American Spartans, and Portrait of a Tragedy: America and the Vietnam War. He lives in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 16, 2013
General Vo Nguyen Giap was the North Vietnamese mastermind who defeated the French and American superpowers over 30 years in what was previously an unthinkable possibility -- that countries with so so much more military and economic power could lose to an underdeveloped third world country. And yet it happened. (Also, Giap had to battle the Japanese toward the end of World War Two.)
Giap came from humble beginnings -- a history professor turned professional solider from the Quang Binh Province of Vietnam. He was self taught. Aside from Hi Chi Minh, Giap was probably North Vietnam's most important figure. He learned communism from Ho and never strayed. He learned how to battle from the Chinese and adapted what he learned to the Vietnamese battlefield. When the Vietminh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu to end the French colonial war with what was then Indochina, he showed that he had mastered guerrilla tactics as well as conventional war strategies, and these carried over to the American war. He was also a master at logistics. It took months for the Vietminh to carry broken down parts of artillery pieces up into the mountains surrounding Dien Bien Phu, where they were then assembled and used with devastating success. Another strength Giap possessed was learning that the political counted as much as the military. He indoctrinated his soldiers, the Vietnamese peasants, and won a war of attrition against both France and America -- both countries, he knew, that wouldn't have the stomach for a protracted war. He was right. Now he took horrifying losses throughout both wars. When all was said and done, the NVA and Vietminh lost over a million soldiers (to America's 56,000), but he knew that a country united in revolution against colonialism was destined for victory. He never lacked in confidence. The Tet offensive was, of course, the turning point in the Vietnam war with America. Looked at it militarily, the US won, giving the NVA and Viet Cong horrifying casualties, but strategically, North Vietnam won because America now wanted out and started the process of withdrawing troops and halting the bombing of North Vietnam in an effort to get to the negotiating table -- a place where America had no leverage.
The author makes some good points in his final chapter in this excellent book.
"The power of the US military machine posted immense challenges to Giap as a commander. He knew that the conflict would result in horrific losses, but he also realized that those causalities were the inevitable cost of victory, and neither the reality of those casualties, as regrettable as they were, nor the destructive capacity of American forces, would prove to be decisive factors in the war's outcome.... Giap was first and foremost a revolutionary war strategist, which is to say he conceived of war primarily as a social struggle by people committed to breaking down the status quo and replacing it with a new set of power relationships and institutions, not as a strictly military activity carried out by full-time soldiers and guerrillas.... the work of building a powerful political infrastructure that could challenge French and American efforts was far more important than achieving victory in a series of conventional military battles and campaigns.... He also believed that he could instill a sense of futility and exhaustion in the French and American armies by avoiding large-scale combat engagements in favor of harassing tactics, including ambushes, booby traps, and luring the enemy into patrolling forbidding mountainous terrain and steamy jungles where his own troops were more at home."
"Giap never doubted that the power of his soldiers' and citizen's commitment to the Vietnamese revolutionary vision would compensate for the inferiority of their military forces. It was only necessary to instill the same level of belief and determination he himself possessed for the cause into the Revolution as a whole, and to direct that energy toward victory.... When all is said and done, Giap's enduring importance lies in recognizing that he was a successful general largely because he could see with extraordinary clarity all the factors and forces that shaped the trajectory of the wars in which he fought, and how each element related to all the others."
Giap than, who might still be alive at over 100 years old, was the instrumental commander that foresaw victory and instilled that vision in his troops and citizens. He was Ho's second, and as such, wielded great power. He built his army up from a tiny platoon in 1945 to hundreds of thousands of hardened troops by war's end. When the NVA rolled into Saigon in 1975, the revolution was complete and Vietnam was reunited. Communist, yes, but under no colonial authority for the first time in over a century. It was a mighty struggle, and even though I'm an American, I've studied this war for decades and have seen how American stupidity lost us the war -- which we could have won with the right strategies and leadership, I believe. Giap's commitment never wavered. He should be looked at as one of the greatest military leaders of all time. I can't think of a single instance in which a tiny, impoverished, technically backwards country defeated two of the world's superpowers within two to three decades of each other. His legacy will live on for a long time. This was an excellent book to read and I certainly recommend it to any military buff or historian, or to anyone interested in the Vietnam war. Great book!
Giap came from humble beginnings -- a history professor turned professional solider from the Quang Binh Province of Vietnam. He was self taught. Aside from Hi Chi Minh, Giap was probably North Vietnam's most important figure. He learned communism from Ho and never strayed. He learned how to battle from the Chinese and adapted what he learned to the Vietnamese battlefield. When the Vietminh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu to end the French colonial war with what was then Indochina, he showed that he had mastered guerrilla tactics as well as conventional war strategies, and these carried over to the American war. He was also a master at logistics. It took months for the Vietminh to carry broken down parts of artillery pieces up into the mountains surrounding Dien Bien Phu, where they were then assembled and used with devastating success. Another strength Giap possessed was learning that the political counted as much as the military. He indoctrinated his soldiers, the Vietnamese peasants, and won a war of attrition against both France and America -- both countries, he knew, that wouldn't have the stomach for a protracted war. He was right. Now he took horrifying losses throughout both wars. When all was said and done, the NVA and Vietminh lost over a million soldiers (to America's 56,000), but he knew that a country united in revolution against colonialism was destined for victory. He never lacked in confidence. The Tet offensive was, of course, the turning point in the Vietnam war with America. Looked at it militarily, the US won, giving the NVA and Viet Cong horrifying casualties, but strategically, North Vietnam won because America now wanted out and started the process of withdrawing troops and halting the bombing of North Vietnam in an effort to get to the negotiating table -- a place where America had no leverage.
The author makes some good points in his final chapter in this excellent book.
"The power of the US military machine posted immense challenges to Giap as a commander. He knew that the conflict would result in horrific losses, but he also realized that those causalities were the inevitable cost of victory, and neither the reality of those casualties, as regrettable as they were, nor the destructive capacity of American forces, would prove to be decisive factors in the war's outcome.... Giap was first and foremost a revolutionary war strategist, which is to say he conceived of war primarily as a social struggle by people committed to breaking down the status quo and replacing it with a new set of power relationships and institutions, not as a strictly military activity carried out by full-time soldiers and guerrillas.... the work of building a powerful political infrastructure that could challenge French and American efforts was far more important than achieving victory in a series of conventional military battles and campaigns.... He also believed that he could instill a sense of futility and exhaustion in the French and American armies by avoiding large-scale combat engagements in favor of harassing tactics, including ambushes, booby traps, and luring the enemy into patrolling forbidding mountainous terrain and steamy jungles where his own troops were more at home."
"Giap never doubted that the power of his soldiers' and citizen's commitment to the Vietnamese revolutionary vision would compensate for the inferiority of their military forces. It was only necessary to instill the same level of belief and determination he himself possessed for the cause into the Revolution as a whole, and to direct that energy toward victory.... When all is said and done, Giap's enduring importance lies in recognizing that he was a successful general largely because he could see with extraordinary clarity all the factors and forces that shaped the trajectory of the wars in which he fought, and how each element related to all the others."
Giap than, who might still be alive at over 100 years old, was the instrumental commander that foresaw victory and instilled that vision in his troops and citizens. He was Ho's second, and as such, wielded great power. He built his army up from a tiny platoon in 1945 to hundreds of thousands of hardened troops by war's end. When the NVA rolled into Saigon in 1975, the revolution was complete and Vietnam was reunited. Communist, yes, but under no colonial authority for the first time in over a century. It was a mighty struggle, and even though I'm an American, I've studied this war for decades and have seen how American stupidity lost us the war -- which we could have won with the right strategies and leadership, I believe. Giap's commitment never wavered. He should be looked at as one of the greatest military leaders of all time. I can't think of a single instance in which a tiny, impoverished, technically backwards country defeated two of the world's superpowers within two to three decades of each other. His legacy will live on for a long time. This was an excellent book to read and I certainly recommend it to any military buff or historian, or to anyone interested in the Vietnam war. Great book!
July 23, 2016
Why am I reading this? I don’t know. It looked nice and slim (218 pages, excluding the bibliography, notes and index) and I hoped it might shed some light on what made the Communist victory in Vietnam so inevitable. Authoritarianism without the grace of a shared sense of common humanity doesn’t work well, as we have seen in many examples in the past half century. General Giáp without Hồ Chí Minh may not have been able to throw off the yolk of French colonial management, but the two together were bigger than the sum of their parts.
So what was the glue that held the PAVN (Giáp’s army) together? “Political work in the ranks is of the first importance. It is the soul of the army.” It wasn’t Marxist-Leninist doctrine, however, but the political education was concerned with “instilling a commitment to one’s fellow soldiers, to the army as a whole, and the Party as a vehicle for national liberation.” (p. 54) Warren goes further:
And I thought this was interesting:
Warren is a historian focused on recent military history, and in this book he talks a great deal about each of the decisive battles that studded Giáp’s campaign. He also mentions a new kind of yardstick which emerged to measure success: anything that convinced the French they had to withdraw their forces from Vietnam was a victory for the Vietminh. This may not mean battles won in the conventional sense. Dien Bien Phu was the decisive battle that brought the U.S. into Vietnam and Warren quotes historian George Herring:
And Warren’s conclusions:
Anyway, this is not my field of expertise, but I would say it was a fairly concise and interesting addition to the literature for anyone thinking about future (uninitiated, please!) military engagements in Asia.
So what was the glue that held the PAVN (Giáp’s army) together? “Political work in the ranks is of the first importance. It is the soul of the army.” It wasn’t Marxist-Leninist doctrine, however, but the political education was concerned with “instilling a commitment to one’s fellow soldiers, to the army as a whole, and the Party as a vehicle for national liberation.” (p. 54) Warren goes further:
”With the sage guidance of Hồ Chí Minh and [political leader] Trường Chinh, Giáp developed a highly nuanced and sophisticated understanding of how to use socio-political activity—organization, mobilization, and thought control or “consciousness-raising”—to focus the energies of the entire population under Vietminh control on achieving the Revolution’s objectives. Taken together, these techniques of political dau tranh allowed Giáp to mobilize an astonishing amount of on-going human activity, choreographed in minute detail, toward (1) building an alternative society and government, marked by revolutionary fervor, high morale, and unity of purpose as defined by the senior leadership; and (2) the breakdown of the legitimacy of the colonial puppet government in the eyes of the entire country. Thus, political dau tranh was at once a constructive and a corrosive activity.” (p. 57)
"[General Võ Nguyên Giáp] brilliantly applied what historian Douglas Pike calls the “two pincers” of revolutionary power, political struggle and armed struggle, placing greater emphasis on one form over the other at various stages of the Revolution. Perhaps Giáp’s most important contributions to protracted warfare were his flexible integration of three types of forces (local militia in the villages, regional forces, and full-time main force units), and his creative use of various “fighting forms”—guerilla warfare, mobile independent operations by battalions, conventional set-piece battles, and political mobilization."(from the Introduction, p. x)Interestingly, although Giáp started with a military organization that looked like the American one with four core functional divisions (e.g., personnel, intelligence, operations and logistics), in the later stages of the war it was reorganized along the lines of the Chinese PLA with overlapping Party and military responsibilities. As Warren says, the structure was “more byzantine and redundant” and I would add, organic and impenetrable. Elsewhere Warren adds that the redundancies of authority and overlapping responsibilities…ensured smooth functioning even when association leaders were killed or captured. (p. 25)
And I thought this was interesting:
"A unique feature of PAVN’s approach to war concerned its extensive logistical preparation. Western forces on the offensive are typically supplied via motorized vehicles from the rear, or from the air. PAVN supply officers, however, developed ingenious ways of preparing a battlefield and its approaches with supplies and fortifications before the arrival of maneuver forces. This required superb planning and highly disciplined bunker and supply depot construction units, often working under sustained time pressure.”"(p.55)
Warren is a historian focused on recent military history, and in this book he talks a great deal about each of the decisive battles that studded Giáp’s campaign. He also mentions a new kind of yardstick which emerged to measure success: anything that convinced the French they had to withdraw their forces from Vietnam was a victory for the Vietminh. This may not mean battles won in the conventional sense. Dien Bien Phu was the decisive battle that brought the U.S. into Vietnam and Warren quotes historian George Herring:
"The Eisenhower Administration in 1954…used its resources unsparingly to construct in southern Vietnam a viable, non-communist nation that would stand as ‘the cornerstone of the Free World in Southeast Asia.’…Had it looked all over the world, the United Sates could not have chosen a less promising place for an experiment in nation-building."How horrifyingly familiar.
And Warren’s conclusions:
"Giáp never doubted that the power of his soldiers’ and citizens’ commitment to the Vietnamese revolutionary vision would compensate for the inferiority of their military forces…[He presented] the Communist revolution as the only way to give the people power to shape their own history and destiny. Whether this was true or not in some objective sense…hardly mattered. What did matter was that the people and the soldiers loyal to the Revolution believed it was true.
When all is said and done, Giáp’s enduring importance lies in recognizing that he was a successful general largely because he could see with extraordinary clarity all the factors and forces that shaped the trajectory of the wars in which he fought, and how each element related to all the others. He understood that the relative importance of each element was constantly in a state of flux, and one’s strategy, and one’s tactics, must be constantly recalibrated in light of those changes." (p. 217)
Anyway, this is not my field of expertise, but I would say it was a fairly concise and interesting addition to the literature for anyone thinking about future (uninitiated, please!) military engagements in Asia.
July 6, 2022
Highly recommend. Goes into detail on Giáp’s creative application of protracted people’s war against the materially superior French and American military powers, and his understanding of the balance of forces. Added to “favorites” list.
April 16, 2024
Pretty good and short account of the Vietnam War. Not really a biography of Giap.
March 20, 2017
General Westmoreland, Presidents Johnson and Nixon all severely underestimated General Giap as an adversary, as did the French at Dien Bien Phu. This book chronicles Giap's 30 year military career, from his alignment with Ho Chi Minh to his toppling of two superior super powers. From the dust jacket:
"Giap saw with far greater clarity than did his adversaries that the balance of forces could be fundamentally altered by ideas, events and positions far from the battlefield. He was acutely conscious of the way domestic policies in France and the United States could be . . . manipulated to drive a wedge between the people and the governments that claimed to represent them."
After I completed reading this book, I now understand that, even though we, the soldier, lost very few battles, we did loose the war. At least our politicians, our media and our civilians did so. Giap was cunning enough to use our own weaknesses against ourselves and sap our will to persist.
This is a well-researched and superbly written book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see the Vietnam war through the eyes of our enemy.
"Giap saw with far greater clarity than did his adversaries that the balance of forces could be fundamentally altered by ideas, events and positions far from the battlefield. He was acutely conscious of the way domestic policies in France and the United States could be . . . manipulated to drive a wedge between the people and the governments that claimed to represent them."
After I completed reading this book, I now understand that, even though we, the soldier, lost very few battles, we did loose the war. At least our politicians, our media and our civilians did so. Giap was cunning enough to use our own weaknesses against ourselves and sap our will to persist.
This is a well-researched and superbly written book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see the Vietnam war through the eyes of our enemy.
March 19, 2016
Well done, though short. The definitive biography of Vo Nguyen Giap has yet to be written, however, in my view...
January 3, 2023
I read this for my nonfiction book club - not the sort of thing I would normally read but I actually enjoyed it! It's well researched and well written - succinct and easily understandable even for someone like me who isn't knowledgeable about military tactics and strategies. I learned SO much about the wars in Vietnam! My only "complaint" is that this is much more about the General's military tactics and very little about the man. I understand that apparently there's not much information about him out there, but the title seemed misleading to me. I recommend this book to anyone who *thinks* they know what happened in Vietnam from the 50's through the 70's!
September 30, 2021
This seemed less a biography of Giap than a history of the Vietnamese wars of the mid 20th century. Although there is a focus on Giap, the weight of the book seems behind the strategic concerns of the Vietnamese and the Communist party more generally. I got the impression that there just may not be that much information out there specifically about Giap, given that the book gave the impression of being well researched. A worthwhile read that gave good coverage to the time before the American, and even the French, war, and which was not overly swayed to the Western viewpoint.
April 14, 2024
Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap did something no one else has ever done: he defeated two major Western powers in anticolonial wars, both far stronger than his own, both militarily and technologically.
The focus of the book is how General Giap achieved those seemingly impossible victories in the face of what seemed to be overwhelming odds.
The reasons for Giap's success are the keys to answer the question, "Why did the United States lose the Vietnam War?"
Read the book to find out.
The focus of the book is how General Giap achieved those seemingly impossible victories in the face of what seemed to be overwhelming odds.
The reasons for Giap's success are the keys to answer the question, "Why did the United States lose the Vietnam War?"
Read the book to find out.
November 26, 2019
An interesting read
November 9, 2016
General Vo Nguyen Giap may be remembered by US citizens who followed the events in Vietnam in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The General appeared on the world stage in the early 1960’s as the commander of a rag-tag military force that outsmarted the most powerful military force in the world. More than 50k young Americans died in Vietnam fighting Giap’s soldiers. The war—and the inability of the US to find success in the war – sparked thousands of protests. Some protested the war. Others protested the protesters. Giap certainly wasn’t the sole reason that we went through turmoil as a nation. But, his skills and strategies in the battle field marked the growing up years of many of us.
Biographer James Warren gives us some ability to understand why our military could not overcome a third-world military power.
Giap learned how to defeat a more powerful enemy in fighting and then evicting France’s colonial domination of his country. The battle against the French in the 1950’s prepared Giap to find ways to defeat the much more powerful American military in the 1960’s. He had an exceptional knowledge of Vietnam’s territory and culture. The author provides many powerful examples of Giap’s ability to make the underdog come out as a victor. One powerful example in the book paints a picture of North Vietnamese soldiers going to war with bicycles to attack the French.
We also get some insights about American military leaders who had grand strategies for defeating rebels. The passages about Giap’s strategies give us a glimpse into the thinking of presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and lots of generals.
In Warren terms, Giap did not see a divided country (North/South; communist/democratic). This leads Warren to provide multiple examples of the corrupt and ineffective South Vietnamese politician, Diem, and the South Vietnamese military
Warren also brings back the words and ames we heard so often during the late 60’s and the early 70’s: Ho Chi Mien (the man and the trail), the Tet Offensive, Khe Sham, “Charlie, “Dien Ben Phu and many more.
Warren sometimes gets bogged down in the details of battles and military strategies. The second half of the book is more about the politics and less about Giap’s skills and strategies on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, it’s a book worth reading to understand why the Vietnam war was different from any other war—and remains a mystery to so many Americans.
The General appeared on the world stage in the early 1960’s as the commander of a rag-tag military force that outsmarted the most powerful military force in the world. More than 50k young Americans died in Vietnam fighting Giap’s soldiers. The war—and the inability of the US to find success in the war – sparked thousands of protests. Some protested the war. Others protested the protesters. Giap certainly wasn’t the sole reason that we went through turmoil as a nation. But, his skills and strategies in the battle field marked the growing up years of many of us.
Biographer James Warren gives us some ability to understand why our military could not overcome a third-world military power.
Giap learned how to defeat a more powerful enemy in fighting and then evicting France’s colonial domination of his country. The battle against the French in the 1950’s prepared Giap to find ways to defeat the much more powerful American military in the 1960’s. He had an exceptional knowledge of Vietnam’s territory and culture. The author provides many powerful examples of Giap’s ability to make the underdog come out as a victor. One powerful example in the book paints a picture of North Vietnamese soldiers going to war with bicycles to attack the French.
We also get some insights about American military leaders who had grand strategies for defeating rebels. The passages about Giap’s strategies give us a glimpse into the thinking of presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and lots of generals.
In Warren terms, Giap did not see a divided country (North/South; communist/democratic). This leads Warren to provide multiple examples of the corrupt and ineffective South Vietnamese politician, Diem, and the South Vietnamese military
Warren also brings back the words and ames we heard so often during the late 60’s and the early 70’s: Ho Chi Mien (the man and the trail), the Tet Offensive, Khe Sham, “Charlie, “Dien Ben Phu and many more.
Warren sometimes gets bogged down in the details of battles and military strategies. The second half of the book is more about the politics and less about Giap’s skills and strategies on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, it’s a book worth reading to understand why the Vietnam war was different from any other war—and remains a mystery to so many Americans.
October 22, 2013
Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap recently passed away on October 4, 2013 at the age of 102. From the time he was born in 1911 until the communist victory over South Vietnam in 1975, his country was either occupied by a foreign power, or at war. Next to Ho Chi Minh, Giap is probably the most revered Vietnamese "founding father." Certainly the most well known in the United States. He is the mastermind behind the French defeat at Dien Bin Phu, the Tet Offensive, the Easter Offensive, and the 1975 Spring Offensive (which finally defeated South Vietnam and united the country under the communist government).
The publication of Warren's book is timely, but that's not the reason to read a biography of this man. Vo Nguyen Giap's life is a history of Vietnam in the Twentieth Century and the United States was one of the key players. His leadership and military decisions were instrumental in ending the American involvement in Southeast Asia. James Warren conveys this without pounding the reader over the head with it. The book is not lengthy (at just over 200 pages) but it thorough enough so that the reader gets a clear picture of not only the life of a self-taught military genius (too much?) but also a summary history of the French and American involvement in Vietnam.
Giap was in fact a self-taught military strategist. While studying in Hue before WWII, he was a voracious reader of military history and politics (p. 7). He also spent time as a history teacher (p. 10). However, his greatest insight (with a little help from his political mentor Ho Chi Minh) and implementation of the concept, was that "the army and the people are one."(p. 25) This set the stage for building a guerrilla army whose key to victory was outlasting their opponent. Although it took thirty years, Giap served as commander-in-chief of an army that defeated both France and the United States.
Warren's writing style is straightforward and readable. His conclusions are also clear and in my view inarguable. When I was an army officer, I read quite a few biographies of military figures. It was part of how you learned your trade. I would have added this book to my reading list. If you would read a book about Rommel or Robert E. Lee, then you might want to read a book about Vo Nguyen Giap. James Warren's book in a great choice.
The publication of Warren's book is timely, but that's not the reason to read a biography of this man. Vo Nguyen Giap's life is a history of Vietnam in the Twentieth Century and the United States was one of the key players. His leadership and military decisions were instrumental in ending the American involvement in Southeast Asia. James Warren conveys this without pounding the reader over the head with it. The book is not lengthy (at just over 200 pages) but it thorough enough so that the reader gets a clear picture of not only the life of a self-taught military genius (too much?) but also a summary history of the French and American involvement in Vietnam.
Giap was in fact a self-taught military strategist. While studying in Hue before WWII, he was a voracious reader of military history and politics (p. 7). He also spent time as a history teacher (p. 10). However, his greatest insight (with a little help from his political mentor Ho Chi Minh) and implementation of the concept, was that "the army and the people are one."(p. 25) This set the stage for building a guerrilla army whose key to victory was outlasting their opponent. Although it took thirty years, Giap served as commander-in-chief of an army that defeated both France and the United States.
Warren's writing style is straightforward and readable. His conclusions are also clear and in my view inarguable. When I was an army officer, I read quite a few biographies of military figures. It was part of how you learned your trade. I would have added this book to my reading list. If you would read a book about Rommel or Robert E. Lee, then you might want to read a book about Vo Nguyen Giap. James Warren's book in a great choice.
February 8, 2014
After travelling to Vietnam in 2008 I developed an interest in understanding more about the recent history of the country. I was only young when the Vietnam War occurred and only saw it by the media coverage in the UK and then Australia. Naturally, that coverage was pro-West and Anti-communist.
I found this book a valuable insight to both the Giap the man and the political climate of the day. An excellent read, worthwhile for anyone interested in military history and politics of the era.
I found this book a valuable insight to both the Giap the man and the political climate of the day. An excellent read, worthwhile for anyone interested in military history and politics of the era.
August 31, 2014
Only gets a second star for the respectful take on a fascinating and little-known (in the "West") personality.
Unfortunately this is sketchy and full of conjecture. The writing is also really bad. I mean crazy bad. I'm talking badder than Leroy Brown, badder than Twilight, badder than Justin Bieber singing Tone Loc covers. So insanely bad that this paragraph is a model of Standard Written English in comparison.
Unfortunately this is sketchy and full of conjecture. The writing is also really bad. I mean crazy bad. I'm talking badder than Leroy Brown, badder than Twilight, badder than Justin Bieber singing Tone Loc covers. So insanely bad that this paragraph is a model of Standard Written English in comparison.
September 18, 2014
How does a suppressed backward nation beat two modern western military powers? Keep losing battles till the enemy can’t win any more.
General Giap , and the North Vietnamese people survived and endured through sheer willpower and never giving up. I can thoroughly recommend this book as an example of overcoming all obstacles.
General Giap , and the North Vietnamese people survived and endured through sheer willpower and never giving up. I can thoroughly recommend this book as an example of overcoming all obstacles.
April 2, 2015
A fantastic amount of military history doing duty in place of the sparse biographical info on Giap, this is still one that does a service to the man who kicked two major powers out of his tiny country. An intense focus on strategic and tactical details, from all sides of the conflicts.
July 31, 2017
Some good incite on the General that lead the North Vietnam Army during most of America's involvement there, and the authors theory on why we lost the war.
May 1, 2017
Good book about Vietnam from a non American point of view. General Giap is the hero in this tale. Americans are the bad guys. Mr Warren is a bit too effusive in his praise for Giap sometimes, but this is better than trying to downplay his accomplishments. There is a lot about the French war so be prepared.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews