A Short History of the Vietnam War

by Gordon Kerr

A concise, accessible history of one of the most important and fascinating conflicts of the 20th century On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade made an amphibious landing at Da Nang on the south central coast of South Vietnam, marking the beginning of a conflict that would haunt American politics and society for many years, even after the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1972. For the people of North Vietnam it was just another in a long line of foreign invaders. For 2,000 years they had struggled for self-determination, coming into conflict during that time with the Chinese, the Mongols, the European colonial powers, the Japanese, and the French. Now it was the turn of the United States, a far-away nation reluctant to go to war but determined to prevent Vietnam from falling into Communist hands. This history explains how the U.S. became involved in its longest war, a conflict that, from the outset, many claimed it could never win. It details the escalation of American involvement from the provision of military advisors and equipment to the threatened South Vietnamese, to an all-out shooting war involving American soldiers, airmen, and sailors, of whom around 58,000 would die and more than 300,000 would be wounded. Their struggle was against an indomitable enemy, able to absorb huge losses in terms of life and infrastructure. The politics of the war are examined and the decisions and ambitions of five presidents are addressed in the light of what many have described as a defeat for American might. The book also explores the relationship of the Vietnam War to the Cold War politics of the time.

Genres: History, War

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2015

About the author

Gordon Kerr was born in the Scottish new town of East Kilbride and worked in the wine trade and then bookselling and publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of numerous books in a variety of genres, including art, history, true crime, travel and humour. He has a wife and two children and lives in Hampshire and—when he can—South West France.

Reviews

[Phung Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult read despite its being relatively short. It took me more time to digest its content that I'd imagined at first. It was hard to get through because it became increasingly depressing towards the end. I think the author aims to give facts without much personal judgement which I think is good for those who wish to only learn about the occurrences of the war, though I'd have appreciated it more had there been more to be said on the side of the Viet Cong (I mean there are details on what was happening in the US which prompted the leaders to make certain decisions for the war, but there was no corresponding details on the other side of the battlefield).

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bombing campaign suffered from the same flaws as the rest of the war, however, its success being measured by the number of sorties flown and the number of bombs dropped. Of Course, what really should have mattered was how effective these sorties were in terms of achieving their objectives.




A Short History of the Vietnam War by Gordon Kerr gives the reads the basic history of the country and the struggles that lead the US into war. Gordon Kerr was born in the Scottish new town of East Kilbride and worked in the wine trade and then bookselling and publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of numerous books in a variety of genres, including art, history, true crime, travel, and humor.

Last month marked the 50th Anniversary of the first US troops to enter Vietnam for actual combat roles. The first to enter were 3,500 Marines of the 9th Expeditionary Brigade. Following the Marine landing in Da Nang over two and a half million would soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines would follow. Over 50,000 would never see their home again. 75,000 would come home severely disabled. The war was before my time, but I do remember older "kids" going away and blue stars in windows on my street.

Kerr's book gives the reader a condensed history of America's involvement, but also covers the countries history. The reader is given a general history of the last one thousand years of Vietnam, with special attention given to the 20th century. After reading the history, there is little wonder why Ho Chi Minh and others fought so hard in a war they felt was of liberation. Minh was present at Versailles attempting to petition Wilson on Vietnam's independence from France, but was ignored. He later quoted the Declaration of Independence in his fight. Minh seemed to be a liberator first, and a communist second -- after being subjected by the West.

The war is covered in generalities and not battle by battle. Terms in the war are explained like "search and destroy" and the conduct of the war is also covered. Kerr explains that the common references for hills by number is based on the elevation on a contour map. These numbers were used because the Vietnamese names were unpronounceable to the servicemen. Some hills received special names like Hamburger Hill which described a very pointless battle.

Problems in America are also covered. One of the most problematic for President Johnson was his other war. The War on Poverty and The Great Society were Johnson’s primary concerns. The funding of these programs, Johnson feared, were in jeopardy because of war expenditures. Johnson never wanted the war in Vietnam but seemed stuck by circumstance. We were already there and if we left it would be a sign to the Soviets of America’s weakness and inability to defend its ally (South Vietnam). Johnson balanced war commitments with the Great Society programs sacrificing war spending to preserve his social programs.

Kerr takes the reader to the very end -- April 30, 1975 with the surrender of South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh. The book is lightly documented with a bibliography and no citations through the text. Since Kerr is not introducing new or controversial material there is no real need to check source materials. A Short History of the Vietnam War is not meant for the historian or history reader. It presents what can be called the “Cliff Notes” for the war for those who might have an interest in the conflict but do not need a detailed account. A Short History of the Vietnam War lives up to its title and delivers a solid, basic history.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book begins first with the struggle that the country Vietnam has had for over 2000 years leading through the French and then to us being involved. The author shows you how politics from inside the country, and from surrounding countries has always had a hand in whatever the problem may have been. He then shows you how really Truman slowly got us there. Then it was passed on to Eisenhower, to Kennedy and the plans he was wanting to put in place and had actually started but then was assassinated, which led to Johnson and this really was the turning point for us because then he started approving more and more troops on the ground. This is when you get a look at how the war was fought not by just the young men sent over there and women, but also by the media. Every night on the news there would be reports from Vietnam not always good and then they would show some protest somewhere. The author really puts these two event into perspective. For example the author talks about the Tet offensive, it was portrayed by the press and media as a victory when in reality it was not. After the few days it turned into a massive defeat for the Vietnamese, but it was not portrayed that way and still today people believe we lost that battle when we did no such thing. Having an Uncle fighting with the Marines, a cousin flying cobras, and growing up in a military home and in a military town I saw a different war. I knew that we were winning battles the problem was we were giving back the ground after fighting for it. Example: Hamburger Hill not a small battle but the powers to be felt that they needed that hill 937, the battle started May 10 1969- May 20 1969, consisted of the 101st Airborne 3rd Brigade, and 9th Marine Regiment, and 5th Calvary. Cut to the chase American’s were having to assault the hill from the bottom to take the top the enemy were rolling down grenades for example. Not in book but from a personal from who fought with the 101st that day and lived, the 101st would send in five infantry battalions and had ten batteries firing on top of the mountain he made it to the top with two other of his buddies and was later awarded the Bronze Star, I worked with this man for twenty years and I never once knew his story until six months before he was retiring, what did we do give up the mountain after these young men fought losing men and friends beside them. The policies that were made that the author speaks about is the real reason. In WWII they never gave back a piece of ground once they had it. Anyway he continues through the secret bombing by Nixon, which was another thing I could never figure out listening to these men talk when I was a kid. If you know supplies are coming in from another country aren’t they also against you and helping your enemy, but then it is wrong to stop them from giving the people you are fighting against weapons what? See that is why we finally had to leave. The author takes you through all of that. A good book, sorry for my ramble. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Will Salter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kerr’s overview of the Vietnam war is a really good introductory piece to read to give people an overview of the Vietnam war. I think for what it is, it is brilliant and provides a very good skeleton for people to build upon. Essentially he makes a very complicated war much easier to digest whilst touching upon some of the political and wider issues surrounding the Vietnam war. Read this one first then move onto the wider literature. A military analysis done by Jeffrey Record titled “the wrong war” is an interesting start.

[Sinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly the brevity I was looking for. I’m heading off to Vietnam in a couple of days and wanted a quick overview of the war. I’m more interested in other histories of Vietnam, but they are extremely hard to find in English and in brief. Unfortunately this (and nearly every other account in English) of the Vietnam War was extremely American-centric. It’ll be interesting to explore other stories and perspectives when I’m over there.

[Aparna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn about the Vietnam war but don't know where to start, this is it. This is a comprehensive, extremely well written summary of the Vietnam war. This starts with a brief overview of the history of Vietnam, and French colonialism, but mainly focuses on the war, and American involvement. A depressing read, but it's so necessary to learn about what happened, and never forget these atrocities.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and easy read covering the key points of the American involvement in Vietnam. Very, very short on the Vietnamese side of things especially the North. But if you need a recap of the major events, I would recommend.

[Kat Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good start to finish brief history seemingly without bias or opinion, just explaining the series of events. Good for people who don’t know much about the Vietnam war - it’s eye opening, with statistics and interesting stories from specific events

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally chose this book because I like to read about war. The book is taking place in Vietnam and the USA. The conflict of the story is 2 different side of alliances fights in Vietnam for different reasons. I loved this book and I would highly recommend it

[Martin Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good basic survey

[Cassandra Lohrstorfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My very good overview. I'm not into long war histories, and this provides an excellent base knowledge especially if you're just beginning to learn about the conflict.

[Richard Drinkwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

March 1965 (US troops land in Da Nang) to January 1973 (Paris Peace Accords).

[Ron Musgrove · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise, highly readable overview which could have benefitted from the inclusion of a couple of maps and an acknowledgement of John Rambo's towering achievements in the battlefield.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the Vietnam War!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because my dad served in Vietnam and I thought it would be good for me to learn more about it. This was an incredibly depressing read. I knew I wasn't going to get any happy, feel-good vibes from learning about this moment in history, but I did not expect to feel (not just sad) so depressed. That aside, I did almost give up after reading about a third of this book just because it was so dense I was having a hard time absorbing all the information. This is a book I would have to read quite a few times to get a good handle on all the information that is relayed. I imagine not everyone would have this problem, it's just how I process. I feel like I've not said anything good about this book but that's not my intent. This was very well written and obviously thoroughly researched. I would trust Mr. Kerr to give me an excellent short history on anything he chooses to write about.

This honest review is in exchange for a free e-galley from Netgalley.com.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

During a recent visit to the town of bookshops that is Hay-on-Wye I decided I wanted a book about the Vietnam war.

But nothing too heavy, more of a potted history, if you like.

This book offers exactly that, I suppose you could say it does exactly what it says on the tin.

The book covers a history of Vietnam as a whole, including previous wars and conflicts before moving onto the main agenda.

If I had one criticism about the book I'd say it was a little over-political, as you might expect but I was hoping for more in depth detail about the battles. It does go into a little detail of Hill 937 though which was known by the Americans as "Hamburger Hill", and was the subject of a film of the same name in the 80's.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction for anyone who wants to know about this rather complicated and protracted war and why it was so intractable for the Americans, the French, the Japanese before them and the Chinese before them. Goes into good analysis of the major battles as well as looking at the US domestic view and how it changed over time. Easy to read and a great way for students of this topic to get quickly acquainted with the main points and debates around this conflict.

[Gsc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. The author brings you through the facts of the war at a galloping pace but does not skip the political bungles and inconsistencies, nor the individual bravery.