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Saigon Has Fallen
“Peter Arnett is the best reporter of the Vietnam War.” —David Halberstam, Journalist and Historian
In this intimate and exclusive remembrance on the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett tells the story of his role covering the controversial Vietnam War for The Associated Press from 1962 to its end on April 30, 1975. Arnett’s clear-eyed coverage incurred the wrath of President Lyndon Johnson and officials on all sides of the conflict. Writing candidly and vividly about his gambles and glories, Arnett also shares his fears and fights in reporting against the backdrop of war.
Arnett places readers at the historic pivot-points of Vietnam: covering Marine landings, mountaintop battles, Saigon’s decline and fall, and the safe evacuation of a planeload of 57 infants in the midst of chaos. Peter Arnett’s sweeping view and his frank, descriptive, and dramatic writing brings the Vietnam War to life in a uniquely insightful way for this year’s 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
Arnett won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his Vietnam coverage. He later went on to TV-reporting fame covering the Gulf War for CNN.
Includes 21 dramatic photographs from the AP Archive and the personal collection of Peter Arnett.
About the Author
Peter Arnett started as an intern at his local newspaper at age 18, but knew even then his interest was in covering the world. Less than a decade later, he was traveling the globe for The Associated Press, the first of several major American news organizations he would work for. His Vietnam War coverage for the AP won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1966. Arnett joined CNN at its birth in the early 1980s, earning a television Emmy for his live television coverage of the first Gulf War from Baghdad in 1991. Born in New Zealand in 1934, he later became an American citizen and now lives in Fountain Valley, CA.
About The Associated Press
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.
In this intimate and exclusive remembrance on the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett tells the story of his role covering the controversial Vietnam War for The Associated Press from 1962 to its end on April 30, 1975. Arnett’s clear-eyed coverage incurred the wrath of President Lyndon Johnson and officials on all sides of the conflict. Writing candidly and vividly about his gambles and glories, Arnett also shares his fears and fights in reporting against the backdrop of war.
Arnett places readers at the historic pivot-points of Vietnam: covering Marine landings, mountaintop battles, Saigon’s decline and fall, and the safe evacuation of a planeload of 57 infants in the midst of chaos. Peter Arnett’s sweeping view and his frank, descriptive, and dramatic writing brings the Vietnam War to life in a uniquely insightful way for this year’s 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
Arnett won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his Vietnam coverage. He later went on to TV-reporting fame covering the Gulf War for CNN.
Includes 21 dramatic photographs from the AP Archive and the personal collection of Peter Arnett.
About the Author
Peter Arnett started as an intern at his local newspaper at age 18, but knew even then his interest was in covering the world. Less than a decade later, he was traveling the globe for The Associated Press, the first of several major American news organizations he would work for. His Vietnam War coverage for the AP won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1966. Arnett joined CNN at its birth in the early 1980s, earning a television Emmy for his live television coverage of the first Gulf War from Baghdad in 1991. Born in New Zealand in 1934, he later became an American citizen and now lives in Fountain Valley, CA.
About The Associated Press
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2015
52 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
Peter Arnett
14 books10 followersPeter Gregg Arnett, ONZM (1934–2025) was a New Zealand-American journalist. Arnett worked for National Geographic magazine, and later for various television networks, most notably CNN. He was well known for his coverage of war, including the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. He was awarded the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for his work in Vietnam, where he was present from 1962 to 1975, most of the time reporting for the Associated Press news agency. In 1994, Arnett wrote Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones. In March 1997, Arnett was able to interview Osama bin Laden. The Journalism School at the Southern Institute of Technology is named after him.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 14, 2023
A detailed and fascinating account of the fall of Saigon. I read this while in Vietnam (DaNang, not Saigon) and it was truly evocative and provided real perspective on the end of the Vietnam War which added a great deal to my understanding. I started with the audio and I was surprised to find Arnett is a terrible narrator so I changed to print.
February 9, 2019
Peter Arnett is an award-winning journalist with extensive reporting experience during the Vietnam War. Consequently, his Saigon Has Fallen: A Wartime Recollection is well worth reading. It is a short book, yet is testimony to the failures of several U.S. presidents to understand that the war effort was ultimately condemned to failure. At times, Arnett describes the American equivalent of Potemkin villages designed to make ignorant politicians satisfied.
December 29, 2017
Peter Arnett is a leading international journalist who covered the United States-led war in Vietnam. Through his dispatches from Vietnam (via the Associated Press) the world came to know of the atrocities, mismanagement and lies regarding this war. We also discover the attempted censorship of much of what was written about Vietnam and the troubles Arnett often found himself for simply telling the truth. Well worth a read.
August 9, 2015
After visiting Vietnam and hearing about the "American War" from the Vietnamese perspective, my interest was piqued in learning more about this war that I had lived through but never really understood. We saw it on the news at dinnertime every night; I had a brother who served; the Fall of Saigon was broadcast essentially real-time into our homes, and yet I had never really comprehended what was happening over there. Peter Arnett's first hand view sheds much light on the politics and military strategy of the time. As Arnett quotes from one of his colleagues "our concern is not what effect a given piece of news will have on the public. Our concern is to get the news before the public, in the belief that a free public must be an informed public. The only cause for which a correspondent must fight is to tell the truth and the whole truth." Arnett's pursuit of the truth landed him in hot water, as the press learns to dodge political interference in what they can report and when.
This is a rare insider's view of battles and politics and fear and death. He covered the war from 1962 through the fall in Saigon, and offers a unique perspective that you won't find among those who served in the military or in politics during that time, because few would have served for such an extended period of time. Nevertheless, I felt that the text was somewhat disjointed and self-serving, concentrating of some of the author's exploits rather than on the bigger picture.
This is a rare insider's view of battles and politics and fear and death. He covered the war from 1962 through the fall in Saigon, and offers a unique perspective that you won't find among those who served in the military or in politics during that time, because few would have served for such an extended period of time. Nevertheless, I felt that the text was somewhat disjointed and self-serving, concentrating of some of the author's exploits rather than on the bigger picture.
January 12, 2016
There are two ways to know about the Vietnam War - one is through good ol' Wikipedia to get a quick bite-sized fix of trivia. The second is through the account of a feet on the ground, eyes on the prize kind of journalist. If you are tired with the first and want to sample the second - pick this book. I occasionally Googled the images associated with the events described by Peter Arnett. That was the extent of my distraction from the narrative, which manages to be gripping in spite of the fact that the reader knows what will transpire from the cover itself - Saigon did fall.
June 13, 2015
Short and very to the point. Arnett was the typical war correspondent. He made his way to where the action was, one way of the other. Way more guts than almost all of us. Good read. He sure as hell was there. For all of it.
November 27, 2023
Solid, and contains a lot of accessible context. I would say it's more 3.5 stars, but rounded up because the writing was engaging and it was short and sweet.
I've read a fair bit about the Vietnam war by now, so I did already know most of the context contained in this book. It was therefore not as personal as I would have preferred: there were some decent character sketches and anecdotes, but overall the book was very much a "this is what happened through this person’s understanding and experience" thing – a good way to get a lot of complicated context across simply and in an engaging way, which is always impressive with such complicated situations, but not overly gripping if, like me, you were aware of it all already. There was also depressingly little about the day-to-day on the ground experience of reporting in Vietnam, which is generally what I pick up journalists' memoirs to read about, but what was there was good.
I'd definitely recommend this for people looking for an accessible overview of what was going on at the time – context is balanced with character and a sense of time and place, and the writing is clear and entertaining. But if you know the general overview already you might not get as much from it. Still, it's a good little testimony to an absolutely insane period of history.
I've read a fair bit about the Vietnam war by now, so I did already know most of the context contained in this book. It was therefore not as personal as I would have preferred: there were some decent character sketches and anecdotes, but overall the book was very much a "this is what happened through this person’s understanding and experience" thing – a good way to get a lot of complicated context across simply and in an engaging way, which is always impressive with such complicated situations, but not overly gripping if, like me, you were aware of it all already. There was also depressingly little about the day-to-day on the ground experience of reporting in Vietnam, which is generally what I pick up journalists' memoirs to read about, but what was there was good.
I'd definitely recommend this for people looking for an accessible overview of what was going on at the time – context is balanced with character and a sense of time and place, and the writing is clear and entertaining. But if you know the general overview already you might not get as much from it. Still, it's a good little testimony to an absolutely insane period of history.
July 5, 2022
This book takes an interesting look at what happened as the NVA forces moved into South Vietnam in 1975 and both the Vietnamese and the US soldiers were done fighting and left in a hurry. Some of the highlights in this book will become eerily similar in years that follow as we have seen, unfortunately. Worth the time investment to read.
February 3, 2020
Saigon Has Fallen
This is a gripping, journalistic view of the Vietnam War as seen by Peter Annette. He gives a reporters view of the military and political hurdles faced by newsmen. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War or journalism.
This is a gripping, journalistic view of the Vietnam War as seen by Peter Annette. He gives a reporters view of the military and political hurdles faced by newsmen. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War or journalism.
January 20, 2026
An interesting, albeit too brief 1st hand account of the Vietnam war and the author's 13 year's work there (in 224 pages). Arnett is a Pulitzer awarded journalist, this felt rushed. A missed opportunity to provide deeper insights
December 4, 2019
Well written. Very interesting, unique insight from a reporters perspective. I did hope for some more personal perspectives, besides Arnett, from those who lived the final hours.
May 29, 2016
SAIGON HAS FALLEN is Peter Arnett’s memoir upon the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the communist victory in Vietnam. This is an important little work not so much for what it tells us about the American military & diplomatic activities or even the events on the ground during his ten plus years covering the conflict. It is important and revealing about the seismic shift that occurred in American journalism during the 1960s.
The role of journalists in a free society was changed fundamentally by the Vietnam War and that change remains with us today, and is even responsible for the American military’s resolved to never again allow such unfettered access by reporters to front line action. Nevertheless, as per the journalistic lesson learned in Vietnam, reporters no longer acquiesce to such attempts by the military to exert that control. Abu Ghraib makes headlines as it would never have done at any time in the first half of the 20th century. For that the Associated Press and reporters like Arnett deserve a large slice of the credit.
The role of journalists in a free society was changed fundamentally by the Vietnam War and that change remains with us today, and is even responsible for the American military’s resolved to never again allow such unfettered access by reporters to front line action. Nevertheless, as per the journalistic lesson learned in Vietnam, reporters no longer acquiesce to such attempts by the military to exert that control. Abu Ghraib makes headlines as it would never have done at any time in the first half of the 20th century. For that the Associated Press and reporters like Arnett deserve a large slice of the credit.
July 2, 2015
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I remember watching and reading Peter Arnett's reports from Vietnam when I was a kid. I always wondered what this guy was doing in a war zone with only a notepad and khakis. He seemed to be where the action was. The book was enlightening and I liked his descriptions of his meetings and conversations with all the varied personalities, from regular soldiers to generals and politicians.
May 22, 2015
Vietnam Through The Eyes Of A Reporter
Peter Arnett was one of several journalists who brought news from Vietnam home to us. This kind of coverage doesn't happen anymore although it should. Without these courageous people, we would have been left with the official version. And the country would have been poorer for it.
Peter Arnett was one of several journalists who brought news from Vietnam home to us. This kind of coverage doesn't happen anymore although it should. Without these courageous people, we would have been left with the official version. And the country would have been poorer for it.
March 1, 2016
I joined during the Vietnam War, but I was in a Submarine, so I was somewhat ignorant of the events that led up to the war and the final end. This book was a great reference to not only the events on the faithful day of the fall of Saigon, but from the beginning as well. Good read for anybody interested in learning more about the Vietnam War.
July 4, 2015
An interesting story about the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 by an AP reporter and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist (Peter Arnett) who spent a great deal of his time and energy covering this extremely controversial period in American history. The struggles for him and other reporters to get to the heart of the story and report as thoroughly and honestly as possible.
August 28, 2015
Well-written account of the final hours and days of the Vietnam War by one of the foremost journalists who reported from there. I also enjoyed Arnett's account of the conditions the Vietnamese refugees lived in after the war as well as his reports of his return trips to Hanoi and Saigon. Well worth reading!
April 7, 2016
Going back and forth, missing very many details and instead focusing on his own presence, Arnett misses a great chance to give a first-eye witness account of those days. It's an interesting book, but somewhat unevenly written (aforementioned back-and-forths don't help much) and much of what is recounted isn't worth a dedicated book.
May 18, 2015
A quick trip down the memory lane
Peter Arnett writes about his own time. Too bad he does not anchor his time with policy issues of the time. It is still a good read if you can place yourself in his shoe and feel the immensity of events that shaped history for so many people.
Peter Arnett writes about his own time. Too bad he does not anchor his time with policy issues of the time. It is still a good read if you can place yourself in his shoe and feel the immensity of events that shaped history for so many people.
June 24, 2015
Sad Day in History
I commend Mr. Arnett on a very well written part of history. I was there in 71/72 and can relate to many of what he has written about. I highly recommend this book even to non-Vietnam Veterans, but I believe any Vet who served in Vietnam this is a must read.
I commend Mr. Arnett on a very well written part of history. I was there in 71/72 and can relate to many of what he has written about. I highly recommend this book even to non-Vietnam Veterans, but I believe any Vet who served in Vietnam this is a must read.
July 6, 2015
The truth
Excellent read The true story off the relationship between the press and politicians . The politicians would not admit that the war was a quagmire even though the press was reporting the true story of what was happening in the field
Excellent read The true story off the relationship between the press and politicians . The politicians would not admit that the war was a quagmire even though the press was reporting the true story of what was happening in the field
November 22, 2015
A great way to learn about the Vietnam war from a very unique angle - that of a reporter. I really appreciated the "inside story" that was only able to shared by those on the ground who weren't tied to the military.
September 10, 2015
Saigon Has Fallen
The story was ok, I enjoy reading about the fighting done by the soldiers, their hardships and what kept them going.
The story was ok, I enjoy reading about the fighting done by the soldiers, their hardships and what kept them going.
December 31, 2015
Hồi ức của một nhà báo người Mỹ chống chiến tranh Việt Nam, cũng thường thôi, không có nhiều điều mới.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews