The Vietnam War: The History of America's Conflict in Southeast Asia

by Bernard C. Nalty, William C. Westmoreland

The Vietnam War was the bloodiest and one of the most fascinating conflicts in the history of warfare. It began with America pouring massive military aid upon the South Vietnamese in an attempt to thwart a Communist takeover, and culminated in the "peace with honour" withdrawal by the Nixon administration. This authoritative account accurately details every aspect of the Vietnam War and provides an overall view of the impact which it continues to have to this day.

Genres: War, History

513 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Andy Raptis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a detailed but somehow confusing account, doesn't take things in chronological order. Those interested in the military conflict may be disappointed, the writer seems more interested in the logistical and the political aspects. The American war crimes are downplayed, the bombings are mentioned, but never their devastating consequences. Even if this isn't a great war book, it is useful if you want to learn a few things about Vietnam, its people and its history. If only he had been more judgemental of the Americans.
The best part of the book is at the beginning where the writer describes how the Vietnamese kicked the French out of their country.

[Peter Coomber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book doesn't glorify war. It doesn't give examples of spectacular tactics or ingenious strategies. The only mentions of 'heroics' relate to selfless acts which helped save lives, not helped take large numbers of lives.
The book doesn't side with either side; it just explains what happened. Read this book to find out what happened and to form an idea about how we can stop repeating the same mistakes again.


Although, war is a bad, sad thing, which ruins lives and ruins countries. Sadly, we humans still appear to like doing it...

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A critical analysis of the Vietnam War is presented that highlights the failures of the American involvement. Key figures are identified with brief resumes and a chronology of events is presented. A listing of US personnel missing in action is included at the end of this work.