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The Fog of War: Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Robert S. McNamara is one of modern America's most controversial figures. His opinions, policies, and actions have led to a firestorm of debate, ignited most recently by Errol Morris's Academy Award-winning film, The Fog of War .
In the companion book, editors James G. Blight and janet M. Lang use lessons from McNamara's life to examine issues of war and peace in the 20th century. McNamara's career spans some of America's defining events―from the end of World War I, through the course of World War II, and the unfolding of the Cold War in Cuba, Vietnam, and around the world. The Fog of War brings together film transcripts, documents, dialogues, and essays to explore what the horrors and triumphs of the 20th century can teach us about the future.
In the companion book, editors James G. Blight and janet M. Lang use lessons from McNamara's life to examine issues of war and peace in the 20th century. McNamara's career spans some of America's defining events―from the end of World War I, through the course of World War II, and the unfolding of the Cold War in Cuba, Vietnam, and around the world. The Fog of War brings together film transcripts, documents, dialogues, and essays to explore what the horrors and triumphs of the 20th century can teach us about the future.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 1, 2008
"Fog of War: The fog of war is a term used to describe the level of ambiguity in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations.
The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability and adversary intent during an engagement, operation or campaign."
While the layout of the book could have been better, it still works to show the internal conflicts that plagued him throughout his long career. Brings to full realization. In a real and metaphorical sense it shows the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and other tragedies caused by egocentric misperception; as in the ancient Greek plays tragedy is triggered and unfolds due to hubris (too much pride) and hamartia (missing the mark)... not getting it right and then staying on the wrong course - as if harnessed by fate. The book deftly relates the immensity of the failure to truly think, communicate and attempt to resolve constructively. It is terribly horrifying but extremely important to probe.
I learned a lot from this book and it radically changed my opinion of a man I previously could not understand. The contrast between the aged Mr. McNamara, balding and looking a bit haggard, with the slicked-back, buttoned-down efficiency expert of the Ford and DOD days was vivid. One finds it hard to tell if he has any regrets, however, for helping to usher the USA into its most divisive war ever, the first one which we "lost." Mr. McNamara does admit making mistakes, "just as any military leader has done - which cost lives," but he pulls up short of saying "I'm sorry." Actually, when he left his Defense Department job, he tells us that "only" 25,000 soldiers lives had been lost in Vietnam - fewer than half the final accounting. He leaves us to assume that his successors, under Johnson and, particularly, Nixon, managed to escalate the war even more. And he is right. He does say that he warned President Johnson about sending so many troops to Southeast Asia - and this view has been subsequently confirmed in the book, "Nixon and Kissinger," among other places. So, although it's hard to take a neutral position vis-a-vis Mr. McNamara, and even though he comes across often as a calculating numbers man - nevertheless we see flashes of his humanity - when he speaks of his late wife and other personal anecdotes.
Great historical value as well as great for war strategy lessons. McNamarra was great at explaining the challenges he and his peers faced during the difficult times the US had on the world wars and on the Cold War. Well worthwhile reading for anyone interested in 20th Century history, and the personalities who wrote it. I am still not fond of him. But I reached a level of understanding I had not had before reading this book. It's a history lesson that I feel everyone should read and learn from. History does tend to repeat itself.
The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability and adversary intent during an engagement, operation or campaign."
While the layout of the book could have been better, it still works to show the internal conflicts that plagued him throughout his long career. Brings to full realization. In a real and metaphorical sense it shows the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and other tragedies caused by egocentric misperception; as in the ancient Greek plays tragedy is triggered and unfolds due to hubris (too much pride) and hamartia (missing the mark)... not getting it right and then staying on the wrong course - as if harnessed by fate. The book deftly relates the immensity of the failure to truly think, communicate and attempt to resolve constructively. It is terribly horrifying but extremely important to probe.
I learned a lot from this book and it radically changed my opinion of a man I previously could not understand. The contrast between the aged Mr. McNamara, balding and looking a bit haggard, with the slicked-back, buttoned-down efficiency expert of the Ford and DOD days was vivid. One finds it hard to tell if he has any regrets, however, for helping to usher the USA into its most divisive war ever, the first one which we "lost." Mr. McNamara does admit making mistakes, "just as any military leader has done - which cost lives," but he pulls up short of saying "I'm sorry." Actually, when he left his Defense Department job, he tells us that "only" 25,000 soldiers lives had been lost in Vietnam - fewer than half the final accounting. He leaves us to assume that his successors, under Johnson and, particularly, Nixon, managed to escalate the war even more. And he is right. He does say that he warned President Johnson about sending so many troops to Southeast Asia - and this view has been subsequently confirmed in the book, "Nixon and Kissinger," among other places. So, although it's hard to take a neutral position vis-a-vis Mr. McNamara, and even though he comes across often as a calculating numbers man - nevertheless we see flashes of his humanity - when he speaks of his late wife and other personal anecdotes.
Great historical value as well as great for war strategy lessons. McNamarra was great at explaining the challenges he and his peers faced during the difficult times the US had on the world wars and on the Cold War. Well worthwhile reading for anyone interested in 20th Century history, and the personalities who wrote it. I am still not fond of him. But I reached a level of understanding I had not had before reading this book. It's a history lesson that I feel everyone should read and learn from. History does tend to repeat itself.
October 26, 2020
This book should be read after watching the movie - and neither should be consumed without the other. Not in order to understand the character of McNamara, although more insight is gained through the analysis of both, but to understand the gravity of his message and the cost of modern-day war.
I do recognize that I may have found the writing more intriguing than others, as I'm familiar with Jim and janet's writing/speaking style, but I found it clear, while still thoroughly academic.
I do want to express my frustration, though, with the fact that we seem only to be able to accept messages surrounding the extreme costs of war when taught by those who have controlled and undertaken extreme violence, and, in this case, been part of mechanisms that have dangled our societies over the cliff of destruction (more than once). This is not to vilify McNamara - he played a significant role in all of this, but vilifying the system is more important than the individual, particularly one who has gone through a significant reckoning of his actions and experiences and actively preaches for peace. But I find it perpetually frustrating that it is often peace advocates who have caused wars who are taken more seriously than those who have not.
This isn't really a review, it's just some thoughts. I miss class with Jim and janet, I learned so much that term.
I do recognize that I may have found the writing more intriguing than others, as I'm familiar with Jim and janet's writing/speaking style, but I found it clear, while still thoroughly academic.
I do want to express my frustration, though, with the fact that we seem only to be able to accept messages surrounding the extreme costs of war when taught by those who have controlled and undertaken extreme violence, and, in this case, been part of mechanisms that have dangled our societies over the cliff of destruction (more than once). This is not to vilify McNamara - he played a significant role in all of this, but vilifying the system is more important than the individual, particularly one who has gone through a significant reckoning of his actions and experiences and actively preaches for peace. But I find it perpetually frustrating that it is often peace advocates who have caused wars who are taken more seriously than those who have not.
This isn't really a review, it's just some thoughts. I miss class with Jim and janet, I learned so much that term.
October 28, 2016
The book is centered around 5 lessons to be drawn from the historical event Robert McNamara was involved as a protagonist (WW2 fire bombing of Japan, the cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam war).
I think it would be hard to find someone better placed to reexamine those events, and the narrative looks quite impartial and critical.
It was striking to me how easily we could apply those lessons to more recent events.
I think it would be hard to find someone better placed to reexamine those events, and the narrative looks quite impartial and critical.
It was striking to me how easily we could apply those lessons to more recent events.
January 21, 2026
This book is a really good read, combined with watching the complimentary documentary(which I would recommend watching before reading the book) you get a very good insight into what happens behind the door of leaders decisions and what they were thinking while making those decisions. I didn’t know anything about McNamara before reading and watching the documentary and I’m glad I did. The documentary goes you an insight into McNamaras life and decisions he had to make during WW2 and the Vietnam war. The author of the book provides a more in depth analysis of the documentary and more behind-the-scene cues that they didn’t include in the documentary. It is a lot of reading because most of the times it is transcripts of interviews with McNamara and interview with his interviewer Morris(the documentary producer). The author draws lessons from McNamara and each chapter is each a lesson in their own. What I particularly liked was the epilogue where the author discuss how we can apply this lessons to prevent WW3. The author argues about his lesson of empathising with your enemy, empathy not sympathy, but understanding why your enemy does what they do. During the Vietnam war America had no understanding of the Vietnamese pov and had no empathy, they saw aggression and responded with war, war with no meaning. The vietnamese saw it as a civil war. The book also asks ethical questions like is it worth killing 100,000 people to stop a war? This book is truly a great read, thank you Professor Walsh for putting this in our curriculum.
June 24, 2018
This slog of a book is probably only worth it for fans of the movie who think they may have seen it too many times already - and they should probably just go find podcasts of Errol Morris interviews instead of spending time here if they really want more. If you haven’t seen the movie, just go do that instead.
Up until the super-annoying epilogue, the book suffers from redundancy and an uninspired, academic monotone. I imagine the authors as grad students writing a thesis, and they have this weird strict adherence to a not-fun-to-read essay structure where they introduce a topic, tell you what evidence they have to support it, then give you excerpts of several source documents that tell you multiple times in detail what they just summarized in their intro, then like good students with topic sentences and concluding paragraphs they write a chapter summary where they freaking tell you again what they told you already. Groan. You can’t go more than a few pages without being reminded that you’re in this overdesigned essay — and with each reminder I would check to see what page I was on and wonder if this would be worth it. It wasn’t. Mistakes were made. We should never have gone into Vietnam and I should never have read this book.
Up until the super-annoying epilogue, the book suffers from redundancy and an uninspired, academic monotone. I imagine the authors as grad students writing a thesis, and they have this weird strict adherence to a not-fun-to-read essay structure where they introduce a topic, tell you what evidence they have to support it, then give you excerpts of several source documents that tell you multiple times in detail what they just summarized in their intro, then like good students with topic sentences and concluding paragraphs they write a chapter summary where they freaking tell you again what they told you already. Groan. You can’t go more than a few pages without being reminded that you’re in this overdesigned essay — and with each reminder I would check to see what page I was on and wonder if this would be worth it. It wasn’t. Mistakes were made. We should never have gone into Vietnam and I should never have read this book.
January 25, 2018
I read this book while in Iraq and let me tell you, it hit home.
McNamara is the very embodiment of bland evil - a civil servant utterly indifferent the suffering of others. If there is a hell, a stool is reserved for him here.
McNamara is the very embodiment of bland evil - a civil servant utterly indifferent the suffering of others. If there is a hell, a stool is reserved for him here.
October 28, 2023
One of my favorite documentaries covers the ten life lessons of Robert McNamara. Incredible
September 11, 2025
for university extra reading lowk interesting tho i learnt more about the vietnam war wow what a mess that was
July 1, 2008
A fascenating look at the politics behind the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the way the American defense department really works. During the interviews for this book, Robert McNamara, former secretary of defense, bared all, candidly describing the mistakes and triumphs of the administrations he served, as well as all of the times the USA narrowly avoided war or invasion. For an accurate picture of the politics behind the American military, I have never seen this book's equal.
December 5, 2010
Book that's based on a documentary. Really insightful as McNamara is involved in 'war review sessions' 25 years after the fact with Vietnamese, Russian, and Cuban leaders who were involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam war to better understand what the other sides were thinking.
McNamara's an interesting old dude and the book leaves it up to the reader to draw poignant parallels between past American wars and our current military involvement in the Middle East.
McNamara's an interesting old dude and the book leaves it up to the reader to draw poignant parallels between past American wars and our current military involvement in the Middle East.
November 1, 2008
Scary shit right here.
July 7, 2009
Merged review:
April 23, 2008
A great look at the thought processes of a guy who single-handedly set U.S. policy for a decade.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews