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Voices from Vietnam
Explains the unique events and practices that shaped the Vietnam War, bringing together the stories of people who experienced it firsthand, as told in their own voices. Reprint.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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75 people want to read
About the author
Barry Denenberg
47 books82 followersBarry Denenberg is the critically acclaimed author of non-fiction and historical fiction. His historical fiction includes titles in the Dear America, My Name is America, and Royal Diaries series, many of which have been named NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. His nonfiction books have covered a wide array of topics, from Anne Frank to Elvis Presley. After the publication of An American Hero: The True Story of Charles Lindburgh, Denenberg was interviewed for various documentaries including ABC’s “The Century.”
Denenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Long Island, Binghamton, New York, and Palisades Park, New Jersey. “I was a serious reader from an early age and when I attended Boston University in 1968, majoring in history, I worked in a bookstore at night,” he says. “After college I was a book buyer for some fine, independent bookstores, some of the nation’s largest retail book chains and a marketing executive in publishing.
“At the age of forty I came to the startling realization that the glamorous world of power lunches, power politics, and power trips was not for me. I immediately went to work on the Great American Novel (since destroyed) and was rescued when my future wife, Jean Feiwel (then and now publisher of Scholastic Inc.) made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Scholastic had received a biography of John F. Kennedy that they deemed unacceptable: would I like to try and write one?
“The rest is history in more ways than one. I went on to write biographies of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, J. Edgar Hoover, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley and Voices From Vietnam, an oral history of the war.
“Writing some of the first books in the Dear America series was a turning point in my career. Its popularity and the resulting readers’ letters made a great impression on me. This in turn inspired my writing and fueled my research. With my bookstore background and the help of numerous knowledgeable booksellers I am able to assemble an extensive bibliography on each topic I write.
“I think there’s an art to both writing and research. I’m a good writer but a better researcher.”
Something that has added greatly to Denenberg’s perspective on writing for young readers is his volunteer work as Director of Creative Writing and Library Services at the Waterside School in Stamford, Connecticut. Waterside, established in 2001, is an independent school dedicated to educating gifted children of the communities’ low-income families.
Aside from writing and teaching Denenberg’s interests include listening to music, reading (books not related to his research), swimming, practicing yoga and spending time with his family.
Barry Denenberg lives in Bedford, New York with his wife and daughter.
Denenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Long Island, Binghamton, New York, and Palisades Park, New Jersey. “I was a serious reader from an early age and when I attended Boston University in 1968, majoring in history, I worked in a bookstore at night,” he says. “After college I was a book buyer for some fine, independent bookstores, some of the nation’s largest retail book chains and a marketing executive in publishing.
“At the age of forty I came to the startling realization that the glamorous world of power lunches, power politics, and power trips was not for me. I immediately went to work on the Great American Novel (since destroyed) and was rescued when my future wife, Jean Feiwel (then and now publisher of Scholastic Inc.) made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Scholastic had received a biography of John F. Kennedy that they deemed unacceptable: would I like to try and write one?
“The rest is history in more ways than one. I went on to write biographies of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, J. Edgar Hoover, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley and Voices From Vietnam, an oral history of the war.
“Writing some of the first books in the Dear America series was a turning point in my career. Its popularity and the resulting readers’ letters made a great impression on me. This in turn inspired my writing and fueled my research. With my bookstore background and the help of numerous knowledgeable booksellers I am able to assemble an extensive bibliography on each topic I write.
“I think there’s an art to both writing and research. I’m a good writer but a better researcher.”
Something that has added greatly to Denenberg’s perspective on writing for young readers is his volunteer work as Director of Creative Writing and Library Services at the Waterside School in Stamford, Connecticut. Waterside, established in 2001, is an independent school dedicated to educating gifted children of the communities’ low-income families.
Aside from writing and teaching Denenberg’s interests include listening to music, reading (books not related to his research), swimming, practicing yoga and spending time with his family.
Barry Denenberg lives in Bedford, New York with his wife and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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April 20, 2022This was an amazing book to read. You really get to understand what the veterans and the soldiers of the war of Vietnam really went through. I originally read this book because I wanted to know what life was like for my grandpa and I got a pretty good understanding but I will never know what it was really like to see all that stuff that they did and that they explained.
March 19, 2015
Since I can't format on my phone, I'll just review the book.
The book Voices from Vietnam recounts the Vietnam war through letters, dialogue, speeches and quotes. It is not the run of the mill history textbook nor is it a gory adaptation of the war. Brian Denenberg wisely chooses the quotes and adequately gives contexts.
As I read the book, I was immersed in the thoughts of the people involved in the war. You are taught in school about the causes and effects - this book goes further. The book showed the growth of American public outcry. And it didn't just focus on the navy men or army men. Denenberg brings in those who we do not think about as being involved -- the medics, nurses etc.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, all though it is depressing to read about the torture American men faced in combat. I recommend this to anyone with any interest in history
The book Voices from Vietnam recounts the Vietnam war through letters, dialogue, speeches and quotes. It is not the run of the mill history textbook nor is it a gory adaptation of the war. Brian Denenberg wisely chooses the quotes and adequately gives contexts.
As I read the book, I was immersed in the thoughts of the people involved in the war. You are taught in school about the causes and effects - this book goes further. The book showed the growth of American public outcry. And it didn't just focus on the navy men or army men. Denenberg brings in those who we do not think about as being involved -- the medics, nurses etc.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, all though it is depressing to read about the torture American men faced in combat. I recommend this to anyone with any interest in history
November 3, 2018
This is an excellent book for the post-Vietnam conflict era reader to gain insight into a very complex 30-year war that dragged the French and then the Americans into a conflict that underscores how colonial and neo-colonial efforts to maintain the status quo in the face of a grassroots independence movements failed miserably.
The synopsis of the war is punctuated by sections of letters written at each period during the conflict by our nation’s leaders as they attempted to persuade the American people that things were going our way, that we needed more troops, that if we only pushed a bit here or there, we would force the indigenous peoples to bend to our will. In the process, the reader gains an understanding of how self-delusion on the part of national leaders leads them to twist and falsify claims of victory, when then privately are haunted by a deeper knowledge that a quagmire has been entered, from which there can only be a retreat. The strategies enlisted by our government of initially supporting what appeared to be local elements in a civil war, descend over time into limited warfare, fortified enclaves, carpet bombing, mass defoliation, and the indiscriminate use of shelling, bombs and troops to take and retake the same territory time and again, while never setting a firm final objective cry of “Take Hanoi!” the way previous wars had centered on concrete goals such as “On to Paris!” or “Take Berlin!”
Most interesting are the letters from the soldiers, news personnel, nurses, doctors, and embassy personnel on the ground in Vietnam who lived with the day to day uncertainties and consequences of the war. The hopes of the short-timer are contrasted with the fatigue, depression, and disillusionment of the personnel on the ground. The letters home are never able to communicate the full depth of the feelings being shared by the nurses, the wounded, the new recruits and the observers on the ground, all of whom interpret their sections of the conflict in different ways.
Additionally, the book underscores how Americans misunderstood the goals, and desires of both the leaders and the peasants of Vietnam. On one hand the desire of an elite to maintain control of a country in which they were a minority, by military means, in contrast with the hand to mouth agricultural lives of the peasants who needed to switch loyalties, on pain of death, almost on a daily basis, depending on which military group was occupying their village.
Read the book with the knowledge that this is not the only interpretation of the Vietnam conflict and is certainly only a primer on the politics of the time. The author puts in snippets of the protests within the U.S. as well as comments on the effects of the draft and our concurrent civil rights movement within America as a backdrop to this war. It should be taken in as an eye opener for young readers about the terrible aftermath of any war which goes on to affect a nation for multiple generations after the papers are signed ending what might have been a situation better left alone.
Suitable for readers from 8th grade up through adult for discussions and meditation on wars, their purposes, and the baggage leaders take to the table when they become involved in any war.
The synopsis of the war is punctuated by sections of letters written at each period during the conflict by our nation’s leaders as they attempted to persuade the American people that things were going our way, that we needed more troops, that if we only pushed a bit here or there, we would force the indigenous peoples to bend to our will. In the process, the reader gains an understanding of how self-delusion on the part of national leaders leads them to twist and falsify claims of victory, when then privately are haunted by a deeper knowledge that a quagmire has been entered, from which there can only be a retreat. The strategies enlisted by our government of initially supporting what appeared to be local elements in a civil war, descend over time into limited warfare, fortified enclaves, carpet bombing, mass defoliation, and the indiscriminate use of shelling, bombs and troops to take and retake the same territory time and again, while never setting a firm final objective cry of “Take Hanoi!” the way previous wars had centered on concrete goals such as “On to Paris!” or “Take Berlin!”
Most interesting are the letters from the soldiers, news personnel, nurses, doctors, and embassy personnel on the ground in Vietnam who lived with the day to day uncertainties and consequences of the war. The hopes of the short-timer are contrasted with the fatigue, depression, and disillusionment of the personnel on the ground. The letters home are never able to communicate the full depth of the feelings being shared by the nurses, the wounded, the new recruits and the observers on the ground, all of whom interpret their sections of the conflict in different ways.
Additionally, the book underscores how Americans misunderstood the goals, and desires of both the leaders and the peasants of Vietnam. On one hand the desire of an elite to maintain control of a country in which they were a minority, by military means, in contrast with the hand to mouth agricultural lives of the peasants who needed to switch loyalties, on pain of death, almost on a daily basis, depending on which military group was occupying their village.
Read the book with the knowledge that this is not the only interpretation of the Vietnam conflict and is certainly only a primer on the politics of the time. The author puts in snippets of the protests within the U.S. as well as comments on the effects of the draft and our concurrent civil rights movement within America as a backdrop to this war. It should be taken in as an eye opener for young readers about the terrible aftermath of any war which goes on to affect a nation for multiple generations after the papers are signed ending what might have been a situation better left alone.
Suitable for readers from 8th grade up through adult for discussions and meditation on wars, their purposes, and the baggage leaders take to the table when they become involved in any war.
June 10, 2013
A pretty good book if you want to get at a more personal level with the people involved in the Vietnam War. I wish there was more of a variety of quotes, since 99% of them were from Americans, therefore making the Vietnamese seem like the "bad guys", which is not necessarily true. Other than this slight bias, I'd say it was worth the read.
November 21, 2018
For my 9th-grade English class, I had to find a nonfiction book to read and knowing me I was not going to find a good book that I enjoyed. I ended up asking for help and my teacher recommended Voices of Vietnam. Voices of Vietnam is a book about the people in the war effort and the actual war, the book furthers over 50 stories about soldiers and civilians and how the had to survive. my favorite story is about a first-year Marian who gets ambushed with his patrol and saves 5 peoples lives
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because I liked the stories and how there form real people but it lacks gidens in the book. When I mean it lacks gidens when I first opened the book it jumped straight into the stories and did not give any back round on the actual war. That was the only bad thing about the book but it was a very big factor for getting a 4 out of 5-star rating. I would recommend this book if you like war books and nonfiction books.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because I liked the stories and how there form real people but it lacks gidens in the book. When I mean it lacks gidens when I first opened the book it jumped straight into the stories and did not give any back round on the actual war. That was the only bad thing about the book but it was a very big factor for getting a 4 out of 5-star rating. I would recommend this book if you like war books and nonfiction books.
June 13, 2024
A useful, if supplementary, write up of the war. It, coming directly from the lived experience of the war, does little to frame the political conception of the war. The book does, however, do a phenomenonal job humanizing the American, and sparingly even the Veitnamese, perspective of the war. Creates in the mind the images of the war and helps to set one up to relate to an extremely important moment in American history.
April 10, 2010
Short Stories of Marines, nurses,etc and commentary from the author explaining everything. Vietnam was hell on earth for both sides and Richard Nixon thought that it would end faster by sending more troops hoping to make the Vietcong back down but not even bombs could make them less determined to end a pointless war but not by dying. There are rules for wars that countries usually follow like not blowing up passenger ships without warning but operation menu broke Cambodia's neutrality by blowing it up but was justified for Cambodia sheltering ARVN military operation. While there has been a anti-war movement in the U.S. U.S. soldiers has been miserable and when they came back to the states they not only had a hatred for the Vietnamese but anyone who wanted to stop the war,especially Jane Fonda, after they saw their friends die and wanted to be with them in the same spot created by grenades used to kill them but some doctor had to try harder to make them live without a first aid kit. One soldier on a operating table blinked in Morse code "LETMEDIE". this books makes me want to know why you would want to expand your power when you know what happened with the slaves,they rebelled and got freedom, will happen again. Vietnam is like the kid that always gets picked on, since before Christ it has been ruled by china until 111 B.c. then the french creates 2 vienams in 1883, Ho Chi Minh creats communist party, gets exiled, comes back 30 years later to form the Vietminh to fight the french. , for example.
May 16, 2014
Voices from Vietnam by Barry Denenberg is an interesting work since much of it is composed of quotes. Despite this, Denenberg still manages to give a relatively clear story of the war without relying purely on anecdotes. The author exquistitly tells the major events of the war and then uses varies stories and anecdotes to reinforce the full significance of them. He does this especially well in the chapters about guerrilla war and the siege of Khe Sahn, and also tells the story well without quotes as in the retelling of the Democratic National Convention and execution by General Loan.
Most of all Denenberg does a great job of showing the ever changing attitudes of the common soldier and the American public. Direct quotes show how the public at first supported the war and then came to violently hate it in the rise of the hippie movement. He also shows the gradual frustration of the American military moving from a well organized army to one with an estimated one third using heroin or other opiates.
Finally, Denenberg shows the terribleness of war from the many dead Americans to the country of Vietnam destroyed by napalm, Agent Orange, and routine bombing. I enjoyed this book although it did have some boring stints. I would not recommend this to many of my friends unless they have enough dedication to read the book in full.
Brian Yee
English period 8
Mr. Bonnet/or Mrs. Goldberg
Most of all Denenberg does a great job of showing the ever changing attitudes of the common soldier and the American public. Direct quotes show how the public at first supported the war and then came to violently hate it in the rise of the hippie movement. He also shows the gradual frustration of the American military moving from a well organized army to one with an estimated one third using heroin or other opiates.
Finally, Denenberg shows the terribleness of war from the many dead Americans to the country of Vietnam destroyed by napalm, Agent Orange, and routine bombing. I enjoyed this book although it did have some boring stints. I would not recommend this to many of my friends unless they have enough dedication to read the book in full.
Brian Yee
English period 8
Mr. Bonnet/or Mrs. Goldberg
April 2, 2015
I was looking for a quick "day's read" while perusing the bookshelves at my parents' house. The majority of books are from my sisters and my childhood. I recall getting this book in middle school, but having no interest in Vietnam or military history at the time.
After studying the war in various high school and college classes, as well as aging a bit, I found this book an approachable, succinct time capsule of the conflict. What I liked most is that it compiles excerpts of primary source commentary - via letters, public addresses, or personal recollections. If you're interested in a basic compendium of the conflict, I would highly recommend this.
After studying the war in various high school and college classes, as well as aging a bit, I found this book an approachable, succinct time capsule of the conflict. What I liked most is that it compiles excerpts of primary source commentary - via letters, public addresses, or personal recollections. If you're interested in a basic compendium of the conflict, I would highly recommend this.
April 17, 2015
Voices from Vietnam is a book full of quotes from the time of Vietnam. The quotes are perspectives of the war and really contrasted what it was like to live in America during the time.
I like that you can learn from the book. No teacher has been able to teach what a period of time is like like this book has. It uses quotes from veterans, telling war stories and showing what it was like to be in Vietnam. It really shows how terrible it was in Vietnam. It also shows what it was like to be in America during Vietnam and uses quotes from people who lived in America at the time. Using quotes in the book somehow lets the reader know how it used to be in 50's to 70's from a personal perspective.
I like that you can learn from the book. No teacher has been able to teach what a period of time is like like this book has. It uses quotes from veterans, telling war stories and showing what it was like to be in Vietnam. It really shows how terrible it was in Vietnam. It also shows what it was like to be in America during Vietnam and uses quotes from people who lived in America at the time. Using quotes in the book somehow lets the reader know how it used to be in 50's to 70's from a personal perspective.
May 20, 2015
I did not enjoy this book that much. The information given and details were not inspiring or interesting. I found myself many times just drifting off and forgetting what I had just read but not seem to care. I ended up just trying to finish the book as fast as I could so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. But sometimes it did provide some info that I had not heard before but it happened way too little. In the end I guess I learned a bit more about the Vietnam war but it wasn't enough for me to like this book.
November 24, 2015
The book Voices from Vietnam is made up of peoples events telling us about the Vietnam war. They tell stories about their life during the war and what it was like in the war. They have events from inside Vietnam and events from in America. It shows us what it was like living during this time and how hard it was.
I think it wasn't great but it was a good book. It is interesting how they wrote the book and reading about all the stories. It has lots of details and has many different perspectives about a event.
I think it wasn't great but it was a good book. It is interesting how they wrote the book and reading about all the stories. It has lots of details and has many different perspectives about a event.
May 1, 2015
"Voices from Vietnam" by Barry Denenberg is one of the best war related Vietnam books I've ever read. The combination of explanation and quotes from survivors and soldiers lost during the war adds realism to thks book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about wars and first hand accounts from that war. This book is best for people who want a casual read.
May 19, 2015
This is a very interesting book on how people suffered in the Vietnam War. It is a compilation of stories of people in different position. It shows how the war had a huge impact on everyone and how it changed their lives. This book helped me a lot on my research paper.
November 12, 2008
This book is a great read for a student trying to get a more personal perspective on the conflict in Vietnam. I passed this book onto my younger brother who took as much away from it as I did.
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October 23, 201415ffc5d7-3bc6-48b0-897b-d665cebaa22e
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews