Posted on 02/01/2010 10:16:31 AM PST by BlueStateBlues
My brother-in-law is an avid war history reader, but says he can't find a non-liberal history of the Vietnam War. Do you know of one? Which are the best, any suggestions would help. Thanks, and appreciated.
There are some that are quite objective. Any particluar branch of service service?
Just an overall history, unless you can suggest a specific branch volume that you found exceptional. His favorite reading is war material from the Second World War, and says he’d like to read on Vietnam just as much but can’t get through the left-leaning and US bashing books that he’s come across.
ping
That would be nice, not only for my interest but for others who have the same problem in finding good Vietnam war material. Thanks.
I’ll send a few suggestions to you via FR mail.
I have an older book, that I feel is quite even handed. It’s called simple “The Vietnam War.” It’s by Crown Books. Also I believe “On Strategy” and A Better War” are also good.
Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam (Paperback) ~ H. R. Mcmaster (Author)
Anything that actually bothers to cite to Gen. Giap’s 1996 Wall St. Journal interview in which he describes in incredible detail (1) just how bad the North lost the Tet Offensive, (2) just how much the lies and misinterpretations of the Tet Offensive by Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, etc. strengthened the american anti-war effort and emboldened the North, and (3) just how many troops the North managed to sneak into the South after the peace accords.
We Were Soldiers Once and Young was excellent although the message is mixed.
Paul Johnson’s “Modern Times” has some coverage of the Vietnam War, and I assume his book on U.S. history does also.
I have not read “Why We Were in Vietnam” by Norman Podhoretz, but Podhoretz was a staunch Cold Warrior and one of the premier neo-conservatives. The Amazon reviews of the book are interesting and favorable.
Viet Nam The 10,000 Day War by Stanley Karnow. It was the companion book to the TV series of the same name.
Though put on by PBS, I found it to be fair. It covers the period from April, 1945 to April, 1975.
Lots of interviews (Giap among them)
Although there is a lot of combat footage, it’s more about the history than the soldier.
Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 (v. 1) by Mark Moyar
Ooops!
That was the name of the series. The name of the book is Vietnam: A History
http://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-History-Stanley-Karnow/dp/0140265473
“...if such a rarity exists.”
A good understanding will likely require more than one book.
Let me recommend for the mix, “Victory at any Cost” by Cecil B. Currey.
IMO, the book is fairly balanced and clearly demonstrates the US military did not “lose” the struggle but rather that the US effort was defeated after the truce in the Congress by liberal politicians. At the time of the truce, the North and the VC were unable to field an effective military force, certainly a principal reason it agreed to the truce. It required two years of non-American support and involvement after the truce to finally defeat Saigon.
Stolen Valor! by BG Burkett
UNHERALDED VICTORY by Mark Woodruff
There’s actually one coming out called, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War.” It’s made by the same people who wrote of all the “politically incorrect” guides. Also, “Dirty Secrets of the Vietnam War” by James Dunning.
There are a couple of books by N. Vietnamese that ought to be in every collectors ‘must read’ list.
To a large degree they confirm that Tet was a defeat that wiped out the Viet Cong who the NVA let do most of the fighting. This leads many to assume that this was the cynical purpose of the N. Vietnamese leadership who didn’t want any Southerners being heroes or policians after the war ended.
The NVA took losses of over 1,000,000 combatants to combined allied military action or disease. It was a staggering number for a small population.
At times they N. Vietnamese were on the brink of defeat but Western anti-war propaganda and politicians helped them hold on.
Yes!
And Shelby Stanton was a phoney. See “Stolen Valor”.
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