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The Vietnam War: An Intimate History
Ebook The Vietnam War: An Intimate History
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Audible Audiobook
Listening Length: 31 hours and 15 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Random House Audio
Audible.com Release Date: September 5, 2017
Language: English, English
ASIN: B074G5BP9X
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
With this book Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns have presented a very balanced account of America’s Vietnam War, but it is much more than that. The story begins with the French colonization of Vietnam in the 1850s and ends with the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. It actually ends with an examination of how the war is remembered in both the US and in Vietnam. Very well written, liberally adorned with stunning photographs, this large volume is both a deep sweeping coverage of the First and Second Indochina Wars and a beautifully produced piece of art. And, once the First Indochina War concludes, the story incorporates the personal stories of some of those directly involved. We hear from Americans and Vietnamese, civilians and soldiers, supporters and detractors, those from the winning side and those from the losing side. It really is the product of years of research and interviews, stunning to contemplate and a joy to read.In some respects the book gives a better account of the developing history than the film it is a “companion†to. The reader will get a much better understanding of the changing Vietnamese government as the French desperately attempted to establish some sort of legitimacy within Vietnam and the transition of that government into the Republic of Vietnam under Diem.I think this book will become a standard text on the history of the Vietnam War but I do have a criticism. My quibble is with a relatively small portion of the text and it really has nothing to do with the story. That is my quibble…“Kennedy and What Might Have Been.†Why is this chapter included in this book? I find it interesting that after reviewing the diverse panoply of historiography Burns and Ward could not stay away from one of the counterfactual, what-if, perspectives that seems to be a real favorite among some historians: Kennedy would not have gone full and outright war on Vietnam. He was too smart, he was too good a guy, Camelot and all that. Well Kennedy might have inherited the war from Truman and Eisenhower but he is the one who began to Americanize the war. He is the one who sent something like seventeen thousand American military personal to operate as advisors to the RVNAF. He sent helicopter companies with the necessary pilots and crews. Americans were now directly involved in combat operations. Americans were dying in Vietnam and Kennedy kept all that secret from the American public. That is a big commitment to walk away from. American prestige was on the line and Kennedy had made several eloquent speeches proclaiming that America would “pay any price†to defend against communist aggression. After Truman, many Americans automatically believed that Democrats were reflexively soft on communism; it was in their political DNA. For Kennedy to walk away from Vietnam after ramping up the military commitment and eliminating Diem would have raised a big political ruckus. He would have had some explaining to do. History would also have viewed him harshly after supporting the coup and murder of Diem and his brother only to walk away from the mess that policy created. Diem’s blood is on Kennedy’s hands. I do happen to think Kennedy to have been a good president: the Peace Corps, commitment to land a man on the moon and bring him home alive; but please stop with the Kennedy was too pure, good and foresighted enough to involve America in a shooting war in Asia. This chapter is nothing more than fantasy. It is not history, it is fable. And, my only criticism of Mr Burns work: this is an example of ax-grinding, not the impartial umpire calling balls and strikes (two metaphors Burns frequently used during the speaking tour, in the run-up to release of the film, to characterize his approach). Truman, made a tremendous mistake by supporting French colonialism. Eisenhower supported that same mistake then went all-in with Diem. Johnson sent in the ground troops and ramped up the death and destruction. But we should give ol’ Kennedy a pass because he would have…We don’t know what he would have done! We know what he did and it was an exponential increase over what his predecessors had allowed. He gets no pass from me.Since this is really not part of the story it can be ignored and does not change my rating of this monumental work.The Vietnam War was a tragic mistake of enormous proportions. The death and destruction wrought, ending in failure, allows very little redeeming consequence. We did learn some important lessons but those lessons are easily forgotten. Ken Burns and his partner Lynn Novick would like to start a new conversation about the war. I think that can only be a good thing. I really hope it happens, even if on a small scale. We need to review the lessons to be learned from that awful war.I am glad of one thing. We seem to have thoroughly learned to not blame our valiant warriors for the blunders of our leaders.
If you are a fan of Ken Burns’ style of history, you will love this book. Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward take us on a long and poignant journey through the Vietnam war, starting with events in the early 20th century and ending with modern, “capitalist†Vietnam. Along the way are any number of tragic tales, acts of bravery, desperation and savagery all in the name of a tiny country of little political or military significance. And yet it dominated the politics of at least three of the largest and most powerful countries on the planet. Ward and Burns do a masterful job at probing many of the small stories that made up the big story.=== The Good Stuff === * If a picture is worth a thousand words, Ward and Burns are the people to supply those words. The book is full of an incredible collection of photographs, some familiar, some not, and excellent commentary built around many of them. If you look at the serious expression in the eyes of a young Ho Chi Minh in Paris in 1918, you can’t help but wonder what would have happened had Woodrow Wilson ever read the petition he so badly wanted to deliver. How can you not shake your head at a 1941 photo of an American OSS officer training Viet Minh soldiers how to fire rifle grenade?* The text is quite easy to read and well written, but be prepared for a long book. The book covers a lot of ground, but it not what I would consider a detailed and complete history of the war. Rather it seeks to capture, in detail, small segments of the war, concentrating on individual characters and their motivations and actions. In various segments, the authors concentrate on US soldiers, US military leadership, Vietnamese military and civilian leaders, antiwar protestors, US politics, and any number of other viewpoints. In the end, the sum of all the parts gives a pretty complete look at what happened.* The authors mostly try to maintain a neutral viewpoint, but they find it harder and harder as the book progresses. I can’t speak for the authors, but I suspect their opinion would be along the lines of “How on earth did we ever get ourselves into that mess?†And while they may be officially neutral, they can not help but note that the “stakes†we were playing for in no way matched the costs.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===* I hate to disagree with historians of the stature of the authors, but I will anyway. I think that they are looking back at events in Vietnam with too much benefit of hindsight. Sure, from 2017, the whole domino theory and the importance given to a 100 mile wide strip of jungle seems absurd. But in 1966, you couldn’t get elected dog-catcher if you weren’t “tough on communismâ€. Likewise, blaming politicians for getting all caught up in the hysteria is also a bit unfair. Presidents and Congressmen aren’t going to take any viewpoints that the majority of their constituents don’t already support.* I realize it is not the author’s style to engage in this kind of analysis, but after reading a few hundred pages, it would have been nice to get a “professional opinion†on what we got for the trillion dollars and 60,000 casualties.=== Summary ===The book was long and sometimes the content was a bit tough to read- it didn’t always catch Americans at our best. But in the end it provided a look at the war from many different viewpoints, and examined the price paid by many of the participants. While the text is well written and quite informative, it was the pictures that really made the book for me. Probably the most powerful photos were a few near the end, where former enemies from the US and Vietnam are reunited, and you can’t but notice the look in their eyes of “Why?â€I would recommend the book for anyone with an interest in this period of history, although some who have lived through it may find some of the viewpoints and content a bit upsetting.=== Disclaimer ===I was able to read an advance copy through the courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.
I bought and read the book right after watching the documentary; the book is pretty much the documentary with each episode of the documentary getting a chapter. The book, however, goes a little deeper in places and has some excellent additional essays (the one on what JFK may have done in Vietnam is well worth the read). Like the documentary series, the book is balanced, including input from participants from the United States, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and North Vietnam. Everything that made the documentary series great makes this book a great read.
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