America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam 1950-1975: Amazon.ca: George C Herring: Books

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6 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Herring focuses on diplomacy, Jan 26 2001

By

Pete Agren (Twin Cities, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (Paperback)

Unlike most Vitenam books, America's Longest War chooses to examine the diplomacy element of the war instead of the typical military aspects of the conflict. I was assigned this as a textbook in my Vietnam War class in college and was surprised by the lack of military coverage in it. About two chapters into ALW, I realized that Herring was concentrating on what happened behind closed doors during the war and then it became more easy to understand. Herring also introduces the reader to the movers and shakers of the war and their reasoning behind their decisions. He also starts back with Truman's administration in dealing with French Indo-China and you get the story from the very beginning. Other books typically gloss over Truman and Ike and like to start in LBJ's administration.

Herring also informs the reader that contrary to the current popular opinion, JFK was NOT going to get out of Vietnam because he chose to let the aggressive Henry Cabot Lodge make key decisions in escalating the United States' involvement in South Vietnam. The reader begins to understand that the US lost the war in the diplomatic and political theaters and not on the battlefield. After all, the US military's job was to keep communists from taking over South Vietnam and while US troops were deployed in the country, that objective never happened.

I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the Vietnam conflict. Although there is no coverage on military engagements, troop life, or popular battles like Khe Sanh and Dienbienphu, this book will give the reader answers on why we were there and who was making the decisions on what we did in Southeast Asia.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Read the First Edition. Good, but needed North POV, July 31 2000

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L. Troy Beals (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (Paperback)

I read the first edition of this book (published 1979). This is an excellent introduction into the Vietnam War. The book does focus on the politics and policies of the United States rather than more palatable topics such as the human stories of the war. The book gives a firm background into the years preceding American involvment in Vietnam. The first edition needed the perspective of communist sources to make it a more well rounded work, but of course at the time that was near impossible. A good book for anyone interested in a general history of the Vietnam war.

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5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best introduction to the Vietnam War., Nov 3 1999

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This review is from: America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (Paperback)

For anyone interested in a basic understanding of the politics and diplomacy of the Vietnam War, this is the place to start. It is widely used in college classes around the country. The style is very readable, and the book includes useful maps and an excellent bibliographic essay for further reading.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Vietnam War History in a Small Size
This history by Vietnam War expert Herring is by far the best general history of that war in a small, manageable size. It's suitable for both general readers and classroom use. Read more

Published on Oct 19 1999

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Info, but not a great read.
In retrospect, I enjoyed this book more than some of the other books about Vietnam that I've read. At the time, however, I viewed it as fairly boring. Read more

Published on Dec 13 1998