John Paul Vann and America's Tragic Involvement in the Vietnam War: A Bright Shining Lie

John P. Moore: At over 850 pages this book took over a week to read. Very well researched and my interest was maintained throughout. This book exposed a surprising level of corruption within the Vietnamese military and government together with shocking incompetence of senior US military officers,

United States on Nov 22, 2023

Geoff Parks: I probably 500 books on the Vietnam War, both fiction and nonfiction. This one gives a comprehensive summation of the entire war. If you want to know about the big picture around why the USA was in Vietnam this is the book to read. The main character John Paul Vann is a great vehicle out of which to tell the story. He a deeply flawed human and the author hides nothing about him.

Canada on Jan 05, 2021

Tom M: I had some knowledge of Vietnam history but this book is on an entirely new level. I wish I had picked this up years ago. Heavily detailed, well written and in places rather shocking. I am by no means an efficient reader but I ploughed through this one (with the ever cliche); I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book.

Canada on Jan 31, 2020

伊藤よしひろ: フォーマット： Kindle版
紙の本の長さ： 898 ページ
出版社: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books ed版 (2009/10/20)
ASIN: B002ZW7EHS　のレビュー

　下積みから鍛え上げた士官John Paul...

Japan on Aug 15, 2019

Buster: L'opera analizza gli sviluppi organizzativi dal lato americano e dà una buona visione delle ragioni interne all'organizzazione usa che portarono alla sconfitta. Lo fa seguendo la biografia di uno dei protagonisti di quel periodo (J.P.Vann). Lettura un po' pesante, anche perchè la parte biografica mostra la vita di un personaggio che a me è rimasto antipatico fin dalle prime pagine. Comunque una buona opera per avere una visione più completa di cosa successe. In inglese

Italy on Sep 08, 2016

Enrico Marchetti: This book will drive you on the road of enlightment over the involvment of US in Vietnam.
I have two copies of paperback in italian but I bought also a copy if the english ebook to have it always with me. It shoul be read and re-read many times to understand its full meaning.

Italy on Sep 13, 2015

Linda Berlin: Neil Sheehan’s work “A Bright Shining Lie” is a deeply profound and insightful biography of the people and events that drew the U.S. into the national morass of Vietnam. His detailed references to the painful truths ignored by the highest levels of military leadership documents the many fantasies associated with the strategic thinking of American military planners during the 1962 to 1963 period.

By means of the author’s descriptive reporting, the reader, or as in my case, the listener, can envision the very personal reality of living through circumstances that are beyond one’s capacity to imagine as being possible! One learns what can only be realized through first hand experience as the author enables you to fully grasp the amazing insiders story of the coup d’etat initiated by President John F.Kennedy against Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam.

This special work weaves together the Who, What,, When, Where and Why of America’s ill fated involvement in Vietnam.

The historical accuracy of the author’s reporting will grab you by the belt and challenge every instinct of common sense you can muster!

His step by step accounting of the...

United States on Mar 10, 2013

Rex Michael Dillon: I applaud the research and effort put into "A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam." Yet, as well versed as Neil Sheehan is in the history of the United States in Vietnam, his writing from pages 153 to 154 make me seriously concerned about his historiography. When he begins in earnest to tear into to the latent racism of American policy, anyone with any knowledge on the subject could only acquiesce. However, when he makes statements about the racist double standard of Americans on the WWII assembly lines, I can only read with a great deal of incredulity. How a Jounalist/historian of Mr. Sheehan's caliber could begin to compare or declare that "the Japs were not worse; the Germans were" (Sheehan, 153) is beyond comprehension.
His tirade to substantiate his claim is simply astonishing. The fact that the Nazis were efficient in killing 6 million Jews is well known. What has been utterly neglected by American popular media are the Japanese atrocities committed in China and the Pacific. To dismiss the Japanese atrocities as "haphazard" (Sheehan, 153) is remarkable. The Japanese were as ardently racist and fascist as the Nazis. Their aim was subjugation and...

United States on Jun 01, 2002