Stanley Karnow's 141-Volume Compendium on the History of Vietnam

LK V ramesh: An essential history of Vietnam . Released around mid 1980s , the book takes a historical view starting from early 8th or 9th century till the modern era , ending in the 1980 border clashes with China . In the process it is clear to the reader that the Vietnamese have a long history of fighting against any kind of foreign invaders, The two wars - against the French and the Americans - was but the last chapter in a long and complex history .

Highly recommended

India on Dec 23, 2022

Thomé Madeira: A precise and excellent narrative of a two-way ordeal; in one side , a nation struggling for its independence from colonial powers, and seekin its own ways to succeed; in other , an overwhelming power and its fight for influence in worldwide scale ; in the middle , peasants and poor people that have no way but escape , trying to find a better living overseas; the fall of a creed that guided America for centuries and had the debacle in a war wrongly fought....Must Read !

Brazil on Sep 02, 2021

eugenio kvaternik: I AM WRITING A BOOK ON INSURGENCY AND COUNTERONSRGENCY in Argentina usine Vietnam comparstvely

Germany on Feb 05, 2020

Felipe Vargas: A must to have about Vietnam war, superb and exhaustive description of a tragedy, fundamental text for anyone serious knowing Vietnam history and Vietnam war

Mexico on Dec 14, 2017

Valerio Pastore: Tutto quello che avete visto al cinema, visto in qualche documentario…scoprirete di non avere mai ricevuto un’informazione accurata, super partes, sulle origini di questo conflitto che regalò il marchio dell’infamia al Secolo Americano. Scoprirete da questo libro quali intrighi, quali menzogne, quali errori abbiano trasformato un problema strettamente locale in un conflitto che ha distrutto due presidenze americane e infranto il sogno di una generazione che sognava la pace.
Un'opera completa come poche, narrata senza prendere parti, degna di un vero professionista!

Italy on Dec 04, 2017

C. Overgaard: This outstanding book deservedly won a Pulitzer Prize. It benefitted from the fact that Karnow was a journalist in Vietnam for several years and, in addition to being able to interview many of the key United States figures, was able to interview important Vietnamese military and political people some years after the war ended. An example of this is that a Vietnam military person admitted that the Tet Offensive, although very significant from a political standpoint, was a failure militarily and a mistake. Karnow describes in great detail the process by which the United States became embroiled in Vietnam during the Kennedy administration and became increasingly embroiled during the Johnson and Nixon administrations to their great consternation. We learn that some people, including McNamara and Clark Clifford, enthusiastically supported the War but became disenchanted as time went by to the point that Clifford worked behind the scenes to reduce our involvement.

Karnow relates how U.S. military leaders consistently favored more soldiers on the ground and more bombing while Presidents Johnson and later Nixon vastly overstated our military success. We learned some key things that...

United States on Nov 08, 2015

Clem: Most everyone in America agrees that the entire war in Vietnam was a very big mistake. There are a lot of reasons why – some actual fact, some innuendo, some outright falsehoods. Stanley Karnow’s excellent Pulitzer Prize narrative does an outstanding job giving the reader a very clear, yet thorough account of all of the comings and goings around the Asian country before, during, and even after the conflict. This book was incredibly enlightening. Much of it had to do with the fact that the author was actually there during the war, serving as a war correspondent. He’s also interviewed many key figures several years after the conflict to try to add some perspective to many of the events that we now look back on in bewilderment and disgust.

It should first be pointed out that this entire book is not only about the actual war in Vietnam. That event is the main player, however, yet Karnow realizes that a lot of background is needed before the reader can truly understand why things happened the way that they did. In fact, I seemed to recall that the first (approximately) 300 pages of this book deals with what happened prior to the actual “war” that was fought by the...

United States on Sep 07, 2015