The Vietnam War: A History of Conflict and Tragedy, 1945-1975

JohnieBoy: bought a kindle copy whilst visiting Vietnam. Fascinating reading. It feels reasonably well balanced in it's recording and doesn't spare the blushes of any of the combatants. A good record of an appalling period in history, highlighting how the vanity of politicians is satisfied by the blood of its population - a statement which applies to all sides, not just the Americans.

United Kingdom on Nov 03, 2023

Kindle Customer: Hastings historical works are accessible and revealing. Vietnam was 'background music' in the late sixties and early seventies, and only work like this can provide context and appreciation to what otherwise is impenetrable.

United Kingdom on Oct 02, 2023

Dr. David Arelette: I sidestepped the Australian Fraser Government war criminal involvement in Vietnam by failing the medical - the war was an error from the start, the corrupt South Vietnam government was overlooked by those rushing to save our preferred Asian folks from the other Asian folks we killed - this huge book details every day, every confused decision, every error made. The folks who were gung ho should have to read a copy and confess their errors.

Australia on May 22, 2023

timcon1964: British scholar Max Hastings, author of many books on military history, has produced one of the most important general accounts of the Vietnam War. Do not expect this book to vindicate either side. Hastings writes, “Only simpletons of the political Right and Left dare to suggest that in Vietnam either side possessed a monopoly of virtue.” Both North and South had “cruel and incompetent governments;” “however ugly the ruling regime in North Vietnam was, the one in the South was almost equally oppressive;” “neither side deserved to win.” Both the Communists and the Americans “share responsibility for the horrors that befell Vietnam . . . because both preferred to unleash increasingly indiscriminate violence rather than yield to the will of their foes.”

Hastings argues that US policy was based on diplomatic and domestic political objectives, not the interests of the Vietnamese. Although some US leaders saw that military intervention alone would be futile without solving social and economic problems, most American officials “deluded themselves that all these complex challenges could be met by an overwhelming application of military power.” The presence...

United States on Aug 30, 2022

Chris D: A good effort from Hastings, but, also a sloppy book with numerous author related faults, which did not detract from one of the most comprehensive Vietnam history's to date, which is well worth anybody's reading time. Lets get to the faults, which start with Hastings cack-handed use of English grammar and tortuous phrases some of which appear to have escaped from the Victorian era. When you find yourself having to yet again re-read a simple sentence which is so convoluted that it requires a re-structuring of the words for it to make any sense then it just becomes tiresome and obviously reflects a rather arrogant and elitist mindset, which should have been sorted out by a competent Editor. The one good thing about the language in this book is that Hastings has at last refrained from the endless use of French sentences every few pages, which has been his trademark in his numerous other books, which is just `showing off` his expensive education to us poor slobs who just buy his books to be insulted! Another major issue is his inability to always use dates for events and actions, which really is inexcusable for an Historian, also, the paucity of Maps and simple diagrams is a major...

United Kingdom on Aug 08, 2022

old boats: Over the years, without any particular goals other than learning, I've read a number of books that either directly or tangential dealt with that war. This included, "Best and Brightest" , "Dereliction of Duty" , "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young", "The Quiet American", "The Ugly American" "Foreign Correspondent, a Memoir", LBJ and McNamara Bios, "The Pentagon Papers" (segments) and others somewhat less memorable at the moment. Based on this reading and subsequent events I concluded some time ago that the US was embarking on a fools errand when it tried to use its military to shore up a foreign government that was not supported internally by its people. The Iraq and Afghanistan experience in recent years has solidified my opinion on this topic.

So It was with a receptive attitude that I recently read this new history; by Sir Max Hastings, an award winning British journalist and historian. This is a long and deeply researched history told mostly in chronological fashion. It draws on many of the published personal history ("I was there") accounts and the more inciteful political/military critiques. He also accessed and quoted myriad personal letters from all sides (including...

United States on Dec 16, 2018

DAVID BRYSON: Very early in this long book Max Hastings says that the war in Vietnam was one that neither side deserved to win. For me, he makes his case, and not by argument but by open description and narrative. He absorbs facts much as boron absorbs neutrons. From page 1 to page 650 he seems unfatigued, and it is hardly less of an achievement that he kept my attention as a reader fresh and unflagging too. Hastings digs back into Indo-chinese history just to set the scene, but the real story gets underway around 1950, and from there to the end his breadth and depth of research into both sides’ perspectives keeps the presentation balanced and free from prejudice. I don’t believe he is even trying to achieve balance for its own sake – for the most part he just lets the story tell itself, and he certainly does not fall into any feeble-minded maundering of the ‘much to be said on both sides’ variety.

The earliest date that registered with me then was the fall of Dienbienphu in 1954. I was astonished to see where this so-called fortress was located. It is 200-300 miles west-nor’-west of Hanoi, near the border with Laos and consequently far from most of the subsequent action. Nor...

United Kingdom on Oct 25, 2018