Sheehan's tragic biography of John Paul Vann is also a sweeping history of America's seduction, entrapment and disillusionment in Vietnam.
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Sep 15, 2011
John
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I don't know of many books that win both the Pulizer and the National Book Award. Sheehan's book is one of them, and it shows.
An entirely engrossing narrative of the profound arrogance, paralyzing complaisance and careerism, and the incorrigible, altogether impenetrable ignorance of Americans in Vietnam. Generals Harkins and Westmoreland seem to have been the two most seriously impaired of the bunch. And as a result millions died. [Let's just say that in comparison 9/11 is only a van More...
An entirely engrossing narrative of the profound arrogance, paralyzing complaisance and careerism, and the incorrigible, altogether impenetrable ignorance of Americans in Vietnam. Generals Harkins and Westmoreland seem to have been the two most seriously impaired of the bunch. And as a result millions died. [Let's just say that in comparison 9/11 is only a van More...
Jan 26, 2009
Brendan
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A great compliment to The Best and the Brightest.
This book focuses less on the domestic politics behind the Vietnam War and more on the military/operational realities than confronted the US military, as well as delving into the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime that the US tried to prop up 18 different ways, coup after coup after coup.
The conclusion of the book is basically that if the Vietnam War was ever winnable, it was no longer winnable after 1965-66. The fa More...
This book focuses less on the domestic politics behind the Vietnam War and more on the military/operational realities than confronted the US military, as well as delving into the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime that the US tried to prop up 18 different ways, coup after coup after coup.
The conclusion of the book is basically that if the Vietnam War was ever winnable, it was no longer winnable after 1965-66. The fa More...
Jan 29, 2010
Shaun
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An ironic and provocative history of US involvement in Vietnam. By following the tragectory of the career of a dedicated, smart and decisive individual, convinced of the righteousness of the cause and the possibility of a victorious outcome, it is possible to catalogue the lost opportunities, misdeeds and outright stupidity that cost the lives of so many US and national servicemen and multitudes more of Vietnamese civilians on both sides of the conflict.
By the time one has half fini More...
By the time one has half fini More...
Jan 15, 2010
Kathleen
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Nominally a biography of John Paul Vann--a soldier and civilian who was one of the first American Advisers in Vietnam at the beginning of American intervention and remained involved in the conflict until his death in 1972--this is actually the most complete history of the Vietnam War that I have ever read. I feel that, for the first time, I really understand this conflict, what lead to it, and why America could never have really won.
Among the things I never knew was that the Viet More...
Among the things I never knew was that the Viet More...
Oct 17, 2009
Rick
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I've read this book twice and recommended it perhaps a hundred times more. I'll always hold Mr.Sheehan in the highest regard for the way he crafted this impressive work. The epic drama of the Vietnam war, as expressed through the lens of John Paul Vann, profoundly resonates with me as a former infantry soldier of the post-Vietnam era. One of the things I took away from reading this book is Vann's insight with respect to keeping the war personal. He shrewdly observed and held that had we prosecut
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Oct 15, 2009
Eric
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The definitive book about Vietnam according to my buddy and former english teacher Paul Sonerson. I finally read it, and believe me, you absolutely would not believe it. Government lies, heartlessness, and incompetence on a scale that you would not believe. It really makes a mockery of my parents' generation for their failure to see through the government's current horseshit wars and put a stop to it. I mean what the hell does most of my generation know about this shit? How the hell were Nixon'
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Feb 20, 2011
Darryl
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***”A BRIGHT SHINING LIE: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam” by Neil Sheehan. This is a work of non-fiction. It feels like I have been reading this book for months, although it is only a matter of weeks. It is long; over 800 pages of very small type. Initially it was mind blowing, but after the first third, it became tiresome. John Vann was a colonel in the U.S. Army and was one of the military advisors to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Kennedy administration and d
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Feb 15, 2010
Randy
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Walking through a book store one day I spotted this book and purchased it on the fly. Best that I can remember I purchased the book because: 1) It won a Pulitzer, 2) It won the National Book Award, 3) It was a National Bestseller; and 4) It's about the Vietnam War, a place and event I was told by the draft board that I could expect to visit (I didn't). This was an interesting book with lots of history. At the time I read it I had no idea who John Paul Vann was. And, maybe that was one point the
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Jan 05, 2011
Brian
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3/17/01 - 8/10
A Bright Shining Lie combines a history of American involvement in Vietnam from 1962-1972 with a biography of John Paul Vann. Vann was a very influential advisor in Vietnam during this time. This book was a little dry to read, but it was very insightful. Sheehan provides a lot of food for thought on what went wrong for Americans in Vietnam. It was also very interesting to see Vann morph from one of the critics of American tactics, into one of the 'deluded' leaders who thought Ameri More...
A Bright Shining Lie combines a history of American involvement in Vietnam from 1962-1972 with a biography of John Paul Vann. Vann was a very influential advisor in Vietnam during this time. This book was a little dry to read, but it was very insightful. Sheehan provides a lot of food for thought on what went wrong for Americans in Vietnam. It was also very interesting to see Vann morph from one of the critics of American tactics, into one of the 'deluded' leaders who thought Ameri More...
Dec 10, 2009
Ray
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Incredibly informative book about the Vietnam War, told in part through the experiences of Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, an early military advisor and advocate for a change in what ultimately proved to be a losing and costly war strategy. Neil Sheehan, a New York Times war correspondent, provides insights into the thoughts and policies of American and Vietnamese political and military leaders, and why the war failed to accomplish its intended outcome. It's NOT a bash-America book, and is respectful
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Nov 24, 2009
Nishant
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Outstanding! Perhaps one of the best non-fiction books I've read. The Vietnam war told through the prism of one man. It's a biography and then its so much more...
two things that were re-emphasized, but which are plenty obvious: illegitimate governments and sanctuary for insurgents are problematic in all counterinsurgencies. In Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Obama has both wrt Afghanistan.
another quick point: one of the reasons it was such a good biography was because the aut More...
two things that were re-emphasized, but which are plenty obvious: illegitimate governments and sanctuary for insurgents are problematic in all counterinsurgencies. In Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Obama has both wrt Afghanistan.
another quick point: one of the reasons it was such a good biography was because the aut More...
Dec 24, 2011
Les
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Everything that the Powers That Be knew was wrong about the war but didn't tell you. I heard much of this in a international relations class at Portland State University, taught by a Professor Kovak. Students thought he was a communist.
Neil Sheehan lived a few blocks from me in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It took him 16 years to complete the book. I was fortunate to hear him give a talk about it at the National Archives. There, he signed my copy of the book: " More...
Neil Sheehan lived a few blocks from me in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It took him 16 years to complete the book. I was fortunate to hear him give a talk about it at the National Archives. There, he signed my copy of the book: " More...
Feb 20, 2011
Ice
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As a child a heard the large planes flying into Stansted Airoport at 3/4am as they stopped to refuelled, they were bringing the bodies back from Vietnam, but no one spoke about it.
In the early eighties I was in Washington and deeply moved by the Memorial to the fallen, which brought a sense of silence to a busy city.
From the mid eighties the soul searching in the US was more public and reached out to the UK, films like Platoon, Tour of Duty, Hamburger Hill, documentaries, tunes (19) More...
In the early eighties I was in Washington and deeply moved by the Memorial to the fallen, which brought a sense of silence to a busy city.
From the mid eighties the soul searching in the US was more public and reached out to the UK, films like Platoon, Tour of Duty, Hamburger Hill, documentaries, tunes (19) More...
Dec 22, 2011
Aaron
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While not always a page turner, Sheehan's book is a must read for anyone interested in modern warfare and nationalism. It meshes very well with Bernard Fall's idea of revolutionary warfare, in contrast to guerrilla warfare. South Vietnam never possessed a government worth fighting for. In fact, the longer we stayed there, the worse their corruption became, largely because our government was unwilling to ever acknowledge faults with our allies.
Guerrilla warfare can be beaten if the More...
Guerrilla warfare can be beaten if the More...
Dec 26, 2009
Kathryn
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I learned an awful lot about the Vietnam war. I enjoyed the political history of the war and the more biographical sections of the book. But, overall, the book was way to detail-oriented and focused on military conflicts and strategy for my taste.
I was a little bothered by the hagiography feel the book had. John Vann was pretty despicable in my view as a person, but the author is willing to make excuses for him. To be sure, he had a bad childhood - a fascinating read in the rubber-necking More...
I was a little bothered by the hagiography feel the book had. John Vann was pretty despicable in my view as a person, but the author is willing to make excuses for him. To be sure, he had a bad childhood - a fascinating read in the rubber-necking More...
Mar 23, 2009
I've had this on my to-read list for 15 years or so, so when a copy became available a few days ago at Half Price Books for $1 it was a no-brainer. I started reading this today while waiting in the long line at the polling booth; I thought it entirely appropriate on election day to begin reading a book about a war and the conflicting policies that got us into it and kept us in it, since all the hubris and misguided do-goodery and righteousness that got us into Vietnam is of the same ilk as has g
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May 28, 2008
This Pulitzer Award winning book for non-fiction is 20 years old. It is fascinating account of the untruthful self-serving leaders in the military and government both Republican and Democrat from 1964-1973. This closely parallels the untruthful propaganda in which Bush-Cheney manipulated Congress to start the worst military disaster in our 230 plus year history.
Most effective is the writer's clear, concise style, exhaustive research over 16 years. From the hero's incredible sexual energ More...
Most effective is the writer's clear, concise style, exhaustive research over 16 years. From the hero's incredible sexual energ More...
Oct 06, 2008
Dan
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Tight, informative, and well-structured, A Bright Shining Lie mixes biography and serious history to provide a comprehensive and compelling history of the Vietnam War.
Sheehan, the author, was a NYT correspondent through the war, and it was under his byline that the Pentagon Papers were first published. He had personally met and reported on all the books principle characters, and speaks with an authoritative voice - even when criticizing his own reporting. This is no Anti-American sl More...
Sheehan, the author, was a NYT correspondent through the war, and it was under his byline that the Pentagon Papers were first published. He had personally met and reported on all the books principle characters, and speaks with an authoritative voice - even when criticizing his own reporting. This is no Anti-American sl More...
May 26, 2008
Patrick
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A stunning piece of biography and history. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this book is the way Sheehan constructs the book. The first part of the main body of the book starts with Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann landing in Vietnam and discovering the substantial difficulties the U.S. faces in defeating the Viet Cong. In this first part, Vann comes off as the unlistened to, wise sage who, if we the generals and politicians had only listened, would have provided a real opportunity to preserve
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Mar 03, 2008
Howard
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Using the life of one man as his framework, Sheehan has written the best book on America's involvement in Vietnam since Frances Fitzgerald's Fire in the Lake. John Paul Vann was a visionary as well as a gung-ho army officer. Arriving in Saigon in 1962 as a Lt. Colonel, Vann soon perceived something amiss in the US approach to the blossoming war. The American-backed ruling family, the Ngo Dinhs, were considered foreigners by most of the population; the ARVN existed primarily to protect them and g
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Aug 12, 2008
I'll admit this book was a slog for me; 800 pages of non-fiction on any topic would have been a slog for me, but 800 pages on such a profoundly violent and depressing topic as the Vietnam War was especially so. But I am very glad I read it and very glad that J. recommended it in the first place.
Neil Sheehan started out with a strong concept: Take one man's life and use it as a kaleidescope for the whole war. He took that concept further than I could have imagined -- by the end, you More...
Neil Sheehan started out with a strong concept: Take one man's life and use it as a kaleidescope for the whole war. He took that concept further than I could have imagined -- by the end, you More...
Jan 19, 2010
Jeremy
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Bought this for my dad for Christmas and have read about half of it! (Just bought my own copy two days ago). It's both a biography of John Paul Vann, an army officer in Vietnam, and a history of the conflict itself. I've read several other books about Vietnam, both fiction and nonfiction, and I've never heard the historical background Sheehan present in the second section of the book. It shows how off the rails the US military strategy was from the beginning and why they plunged in the quagmire
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Jul 25, 2011
Tad
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My favorite Vietnam War book of all. Stunning non-fiction work in which Sheehan, a correspondent during the war, tells the story of the war in all its complexity, from the battlefield to the Pentagon, through the narrative of a troubled man who experienced battle, command and politics. Tremendous read. I consider it a must-read.
Dec 08, 2011
Linda
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I really don't want to say that I liked this book because how can 790 pages of lies, graft, killing, deceit, and hubris not leave a person feeling despondent? Yet, it is a book that provides a comprehensive and in-depth look at the misguided and misunderstood conflict in Vietnam. How could we have gotten this so wrong?
Feb 28, 2010
excellent even though too long . story of vann who saw the light and tried to tell the generals that they were doing it all wrong and became disenchanted and left the army to return in a different capacity and become a leader who fell into the trap that he and US COULD win the war .
Apr 25, 2011
Paul
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This is one of the best books I think I'll ever read. Gorgeous prose, an utterly fascinating story, and a nuanced yet strikingly profound critique of the U.S. war in Vietnam and the hubris of great powers. It's long but it is worth every second.
Feb 10, 2009
Brianbyrne
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Great Read if your interested in a political/military history of the conflict from an interesting and exciting perspective. I am usually bored by political/military histories but this book added in the personal first person perspective.
Nov 27, 2010
Johnbh46
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The absolute best and most informative analysis of the events and history leading up to the Viet Nam war and most revealing portrayal of the mistakes that led to a disastrous outcome. For a student of these times, a mandatory read.
Sep 23, 2011
Peter
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I thought this book was incredibly well done! It is more informative about Vietnam than anything else I've ever read, while at the same time being a great biography. It's hugely long. An amazing accomplishment, really.
Mar 16, 2011
Aaron
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This book took me almost a month to read, but it was worth every moment. The story of a man who was clear-sighted enough to cut through to the heart of the Vietnam War and then let it consume him. It reads like a well-constructed novel, and the history never gets in the way of the narrative. Peerlessly researched, this book lays out all the reasons that the Vietnam War would never have succeeded, even if our leaders, strategy, and motives had been correct. Amazing.
