The #1 national bestseller--an indispensable document for anyone interested in the Vietnam War. McNamara's controversial book tells the inside and ...
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Feb 04, 2012
Eric_W
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Addendum 9/9/09. As I follow the discussion over Afghanistan, I was reminded of a report cited by McNamara that was begun at the behest of CIA director Richard Helms. Super-secret it was done to examine contingencies to see what might happen if there were an unfavorable outcome in Vietnam. Over 30 CIA analysts were consulted. It was not to be an argument for ending the war, just responses to a hypothetical question. The memo was entitled "Implications of an Unfavorable Outcome in Vietnam.
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Sep 20, 2007
Nathan
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In Retrospect was a book I had no desire to read, at all, on the basis that its author was, is and ever shall be one of the least credible monsters in the history of US government. Vietnam was McNamara's war. After hearing so much about the documentary Fog of War, I really wanted to read this book and see where McNamara was coming from more than thirty years after the war he and the Democratic administrations of the times started and escalated. The first few chapters of the book imply that it wi
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Jun 22, 2010
Lara
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Mcnamara's honesty in looking back and objectively detailing how our country got into Vietnam is an account that everyone should read. He has an intelligent and organized approach; along the way the reader learns much about how our government works and how decisions are made. It is a must read- also watch the documentary "Fog of War", excellent as well.
"The reward of suffering is experience"
"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all More...
"The reward of suffering is experience"
"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all More...
Oct 21, 2009
Pamela
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 05, 2009
Kristen
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Lucidly-written, seemed largely free of ideological (political) bias, and reflective. The author does not hesitate to point out his own failings, and does so in a way that explains rather than attempts to justify the mistakes. This book differs from many current "memoirs" or books about political events in that it was written long enough after the events in question for the author to fully develop his thinking "in retrospect." He does not seem to be attempting to salvage his
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Oct 09, 2011
Kathy
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I finally understand our involvement in Vietnam thanks to McNamara's painstaking effort to clarify each step in the decisions made during his years of involvement, including their shared ignorance of what they were dealing with.
Even afterwards it seemed impossible to pin down the truth, which apparently wasn't even clear to those who made the bad decisions.
No one could predict whether some of their fears were potentially deadly or not, since they'd never been experienced before.
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Even afterwards it seemed impossible to pin down the truth, which apparently wasn't even clear to those who made the bad decisions.
No one could predict whether some of their fears were potentially deadly or not, since they'd never been experienced before.
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May 13, 2008
Laurajsouthwick
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Very interesting. Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, takes an apologetic and critical look at the decisions he and others made regarding US involvement in Vietnam. I hate to get all political, but some of the missteps are quite a bit too familiar for comfort, even if some of them "seemed like a good idea at the time."
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Nov 09, 2009
Jack
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In the preface, McNamera quotes from T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding:
He looks back, with the objectivity that Time allows, and writes with a candor that doesn’t fail to criticise himself as well as being fair to others. Despite disagreements with Lyndon Johnson and the Joint Chiefs on the execution of t More...
We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
He looks back, with the objectivity that Time allows, and writes with a candor that doesn’t fail to criticise himself as well as being fair to others. Despite disagreements with Lyndon Johnson and the Joint Chiefs on the execution of t More...
Dec 15, 2011
Sam
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This book was good for me to read because of the patients I had serving as a physician in the Army that were maimed or died from action in Viet Nam. As I suspected, just as in especially WWI and the Iraq War, the VietNam War was brought on by stupidity and over-reaction to minor incidents and escalated because of more stupidity and over-reaction. He refreshingly admits the mistakes that were made on his watch Secretary of Defense from Kennedy's administration to leaving in 1968 from Johnson's.
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May 16, 2007
max
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lots of tragedy, not many lessons. pretty poorly written, not all that insightful or even reflective. and my vietnamese bootleg copy was full of typos
Jan 22, 2010
Cam
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I find myself repeating a common sentiment felt after reading non-fiction: where are your editors? Allow me to summarize the whole thing in a few sentences:
"We made a lot of mistakes in our decision-making and administration of the war. We had the nation's best interests at heart and whole-hearted thought that we were doing the right thing. However, we made decisions based on faulty premises and, in general, did a poor job of understanding the geopolitical climate of Southeast A More...
"We made a lot of mistakes in our decision-making and administration of the war. We had the nation's best interests at heart and whole-hearted thought that we were doing the right thing. However, we made decisions based on faulty premises and, in general, did a poor job of understanding the geopolitical climate of Southeast A More...
May 20, 2011
Alan
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The US Secretary of Defense looks back on the decision making process in the US government concerning the Vietnam War. His main conclusions are that the US should have pulled out about 1964 before committing combat forces. The US greatly overestimated (a) their chances of defeating the Vietcong (partly because the South Vietnam government was so weak) and (b) the consequences of their withdrawal (they firmly believed in the domino effect).
A fine backdrop to my Vietnam tour, althoug More...
A fine backdrop to my Vietnam tour, althoug More...
Jan 31, 2011
Deana
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In case you don't recognize the name, Robert S. McNamera was the Secretary of Defense during most of the Vietnam war. He wrote this book in the late 90s using notes and memoirs written by himself and others during the time of the events. His reasoning was because he saw the administration at the time making many of the same mistakes that his administration made in Vietnam. I feel that is even more true now with the situation in Iran and Afghanistan.
This was a book club book. At first, More...
This was a book club book. At first, More...
Jul 15, 2008
important: I gave this book 5 stars because I believe it is an important historical document. Robert McNamara explains some of his beliefs and reasoning that helped to shape our country's position in Vietnam in the 60's.
There is also information here that may be new to many people , for example, he gives convincing evidence that president Kennedy had decided to begin withdrawal of our personnel by the end of 1963, and have everyone out by 1965.
In chapter 11 , he gives a brief list of our fai More...
There is also information here that may be new to many people , for example, he gives convincing evidence that president Kennedy had decided to begin withdrawal of our personnel by the end of 1963, and have everyone out by 1965.
In chapter 11 , he gives a brief list of our fai More...
Jun 20, 2011
I am slugging through this book. It is very interesting, but not as compelling to me as fiction. I once told my dad that I didn't learn enough about the Vietnam War in school. He replied that when I was in school, people still weren't sure what really happened in Vietnam. I feel like the puzzle pieces are now being put together.
It is intriguing to be reading about a polarizing war at a time when the US is engaged on multiple fronts. It changes the way I read the newspaper.
It is intriguing to be reading about a polarizing war at a time when the US is engaged on multiple fronts. It changes the way I read the newspaper.
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Feb 11, 2009
David
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McNamara is clearly repentant, but his analysis of the events of the Vietnam War seem no more lucid after the fact than before. He spends most of his time saying that he should have considered certain important questions more carefully. When he does raise questions that he believes weren't satisfactorily answered, he doesn't seem to answer them in this text. Or at least I got frustrated with it before he got around to answering them.
Jul 05, 2009
Dustin
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I read this book twice. The first time, I thought it was great. Turns out, on second reading, it's only good. Extremely valuable as a guide to avoid the tragedies and pitfalls that will come in the fog of war, it sinks when McNamara avoids answering why the war in Vietnam was not only bad strategy, but also very criminal. Rarely would I recommend the film adaptation of book, but "The Fog of War" is much more satisfying...and shorter.
Jan 07, 2011
John
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This is probably the best history book I've ever read. The title suggests it's a memoir, but it's much more a top level policy historical document, with very personal insights along side the factual content.
I especially liked that the edition I've got came with a heft appendix with a broad cross section of the critical response to the original publishing (positive and negative) which puts the book in a much better context.
I especially liked that the edition I've got came with a heft appendix with a broad cross section of the critical response to the original publishing (positive and negative) which puts the book in a much better context.
Dec 17, 2009
Rob
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one of the most interesting things I got from this book is that from 1961 to at least 1965, Vietnam was no higher than NUMBER THREE on the foreign policy priority list. Russia was number one and cuba number two. Of course Berlin and China and Korea and the middle east were high priority, too. It's so easy to look back and say, "Well, since vietnam was destined to blow up into the mega-disaster of the decade, everyone should have been working full time to prevent it." this is the pa
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Aug 30, 2010
John
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McNamara's IN RETROSPECT was bound to be as contraversial as the war he managed. I found his mia cula to be too limited. Johnson made liars out of a lot of good people. Bill Moyers has spent 40 years trying to repent. McNamara's repentence is incomplete and laced with more lies for which he became famous originally. But you can appreciate the book and still despise the man, and his war.
Oct 22, 2009
Sarah
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This is one of my favorite books of all time. McNamara tells the truth from the perspective that only he can have. When he died recently, I brought this book out from its special place in my house, and as I have been re-reading it, I have been silently in awe of the lessons I continue to learn about the generation that was so sure on the surface and so green just below the skin.
Jun 27, 2008
James
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Utterly self-serving memoir that avoids at all times any discussions of WHY we were in Vietnam to begin with. He cynically suggests Eisenhower delighted in leaving his successor with this problem but even that explains very little. The only desire seems to be the abstract notion of 'keeping Southeast Asia non-communist', but how does more bombing keep that from happening? Indeed every meeting seems to revolve whether to bomb more or bomb less as if those were the only options. He tosses in a
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Dec 09, 2011
Angelmae
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Despite the author prefacing it with "not wanting it to be a sort of apology" it does at times come over as such. Fascinating inside look at how decisions at the highest levels are sometimes made by very flawed people with very limited information. I find it hard to read without some haze of emotion, since my father fought in Vietnam for the Australian Army.
Sep 21, 2009
Belle
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became interested in reading this after visiting cambodia, vietnam, and laos. it was a faster read than i expected. reading this account, it seems hard to imagine that we ever could have gotten ourselves into such a quagmire, but of course hindsight is always 20/20.
however, given our current conflicts in the middle east, it seems like we don't learn a whole lot from history.
however, given our current conflicts in the middle east, it seems like we don't learn a whole lot from history.
Mar 24, 2008
Bryan
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With this book, Macnamara has distinguished himself as one of my personal heroes. In Retrospect is an intriguing and very straight-forward chronicle of the mistakes made by Macnamara and the Kennedy and Johnson administrations during the Vietnam War. As I was reading, Macnamara's honesty and humility seemed very refreshing. Here is a man who, his entire life, rode upon the crest of power. President of Ford Motor Company, Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and after all of this, h
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Jan 12, 2008
Bob
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Memoirs tend to be self-serving. McNamara’s is no different. What makes this book unique is the end the author seeks. He is not trying to justify why his actions were right but to explain and apologize for them. His harsh self-criticism is oddly refreshing.
The former Defense Secretary was one of the brilliant thinkers of his day and had a superb analytical, no bullshit, approach to decision making. Yet he and his colleagues dropped the ball when it came to difficult decisions regardi More...
The former Defense Secretary was one of the brilliant thinkers of his day and had a superb analytical, no bullshit, approach to decision making. Yet he and his colleagues dropped the ball when it came to difficult decisions regardi More...
Aug 03, 2007
Kimberly
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I hate this book almost as much as I hate the man who wrote it, but I also think you can't really understand the full picture of the Vietnam War until you hear it from all sides. Of course in the case of the administration (namely Robert McNamara,) that means reading a book full of lies and poorly-constructed attempts at explanation and self defense--which is exactly what this book is.
Clearly McNamara can feel the cold hand of death reaching out for him and wants one more attempt (pa More...
Clearly McNamara can feel the cold hand of death reaching out for him and wants one more attempt (pa More...
Feb 12, 2009
Tabatha
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There is so much repetition of the same mistakes. How exhausting politics must be even with the value of hindsight. This was a phenomenal insight into how easily we can turn a blind eye to a problem and make decisions without plausible solutions. I appreciate Secretary McNamara's accepting criticism and admitting mistakes on his part and the part of the government without just pointing fingers. This is a good starting point when researching history of the Vietnam Conflict.
Sep 13, 2010
Al
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I think he is very pragmatic....and I think this is the same as saying he is very intelligent. Having said that, I realize this book is his narrative. Now it is my job to interpret his story as best I can. I now have a new level of appreciation for his contributions to society.
Aug 13, 2009
Steven
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McNamara stuck with the "we were young idealists who made inevitable mistakes but always thought we were doing good" defense for his war crimes until the day he died. The full range of his self-aggrandizing bullshit is on display in this pitiful memoir.
