Harry Rothmann's Blog, page 2
September 22, 2020
Textbook Edition of WARRIORS AND FOOLS
The textbook edition of "Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters" is now available on Amazon. It comes in two volumes, and includes pictures, maps, documents, diagrams and tables to support the text description in the other versions. These two volumes are organized as shown in the picture attached, with examples of the illustrations included. These volumes, both paperbacks, can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann...Harry Rothmann
If anyone desires to consider these books as texts for a course on the Vietnam War you can contact me for an examination free of charge and shipping. All that is needed is a copy or sample of your course syllabus or a lesson plan. #Vietnam War #Teaching #Vietnamveteran#History of Vietnam War
If anyone desires to consider these books as texts for a course on the Vietnam War you can contact me for an examination free of charge and shipping. All that is needed is a copy or sample of your course syllabus or a lesson plan. #Vietnam War #Teaching #Vietnamveteran#History of Vietnam War
August 13, 2020
Warriors and Fools Textbook Edition
It has always been my primary goal to publish WARRIORS AND FOOLS, my book on the Vietnam War, primarily to get it in the hands of Vietnam Veterans and Educators who want to teach about the war. While for a self-published book sales have been moderate at 1000 copies and have already reached scores of veterans, it still has not received wide acceptance in academic circles and institutions. I am very pleased and honored that several noted historians, such as Professor Larry Berman and Dr. Andrew Bacevich; and the US Army’s Heritage Center, under Mike Perry, has promoted it through inviting me to talk about it. But thus far,
only one teacher, Professor Eric Mann, has decided to use it in a course. In addition, except for the iBook version, which has not gotten much attention, other versions do not have what I think is very useful in assisting in the teaching of the war; i.e., maps, diagrams, tables, pictures and copies of actual documents.
Thus, I have decided to publish a textbook version of my book. It will consist of two volumes and include pictures, maps, diagrams, tables, and other materials from my research. This textbook version will initially be available on Amazon as a two volume paperback and found on my author page at https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann.... I anticipate that this will be available at the beginning of September 2020. I will also attempt a new effort that will inform as many people as I can about the textbook - concentrating of course on an audience including those who may be interested in teaching a course on Vietnam.
So if any who are reading this post know of any potential courses or events about the Vietnam War or know of teachers who may be interested, please pass this post on to them or let me know how to contact them. I will, as I have offered before, send a courtesy version of the textbook after making contact with them and receiving a course proposal, lesson plan, or syllabus that demonstrates their seriousness in teaching a course on the Vietnam War.
In a subsequent post I will show what the textbook version looks like and how it will be organized. I thank those of you who have read my book and especially those of you who have supported it through writing reviews, and passing knowledge of its existence on to others.
only one teacher, Professor Eric Mann, has decided to use it in a course. In addition, except for the iBook version, which has not gotten much attention, other versions do not have what I think is very useful in assisting in the teaching of the war; i.e., maps, diagrams, tables, pictures and copies of actual documents.Thus, I have decided to publish a textbook version of my book. It will consist of two volumes and include pictures, maps, diagrams, tables, and other materials from my research. This textbook version will initially be available on Amazon as a two volume paperback and found on my author page at https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann.... I anticipate that this will be available at the beginning of September 2020. I will also attempt a new effort that will inform as many people as I can about the textbook - concentrating of course on an audience including those who may be interested in teaching a course on Vietnam.
So if any who are reading this post know of any potential courses or events about the Vietnam War or know of teachers who may be interested, please pass this post on to them or let me know how to contact them. I will, as I have offered before, send a courtesy version of the textbook after making contact with them and receiving a course proposal, lesson plan, or syllabus that demonstrates their seriousness in teaching a course on the Vietnam War.
In a subsequent post I will show what the textbook version looks like and how it will be organized. I thank those of you who have read my book and especially those of you who have supported it through writing reviews, and passing knowledge of its existence on to others.
May 18, 2020
Warriors and Fools Webinar
On 5 May the US Army Heritage Foundation asked me to do an hour webinar explaining my book Warriors and Fools. They taped the episode and placed it online as a You Tube video. It can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYhxP....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYhxP....
April 18, 2020
Interactive Materials in iBook
When I wrote WARRIORS AND FOOLS I intended to use the iBook Author application to embed interactive materials like animations, videos, Oral tapes, etc to share with the reader the fascinating sources I discovered in my research of the Vietnam War. I was very satisfied that I had succeeded when I published it in April 2018. Unfortunately, iBooks do not seem to have caught on with the public or with scholars despite their great value of seeing the sources that prompted the narrative. Attached is one such interactive video that I’m talking about.
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters
decent Interval.mov
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters
decent Interval.mov
February 18, 2020
WARRIORS AND FOOLS Endorsements
We are pleased to announce that our book on the Vietnam War, WARRIORS AND FOOLS, has received standout endorsements from two of America's most prestigious scholars on American military and Vietnam War history - Professors Andrew Bacevich of Boston University and Larry Berman of Georgia Tech University.
Review_and_Endorsements_for_Warriors_and_Fools.jpg
Review_and_Endorsements_for_Warriors_and_Fools.jpg
December 11, 2019
The Afghanistan Papers: Secret History of he War
As our book WARRIORS AND FOOLS chronicles, the Vietnam War was full of false or over optimistic assessments that clouded the strategic picture there and eventually, in part, added to disaster. Much of this was from not understanding the enemy and the region, both historically and culturally. A lot was a result of our civilian and military leaders not trusting and working together to formulate a viable strategy for the war. Moreover, at the end of the book we argue that much of what plagued US decision making then still exists in our government and their approach to conducting the global war on terror; and that this can be attributed to not learning from the same mistakes of the Vietnam War.
Just recently the Washington Post has published a series of papers, called the "Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War." These papers are Government transcripts of interviews of participants in the conduct of the war in Afghanistan, from senior civilian officials to military commanders. The paper gained access to these interview transcripts from a freedom of information request.
Like the "Pentagon Papers" of the Vietnam War these papers track the policies, strategies, and operations conducted in that country and region over time, from 2001 to the present. Also like the Pentagon Papers the collection shows the mistakes, misrepresentations, and misinformation of a dysfunctional government in its conduct of the war during that period.
Most startling, as we argue in WARRIORS AND FOOLS, these papers also demonstrate that we never learned from the Vietnam War; and, hence, we have been doomed to make the same mistakes from the past as we did in Vietnam. Thus, THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.
seehttps://wapo.st/afghanistan-papers?ti...
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters.
Just recently the Washington Post has published a series of papers, called the "Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War." These papers are Government transcripts of interviews of participants in the conduct of the war in Afghanistan, from senior civilian officials to military commanders. The paper gained access to these interview transcripts from a freedom of information request.
Like the "Pentagon Papers" of the Vietnam War these papers track the policies, strategies, and operations conducted in that country and region over time, from 2001 to the present. Also like the Pentagon Papers the collection shows the mistakes, misrepresentations, and misinformation of a dysfunctional government in its conduct of the war during that period.
Most startling, as we argue in WARRIORS AND FOOLS, these papers also demonstrate that we never learned from the Vietnam War; and, hence, we have been doomed to make the same mistakes from the past as we did in Vietnam. Thus, THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.
seehttps://wapo.st/afghanistan-papers?ti...
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters.
December 7, 2019
Interactive Books
Not sure how many here enjoy the benefits of interactive books like an iBook. Frankly, they are the future of reading because of what they offer.
For example for theWarriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters holiday season, there is no better way to immerse yourself into the complexities of the Vietnam War - from the US and North Vietnamese politics and strategies in Washington and Hanoi to the battlefields in Southeast Asia - than to read, hear and see the civilian and military leaders discussions, arguments and plans and the military operations and battles from the perspectives of the soldiers of both sides embedded in secret tapes, never before seen maps, photos, animations, and film in an iBook. If you have access to an iPad or Mac laptop or computer you will never believe what you can see and hear about the war! Don’t miss out on this experience!
For example for theWarriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Matters holiday season, there is no better way to immerse yourself into the complexities of the Vietnam War - from the US and North Vietnamese politics and strategies in Washington and Hanoi to the battlefields in Southeast Asia - than to read, hear and see the civilian and military leaders discussions, arguments and plans and the military operations and battles from the perspectives of the soldiers of both sides embedded in secret tapes, never before seen maps, photos, animations, and film in an iBook. If you have access to an iPad or Mac laptop or computer you will never believe what you can see and hear about the war! Don’t miss out on this experience!
November 25, 2019
Great Book for the Holidays for History Buffs
Did you know that there are many history books and documentaries about the Vietnam War that are now outdated? New records, interviews, documents, and secret tapes are revealing so much about the war from both sides that much of what we thought about the war is turning out misunderstood or flat out wrong.
For example, did you think that Ho Chi Minh and Giap were the Communist leaders running the war? Wrong!
Did you think the war was primarily an insurgency or civil war? Wrong!
Did you think the war was won by the American military but lost by the politicians? Wrong!
Did you think that the South Vietnamese people hated their leaders so much that they could never had survived as an independent nation; or that its military never could have defeated the North? Wrong!
There is so much that we are now learning that dispels the experts and our thinking about the war. A new book that uses the latest historical sources from all sides in the war and dispels so many myths or misunderstandings and misgivings about the war is now available. It’s called WARRIORS AND FOOLS: HOW AMERICA’S LEADERS LOST THE VIETNAM WAR AND WHY IT STILL MATTERS.
See a trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNerI...
Buy now as an Apple iBook at -
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Mattershttps://books.apple.com/us/book/warri... or http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id137.... For others who do not have an iPad or Mac or who are looking for a hard copy see Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann..., OR https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warr..., or https://www.indiebound.org/book/97806....
For example, did you think that Ho Chi Minh and Giap were the Communist leaders running the war? Wrong!
Did you think the war was primarily an insurgency or civil war? Wrong!
Did you think the war was won by the American military but lost by the politicians? Wrong!
Did you think that the South Vietnamese people hated their leaders so much that they could never had survived as an independent nation; or that its military never could have defeated the North? Wrong!
There is so much that we are now learning that dispels the experts and our thinking about the war. A new book that uses the latest historical sources from all sides in the war and dispels so many myths or misunderstandings and misgivings about the war is now available. It’s called WARRIORS AND FOOLS: HOW AMERICA’S LEADERS LOST THE VIETNAM WAR AND WHY IT STILL MATTERS.
See a trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNerI...
Buy now as an Apple iBook at -
Warriors and Fools: How America's Leaders Lost the Vietnam War and Why It Still Mattershttps://books.apple.com/us/book/warri... or http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id137.... For others who do not have an iPad or Mac or who are looking for a hard copy see Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann..., OR https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warr..., or https://www.indiebound.org/book/97806....
November 20, 2019
Vietnam War: Veterans' Views of the War's Histories
I have published two books on the Vietnam War. To sell them, or more importantly to get them into Vietnam War Veterans hands, I have joined Facebook and other social media sites. What I have found there is startling and troubling to me. This is why.
First, I had taught a course on Vietnam to military officers at a senior war college. There senior officers were enraged at how poorly the high ranking military officers and their civilian heads had gone about to wage the war in Vietnam. This was from its inception, where they did not properly formulate a national strategy to wage the war; and then as they conducted military operations where they ignored their enemy, failed to provide the means to fight it, and handcuffed the military commanders in their operations. In short, they were interested in how they could improve in the future civil-military strategic formulation that was sorely needed.
But, what I found on the internet and in social media was that very few Vietnam Veterans were interested in how the wrongs and failures of the conduct of that war could be remedied so that they would not be repeated again for future veterans. Rather, they wanted to blame someone for the failure or not admit that the war was lost -- not correct what went wrong for any future war. They were enraged and wanted to have someone or something to blame for their sacrifice. In so doing, moreover, many rallied around the argument that they - the military - had won all the battles and the politicians lost the war for them. It was the classic "Stab in the Back" argument that Adolph Hitler so effectively used to gain power in Germany in the early thirties. And when I attempted to tell them it was not that simple, many, because I too was a veteran, called me a traitor to their cause because I had said we lost the war.
Now why is this a topic anyone on Goodreads should care about. Well, the view that the Veterans embraced was that of the Revisionist historians who have been arguing for over a decade now and is expounded upon in many of the more recent history books that are available to read. While those historians are not much worse than the orthodox historians who argue that the war should never been fought and was unwinnable two wrongs don't make a right - as the saying goes.
So for those who are interested in the histories of the Vietnam War, as you read one of the books on that war beware.....blaming someone who had been involved in some particular onerous outcome is not the real value of history. Rather finding what caused the decisions that were made and why they chose to make them is a much better approach and of more value in trying to understand the outcome of that history. And don't forget that, especially in the case of the Vietnam War, US decisions were not the only ones that resulted in the outcome. Rather, as the saying goes, 'the enemy matters and gets a vote' in the outcome. Harry Rothmann
First, I had taught a course on Vietnam to military officers at a senior war college. There senior officers were enraged at how poorly the high ranking military officers and their civilian heads had gone about to wage the war in Vietnam. This was from its inception, where they did not properly formulate a national strategy to wage the war; and then as they conducted military operations where they ignored their enemy, failed to provide the means to fight it, and handcuffed the military commanders in their operations. In short, they were interested in how they could improve in the future civil-military strategic formulation that was sorely needed.
But, what I found on the internet and in social media was that very few Vietnam Veterans were interested in how the wrongs and failures of the conduct of that war could be remedied so that they would not be repeated again for future veterans. Rather, they wanted to blame someone for the failure or not admit that the war was lost -- not correct what went wrong for any future war. They were enraged and wanted to have someone or something to blame for their sacrifice. In so doing, moreover, many rallied around the argument that they - the military - had won all the battles and the politicians lost the war for them. It was the classic "Stab in the Back" argument that Adolph Hitler so effectively used to gain power in Germany in the early thirties. And when I attempted to tell them it was not that simple, many, because I too was a veteran, called me a traitor to their cause because I had said we lost the war.
Now why is this a topic anyone on Goodreads should care about. Well, the view that the Veterans embraced was that of the Revisionist historians who have been arguing for over a decade now and is expounded upon in many of the more recent history books that are available to read. While those historians are not much worse than the orthodox historians who argue that the war should never been fought and was unwinnable two wrongs don't make a right - as the saying goes.
So for those who are interested in the histories of the Vietnam War, as you read one of the books on that war beware.....blaming someone who had been involved in some particular onerous outcome is not the real value of history. Rather finding what caused the decisions that were made and why they chose to make them is a much better approach and of more value in trying to understand the outcome of that history. And don't forget that, especially in the case of the Vietnam War, US decisions were not the only ones that resulted in the outcome. Rather, as the saying goes, 'the enemy matters and gets a vote' in the outcome. Harry Rothmann
September 3, 2019
A New History of the Vietnam War
We've reached a
threshold for WARRIORS AND FOOLS....500 books sold. Thanks to those who purchased this most recent book on the Vietnam War!
See a sample trailer at https://youtu.be/cPK3y5iF9Ag. Buy now as an Apple iBook at -
https://books.apple.com/…/…/warriors-...… or http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id137.... For others who do not have an iPad or Mac or who are looking for a hard copy see Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann..., OR https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warr...…, or https://www.indiebound.org/book/97806....
threshold for WARRIORS AND FOOLS....500 books sold. Thanks to those who purchased this most recent book on the Vietnam War!See a sample trailer at https://youtu.be/cPK3y5iF9Ag. Buy now as an Apple iBook at -
https://books.apple.com/…/…/warriors-...… or http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id137.... For others who do not have an iPad or Mac or who are looking for a hard copy see Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Rothmann..., OR https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warr...…, or https://www.indiebound.org/book/97806....
