The Vietnam War 1956-1975

Osprey Essential Histories #38

by Andrew Wiest

The Vietnam War was arguably the most important event, or series of events, of the "American Century." America entered the brutal conflict certain of its Cold War doctrines and certain of its moral mission to save the world from the advance of communism. As this book explains, however, the war was not at all what the United States expected. Outnumbered and outgunned the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces resorted to a guerrilla war based on the theories of Mao Zedong of China. This was war reduced to its most basic level - find the enemy and kill him.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, France, American History, Military History

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Andrew A. Wiest is presently a Professor of History at the University of Southern Misssissippi, and serves as director of the Vietnam Studies Program and co-director of the university's Center for the Study of War and Society.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good cliffs-notes version of the war. It summed it up good - but my only complaint was it had very few details on the My Lai massacre. Overall - I liked it - and recommend it if you want to know what happened.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read a short version of a overall history of the Vietnam War, and this fit the bill. I wanted to choose something written by a person with an extensive knowledge and was published by a reputable publishing house. Wiest has written many books on Vietnam and more on other wars. I am American and he is not, but I did find that he was adding his personal opinion of Johnson and the other players and how inept they were, rather than just stating facts. It's not abnormal for historians to note their opinion as fact, but it was jarring to see it written as, paraphrasing here, "Because of their immorality and ineptitude, they continued to fight a war that was unwinnable." Like, yeah, but I would hope that a prolific historian of the war could explain the intricacies of the reasons the war failed/lasted so long a little better than just, they were dumb and prideful. I dunno, maybe us 'Mericans are just dumb and prideful. lol

[Erik Tolvstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book an Osprey Publishing condensed history, of American involvement in the Vietnam War. The author's intent was to present an overview of political actions (many, many miscalculations at strategic levels), ebb and flow of combat, and some stories of the key participants.

I think it a very well done history, especially given the limited scope. I recommend this for folks looking for an overview of that tragedy

[Andrea Maisano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breve ma ben scritto riassunto della guerra dal Vietnam, dal secondo dopoguerra alla prima guerra indocinese fino al coinvolgimento degli USA al loro ritiro e poi alla caduta del Vietnam del Sud. Interessante analisi sia militare che sociale di una guerra che non può essere vista solo dal lato "tecnico".
Chiudo con le ultime tre parole del libro: "l'America ha perso".

[Eleonora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Per una persona come me che ama la geopolitica ma di molti avvenimenti non toccati a scuola sa poco e niente, questo libro è stato veramente chiaro. Ho scoperto dinamiche di cui ero poco a conoscenza. Consiglio molto a chi vuole capire qualcosa di più senza leggere un saggio troppo complicato.

[BookWaffle :3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few books I plan to read in remembrance of the Vietnam War`s 50th anniversary, with its devastating and long-lasting effects across borders and shattering of pride amongst nations at its time.

[Peter F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short overview of the Vietnam War. Really like these Osprey military history books and will check out more of them.

[McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, 10/10, if you like history you would love this book

[Jamie Hastilow · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wiest presents a thoughtful and informative overview of the Vietnam War. It primarily focuses on the American engagement with Vietnam.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Canada after this war had ended, it was something only on the periphery of my understanding. Much of the U.S.'s involvement in other conflicts around the world has been haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam and I thought I could better understand these more recent conflicts if I knew more about the Vietnam War. This slim guide is clear, precise, and well illustrated, and it contains just the right amount of detail. I also appreciated that it gave space to a Vietnam veteran and a conscientious objector to describe the period in their own words. I'm planning to seek out other titles in this collection.

[Karim Boutaleb · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was the importance of the Vietnam War ? Historians usually judge the Vietnam War by being the most important war on earth! It was the most important war on earth because it affected many other countries in different ways. Vietnam also lost money. While the 1960s was an important and difficult year for most of the countries, the war took place during that time. As Vietnam had a difficult year the war was an addition to their problems. The Vietnam War was a very difficult situation for Vietnam that was difficult to go through.

On June 25, 1950 the Cold War arrived at Korea. Korea was ruled by Japan until 1910, at the close of World War 2. The soviet union declared war on japan by agreement of the United States. U.S forces agreed to help japan by occupying the south of Korea. At the end neither Korea nor Japan accepted the request for making the border. China entered South Korea and The United Nations declared the ceasefire contract. After seeing that South Korea was in aid of help other countries came in to help and protect them. South Korea ended up by freeing themselves. The Vietnam War was not only a disaster for Vietnam but also for other countries.

The North Vietnam history.Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap were the interitors of Vietnam and they introduce many things. For example they introduced martial tradition with Communists doctorine .The North Vietnamese also had powerful allies in the coming conflict.For example one of the allies were Chinese.


Friday 14, November

The battle of Ap Bac was when the U.S. realized that Viet Cong was winning the war.
For many reasons the Viet Cong were better than U.S. Outnumbered, the Viet Cong fought courageously to beat the U.S. .The disorganization of a country can affect the war. In the Vietnam War, the U.S. was very disoriented so they lost the battle. When a country is not properly prepared for war they can lose many people.


Sometimes leaders take some decisions that can change the war. President Johnson was not prepared for the war and he made questionable decisions. An example of this was the military draft that he made instead of using the National Guard members. Often in wars soldiers fight for time not for freedom. President Johnson said that soldiers will go for one-year deployments and return for few days to their home and go back, but it didn’t work. To conclude, Leaders can cause the loss of a country.

The battle of La Dang Valley was a very important battle in the Vietnam War. The U.S. was better than Viet Cong in this battle for many reasons. American forces killed 11 times more troops than the Viet Cong. The U.S. tricked them with many things in this war. Surprise mass transporting of troops and bombing raids caught the Viet Cong off-guard. To conclude, in this battle the U.S. used new battle strategies to beat the Viet Cong.

[Declan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A war that has shaped American involvement with the world in the years following it. It is difficult to understand the impact this conflict has had on the American psyche for a Brit born in the late 1970s.

This book provides a (by necessity) brief overview of the conflict, some of the battles, and the aftermath and is a good additional to this wonderful series.

[Sean Chick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly standard history of the conflict. It is mostly balanced, and well written. The author makes a shameless plug for the University of Southern Mississippi (where he works) at the end so I took off a star.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Cliff Notes interpretation of the Vietnam War.

[sandeep choda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Taught me a lot and made me download more on the subject...a great read and not written in a complex way at all

[Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catching up on some history during my strange non-fiction craze.

[Nikoleta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the "portrait of civilian" part, but I thought the book is little bit confusing and its difficult to navigate without prior knowledge.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and brief overview of the Vietnam War. I enjoyed this and finished it in a day. Highly recommend if you are only looking for an overview, lacking detailed accounts.