Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: The Vietnam War Revisited

by Andrew Wiest (Editor)

From the Colonial War with France in the 1940s and 50s, through to the final evacuation of Saigon, each chapter of Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land focuses on a different aspect of the Vietnam War. The 15 chapters are written by a diverse set of expert authors including participants in the war, journalists and historians, who give startling and, in some cases exclusive, insights into one of the most controversial conflicts of the 20th century. Officers from both the NVA and ARVN take a first-hand look at the strategy and tactics of both sides and give critical assessments of where the war went wrong; Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese civilian trapped between the Viet Cong and Southern authorities, provides a harrowing account of life for the typical South Vietnamese civilian caught up in the war; and acclaimed historians and journalists, such as Bernard Edelman and Arnold Isaacs, take a critical look at the many aspects of the war from the river and air wars to the strategy and doctrine used by the USA forces and the controversial roll of the media in the war. Illustrated with contemporary color photography that evocatively complements the text, this book shows the Vietnam War in a radically new light.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, War, Military Fiction, Politics

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

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

[Brett C · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This war is all wrong. I will continue to fight, win my medals and fight the elements and hardships of the country. But that is because I'm a soldier and it's my job and there are other people depending on me." SGT Phillip Woodall, US Army. April 1968, two months after the Tet Offensive. pg 187

This was a superb analysis and breakdown of the Vietnam War to include both the French and the Americans. Andrew Wiest put together a collection of essays about the overarching subject of the war. The book was topic-driven and each chapter was centered on that topic. The various authors gave thorough analysis, supporting lecture, and clear narrative to address each topic.

In the end, the Vietnam War was a conflict of myriad complexities. It was a colonial war and a regional war. It was a total war and a limited war. It was a civil war, an insurgency, and a conventional war—and indeed it varied from one form to another at different times and in different places. It was a war in mountains, jungles, or open rice paddies. It was a war of high technology or no technology. It was a war of airpower and foot power. It was a helicopter war and a brown-water war. pgs 33-4

Here is an overview of the topics:

1. The French Indochina War, 1946-54
• Course of the war
• Lack of mobility
• The French Command
• Morale and Effectiveness

2. Fight for the Long Haul
• Marxism and Leninist-Stalinist interpretation
• National Liberation Front (Viet Cong, VC)
• Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN)
• Soldiers, Strategy, Tactics (VC, PAVN)
• Hanoi's response to US Forces and Strategy

3. The Ho Chi Minh Trail

4. The War Outside Vietnam
• Asian Interests
• Early Struggles to Keep Cambodia and Laos Communist Free
• Cambodian and Laotian Interdiction

5. A View From the Other Side of the Story
• South Vietnam Army
• North Vietnam Army
• 1972 Easter Offensive
• 1975 Offensive
• Causes of the Collapse of Vietnam (lack of a clear mission)

6. Caught in the Crossfire
• A Southern Perspective of a Vietnam Divided
• Atrocities, retribution, government crackdown
• Strategic Hamlet Program

7. Australian and New Zealander Army in Vietnam
• Army, Air, Naval, counterinsurgency support

8. Code of Conduct
• Westmoreland: search-and-destroy operations
• Abrams: "One War" and Vietnamization

9. The Air War
• Operation Rolling Thunder
• Air Campaign in Laos
• Air War in Cambodia
• Air War in South Vietnam
• Search and Rescue operations

10. The River War
• US Mobile Riverine Force
• Mekong Delta and River patrols

11. Adapting US Warfighting Doctrine
• Airmobility: heliborne operations
• Fire Support and Artillery
• Grunt Ops: Bushmaster, jitterbug operations

Overall this was a great read. Instead of being a straight forward and linear "from beginning to end" narrative it was topic-driven so thw focus was different. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in a different vantage point of the Vietnam War. Thanks!

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Introduction In the end, then, the Vietnam War was a conflict of myriad complexities. It was a colonial war and a regional war. It was a total war and a limited war. It was a civil war, an insurgency and a conventional war - and indeed it varied from one form to another at different times and in different places. It was a war in mountains, jungles or open rice paddies depending on the location of the battlefield. It was a war of high technology and no technology. It was a war of airpower and a war of footpower. It was a helicopter war and a brown-water war. It was a war won on the battlefield and lost on the homefront. One thing that the Vietnam War was not was simply an American War. It was a war of varying and mutable contexts - a chameleon of constant change. The greatest American failure in the conflict was a failure to understand context. For far too many important American planners the Vietnam War had but one context - the black and white context of the Cold War; a context that begged an inexorable singular military logic and solution. A military solution that was so overly simple that it proved to be no solution at all. ���� The present study takes as its main goal to place the Vietnam War into its proper contexts. Though Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land cannot pretend to answer all of the nagging questions that still surround the conflict, it can at least begin to pose new questions that have too often been left unasked or ignored. Through the work of a unique collection of historians, journalists, and war participants Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land also seeks to spark historical debate and research by searching for new contextual answers to questions that many historians had thought long since answered - sometimes calling for a needed revision of the historical orthodoxy of the conflict. Thus the present study proposes to take fresh looks at several of the most important aspects of the Vietnam War and hopes to …

[Filipe Amaral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of chapters, organized by Andrew Wiest. The chapters are about the French phase, the North and Vietnamese soldiers, US strategy and tactics, the ANZAC participation, the air and river war, the bombing of Cambodia and the aftermath are all excellents. My only complain is that altough the author does mention that the South Korean military was the 3rd largest allied contributor, behind only of South Vietnam and the United States, sending 45,000 men to the Republic of Vietnam, there is no chapter on the ROK participation in the war.

[Ken Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written and informative. Very brave in its approach.
Ken
www.kengracebooks.com

[Elia Princess of Starfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vietnam/American War was America's most controversial and infamous conflict conducted at the height of the Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union warred with one another over ideology, political power and whether they had the strength to defeat one another on the battlefield. The Vietnam war ranged from the departure of the colonial French in 1954 (coinciding with America becoming more and more involved in the construction and supporting of the anti-communist South Vietnam) to the chaotic Fall of Saigon in 1975 to communist North Vietnam, a civil war that lasted over 20 years. A civil war that left Vietnam with 3-4 million dead, a country devastated by warfare, Agent Orange and bombing while America had over 58000 thousand dead and suffered its first major defeat in its military history.



The Vietnam war saw lasting and profound social, economic and cultural changes in both Vietnam and the US. Vietnam was reunified under communist rule and for years afterwards suffered form corruption, systemic poverty, Agent Orange health issues and economic and political isolation on the world stage until the late 1980s while America was left with a shattered and disillusioned sense of morality and belief in American exceptionalism along with a new bitter suspicion of politicians and government that haunts America to this day. To say that the Vietnam War remains alive to this day, in both Vietnam and America, would be an understatement. Both countries continue to grapple and ponder the lasting legacies of the war and the impact it has had on both countries.



The book Rolling Thunder, indeed, takes on the perspectives and beliefs about the war from both sides particularly in how both countries feel and have dealt with the impact and legacy of the war overall and what is says about their current political, social and military situations today. The book itself is an illustrated history text with a certain coffee table book feel and takes a thematic approach overall (focusing on certain subjects such as the state of Cambodia and Laos, the experience of the average US grunt, the perspective of North and South Vietnamese soldiers on the war and the American involvement). Written by historians, former soldiers and civilians who lived during the chaos and carnage of the civil war, the chapters are diverse, well-written and offer thoughtful and considerate analysis of their chosen topics although some authors are clearly biased and tend to steer clear of controversial topics (Agent Orange).



This is a detailed, insightful and engaging book that explores and discusses both well-known and lesser-known topics of the Vietnam War. Unlike like other history textbooks (which usually focus on the American experience at the expense of the Vietnamese), Rolling Thunder has a chapter dedicated to the South Vietnamese experience of living under the South Vietnamese government during a civil war in which the Americans were a visible and often frightening part of the Anti-Communist regime written by a women who experienced the trials and hardships of living in war-torn South Vietnam. Alongside all the chapters, the book itself is gorgeously decorated with stunning images of the Vietnam War, adding greatly to the book's visual and photographic appeal.



Overall, Rolling Thunder is an excellent, well-rounded and critical book that is suited to the general public and dedicated readers of history. It explains, details and analyses the various subjects the book writes about in a careful historical, social and political context. Rolling Thunder uses and utilises primary and secondary sources and persons in detail, combining seasoned writers and historians with the perspectives of first-hand participants of the war. There are certain issues with some authors displaying biases and favouritism towards one side or the other. However, Rolling Thunder is a book I'd still highly recommend for anyone interested in the Vietnam/American War.

[Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overall view of the war on a very broad scale, i really do wish it went into more details about certain subjects, like the TET offensive which is mentioned with maybe 2 or 3 sentences. Easy reading and important subjects, though it does go pretty soft on the american media during the war and maybe there is some researchers bias at certain segments.

[Syd Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was DENSE. But in a good, detailed way. I did some skimming there at the end, but I enjoyed the way it covered a controversial war from many different angles.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Wiestin toimittama "Vietnamin sota" (Ajatus Kirjat, 2009) on pätevä läpileikkaus aiheeseensa ja erinomainen lisä suomeksi käännettyyn Vietnam-kirjallisuuteen. Kirjoittajat käsittelevät konfliktia monesta eri näkökulmasta, ja viidessätoista luvussa ehditään tutustua mm. eri puolilla taistelleiden sotilaan kokemuksiin, siviilien koettelemuksiin, ilma- ja merisotaan ja sotaakäyvien osapuolten taktiikoihin. Erityisen mielenkiintoinen on professori Daniel C. Hallinin kirjoittama neljästoista luku, jossa käsitellään median todellista vaikutusta USA:n sodankäyntiin; lukijaa kehotetaan suhtautumaan kriittisesti usein toistettuun ajatukseen television rooliin mielipidevaikuttajana. Lisäksi kirja purkaa myös omalta osaltaan myyttiä amerikkalaisista sotavangeista, jotka mukamas joutuivat virumaan leireillä vuosikausia sodan päättymisen jälkeen.