For others, it will bewith 25plus years of hindsightsimply fascinating reading. Summarizing mostly from pilger again, the political background to the buildup of the vietnam war is worth highlighting here. James zumwalt about his new book on the vietnam war, as seen. American journalism 19591969 historians and students will find reporting vietnam to be a rich and handy reference. The vietnam war was a long and gruesome battle with a huge cost accumulated on both sides, in terms of human fatalities.
I wanted to get on with my life, and i think a lot of americans felt the same way. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. The exhibition focuses on the overseas weekly operation during the vietnam war, when it covered controversial topics such. The classic reporting on the vietnam war schell, jonathan on. The author looks at vietnam from an interesting perspective. But what he did was he interviewed the people he was treating and it was one of the great examples of breaking through the statistics. The journalistviet cong spy who changed the course of the. My journalistic perspective in the beginning was normal. Vietnam became the western worlds most divisive modern conflict. By 1968, america had officially been at war in vietnam for four years, but us involvement in vietnamese affairs had gone back as far as the early 1950s.
Stories of war from the women reporters who covered vietnam tad bartimus, tracy wood, kate webb, laura palmer, edith lederer, jurate kazickas, denby fawcett, ann bryan mariano, anne morrissy merick, gloria emerson on. American journalism 19691975, along with its companion volume, captures the bravery, fear, cruelty, suffering, anger, and sorrow of a tragic conflict. But north vietnams war generation experienced those events. Vietnamese students currently make up the sixthlargest group of foreign students studying in the united states. When the vietnam war was over, the pentagon decided that there had been too much negative reporting from the. Thousands and thousands died in the war on all sides. One of the things i loved so muchand that broke my heart so cleanlyabout the things they carried was that it reminded me of another beloved war book, slaughterhousefive, in that both books are. The book is based on over a decade of research sparked by turses discovery of the. The book includes some great observations and agonizing. Fields of fire is a brilliant book about the vietnam war. This is a significant book and i did not want to put it down. After we posted this article, times readers weighed in with their favorite books on the vietnam war. Gadkarwilcox, author of allegories of the vietnamese past. Ive read several books by american authors about the vietnam war, and now.
Accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are. While those who disliked what journalists wrote about the vietnam war have not. Pham xuan an was a time magazine correspondent and north vietnamese spy. United states news media and the vietnam war jump to. It is a densely written, carefully phrased, and meticulously researched and documented recitation about the wars fought by vietnam, as seen from the vietnamese side, albeit mostly from the perspective of the communists. What is the best book about vietnam war written from. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. This second volume traces events from the revelation of the my lai massacre in 1969 through the fall of saigon in 1975.
There was a time when all i knew of vietnam war books was tim obriens, the things they carried, a book that prompted the laconic entry in my book journal, this book destroyed me. The vietnam war, as seen by the victors the atlantic. Vietnam war 195475, conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam and its allies in south vietnam, the viet cong, against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states. Stories of war from the women reporters who covered vietnam. How young vietnamese view the vietnam war the atlantic. Hue 1968 revisits an american turning point in the war. Before the sympathizer won the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, many readers didnt know any authors or books written from the vietnamese perspective. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring. Vietnam war left a painful legacy for indigenous minority. This book happens to be one of the best novels about vietnam and will give you some great insight into what it was like to be in this war.
Part one contains combatfront writing by journalists who. The novel explores the war from the perspective of a former north vietnamese soldier, kien, and is a nonlinear telling of how the conflict transformed himself, his country and those around him. Hanois perspective on the montagnards seems fixed in a vietnam warera past, said phil robertson, deputy director of human rights watchs asia. The novel explores the war from the perspective of a former north vietnamese soldier, kien, and is a nonlinear telling of how the conflict transformed himself, his. United states news media and the vietnam war wikipedia. How the north vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of saigon. Censorship in vietnam university of massachusetts press. Capote, george plimpton and other american new journalists, vietnamese. Its a shame, because although there are many excellent books written by american authors about the conflict, they dont give you an idea of how a vietnamese person saw the war. Another revolutionary telling of the vietnam war, bao ninhs the sorrow of war is reported to have been written against the communist partys wishes. Unification and the production of a modern historical identity thomas basss account of his struggles with censorship in vietnam is the most detailed i.
The best vietnam war books five books expert recommendations. Within four years the americans were paying 78 percent of a colonial war directed by the same. The vietnamese communist party banned the book because of its unflattering recitation of the wars brutality. Yes this book is a good onesided perspective of the vietnam war by a reporter. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the cold war. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre.
From enemy to friend a north vietnamese perspective on the war by bui tin. The definitive collection of fiction and nonfiction on the war 1998 by stewart onan diving into a book about the vietnam war can be a daunting task. Hue 1968 revisits an american turning point in the war in vietnam author mark bowden says the capture of hue, vietnam, was part of a wave of wellplanned communist attacks that helped turn u. Dr frank palmos is an historian and former journalist. Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book. Many thought the united states involvement in vietnams affairs was a mistake, and the opposition to the war defined a generation. His coverage of the war in dispatches was groundbreaking for its presented a type. What we get from him is a sense of what the vietnamese were. At the national archives, a new perspective on the vietnam war.
The ambassadors credentials, as i saw it, were also twofold. During the program, the journalists discussed numerous memories on the vietnam war. Vietnam became the western worlds most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for france in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the united states in 1975. The vietnam war was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring medium. Veterans angry, disappointed following pbs vietnam war. Accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular. Buoyed by its new american weapons and encouraged by its aggressive and confident american advisers, the south vietnamese army took the offensive against the viet cong. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. The two volumes of reporting vietnam offer a trove of material for such studies. Opinion how vietnam changed journalism the new york times. Vietnamese perspectives on the war in vietnam digital commons. The vietnam war, as we americans call it, looms large in american history.
An absorbing and definitive modern history of the vietnam war from the acclaimed new york times bestselling author of the secret war. First, by a similar accident of nature, he was born in the city of hanoi and came of age at a time when american aircraft routinely sought to free the vietnamese people from communist domination by bombing what was then termed north vietnam back into the stone age. Ahead of the release of his new book, vietnam, max hastings introduces some clips of his reporting from the war. War reporting from the front line in vietnam is the theme of this presentation by a correspondent who joined 33 land, sea and air missions, between arriving in saigon in 1965 and departing after the most brutal and decisive fighting of the war, in 1968. How the north vietnamese remember the vietnam war, 40 years. An intimate history is an impressivelooking book, with a vast array of photos that accompanies a look back at the long and complicated war.
Remembering vietnam a new exhibit at the archives helps us see the causes and impact of the war. Viet cong spy who changed the course of the vietnam war. American vietnam war veterans and south vietnamese vietnam war veterans meet up to discuss the pbs documentary on the vietnam war by american filmmaker ken burns on thursday, sept. The final book on your list of books about the vietnam war is 365 days. Resurfacing a tabloid from the vietnam war stanford news. Book examines vietnam war from viet congs point of view pbs. This was a book i read before i went to vietnam and it was written by an army doctor who wasnt even there. Existing studies of the vietnam war have been written mostly from an american perspective, using western sources, and viewing the conflict through western eyes. In the last few years, with the publication of such books as jacques leslies the mark and william prochnaus once upon a distant war, historians and former correspondents have been examining closely the role of journalism in the conduct of the vietnam war. It is therefore unfortunate that for the most part the book is also rather dry.
Best books on vietnam share book recommendations with. Best books on vietnam the best books about vietnam as a country, not just the vietnam war. And unlike my ap history book, the vietnamese textbook i read contained little information about. Enough books novels and nonfiction have been published about the vietnam war and its aftermath to fill a modestsized library. At the same time, the diem government undertook an extensive security campaign called the strategic hamlet program. Winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, this debut novel could fit into half a dozen genres of vietnam war books from war narrative to immigrant story, from mystery to political, from metafiction to historical and even dark comedy. This book is a great read if you enjoy reading books about the vietnam war. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. In many americans minds, its not history at all just a part of their lives. Journalists share vietnam experiences national archives. Providing a useful background on vietnamese history, with periods of domination from and resistance to, outsiders, the book helps the reader understand the depth of the nationalism. Accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are relatively rare. Memoirs of a victim turned soldier accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are relatively rare. What i offer in this essay, then, is my personal narrative and a perspective on the vietnam war by a former marine corps officer, vietnam veteran and philosopher who has spent many years studying the theory of war, diverse historical accounts of the vietnam war and, perhaps more to the point, contemplating a life profoundly impacted by the.