America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975

by George C. Herring

Book Overview

This book has been updated to incorporate new information about the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It shows the reasons for America's intervention, the nature of its involvement, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0070283931
• ISBN13: 9780070283930
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellence Again

Herring's latest edition of "America's Longest War" is excellent and the new materials shed more light on the U.S. involvement. It takes us from the front lines to the Halls of Power. The enclosed map is an added bonus... I highly recommend it.

A Great Account of American Grand Strategy in Vietnam

Like many people here, I read this book for a college class concerned with providing an explanation of the numerous questions that arise whenever one ponders America in Vietnam, like why it was there, and why it lost. Any student or curious reader should find this work a great tool for this task. The book is fairly short, numbering less than 400 pages. By that restraint alone, no reader should expect a thorough, voluminous exposition on every aspect of the war akin to Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, or a textbook for that matter. It's a piece on political history with a general thesis, numerous recurring themes, and plenty of information to back everything up. The thesis is that the containment strategy America adopted around the Korean War, and its perceiving Vietnam as a strategic door to all of Southeast Asia, prevented each successive president from leaving Vietnam to the wolves and forced each one to progressively raise American stakes n the region. Numerous other variables--some consistent to all presidencies, like fear of facing the same political bloodletting as Truman got over "losing" China in 1949; some specific to the president, like JFK's need to take a stand somewhere after negotiating on Laos, and after the Berlin wall was erected--accompanied this grand one, but the central theme of this book draws a vivid picture of proud Cold Warriors refusing to back down and unwilling to commit entirely, hoping to bluff out an enemy who had already gone all in. Of course, because it is a work with a point to prove rather than a huge collection of unfiltered facts, the reader must be wary of buying into Herring's perspective without private review of his logic. That's true for every book of this sort, however, and for what it's worth, Herring makes a very convincing case. On the technical side of things, this book could have done more to centralize its presentation of thematic events. Since the author shifts between historical narrative and analysis, the latter could have summaries and reminders of recurring concepts on the margins. As it is, the reader has to discover themes like "US arrogance" or "governmental deception" by himself and note their recurrence without any assistance from Herring. Doing this isn't the standard for most books, though (the only one I can think off that does this is Landmark Thucydides), I can't criticize the book for not following up on these suggestions.

One of the enduring images

is the network of bicyclists -- children, women and men -- who expertly navigated the region during the American campaigns. A foot bridge blown up was instantly restored. Supplies were expertly moved about. It was their whole backyard.

This is the best introduction to the Vietnam War.

For anyone interested in a basic understanding of the politics and diplomacy of the Vietnam War, this is the place to start. It is widely used in college classes around the country. The style is very readable, and the book includes useful maps and an excellent bibliographic essay for further reading.

The Best Vietnam War History in a Small Size

This history by Vietnam War expert Herring is by far the best general history of that war in a small, manageable size. It's suitable for both general readers and classroom use. As a bonus, the annotated bibliography is a terrific standalone resource, a wonderful guide for further study.