Vietnam War (DK Eyewitness Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)By the time I got my draft card the Vietnam War was just about over; besides I am deaf in one ear so they were never going to take me and making any sort of decision was a moot point. Today what I find interesting that is although I basically lived through the Vietnam War, I do not have the same sense of what happened during the war that has defined all American military action ever since that I do for the Civil War or World War II. For that matter, I think I have a better understanding of the chronology of the American Revolution and Desert Storm than I do of the war in Vietnam. Fortunately, this Eyewitness Books volume devoted to the "Vietnam War" helps me move a bit beyond the sketchy understanding I had when I open the book (basically, something that happened in the Gulf of Tonkin was used as an excuse to escalate American military involvement, the corrupt government of South Vietnam fell, the Tet offensive surprised everybody, Nixon bombed enemy troops in Cambodia, there was a massacre at My Lai, and we left by helicopters).
Of course, Stuart Murray goes back a bit further, beginning with the War in French Indochina that led to the independence movement for Vietnamese independence led by Ho Chi Minh. The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords set the group for American advisors begin sent after the end of the First Indochina War. Once we get to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the Vietnam War begins in earnest. Murray sets up the two sides in terms of their allies, leaders, and capital cities. Operation Rolling Thunder began the bombing of North Vietnam, while the Ho Chi Minh Trail was the network of wilderness routes used to by the North to get troops and supplies to the South. The chronology of the war continues throughout the book interspersed with looks at specific elements of fighting the war.
The struggle for the Central Highlands, battles in the Mekong Delta, and the war on inland waters are detailed. The massacre at My Lai is covered in the look at villages in wartime, followed by the siege of Khe Sanh and the Tet Offensive, Hamburger Hill is part of the beginning of the U.S. withdrawal, and the last air assaults, including the Christmas bombing before the Paris Peace Accords. Finally, we get to the fall of Saigon and the Aftermath both there and here. In between the history of the war there are chapters devoted to Napalm and Agent Orange as key part of chemical warfare, a look at the weapons of war on both sides, what it was like to go on patrol and be ambushed by the VC, and what medical care meant on both sides is covered as well. Other chapters are devoted to Heliborne warfare, warplanes in combat, the tunnels used by the Viet Cong, and the story of Prisoners of war. What the war was like at home is also covered, with chapters on "The Television War," and the antiwar movement.
There is additional information provided in the back of the book. The "Did you know?" section devotes a page to Fascinating Facts while another provides Questions and Answers about the "domino theory" and other topics. It might be better positioned in the front of the book, but there is a Timeline of the Vietnam War that begins with the Indochina struggle (1945-46) and ends with the final Communist offensive capturing Saigon on April 30, 1975. There are so few chapters devoted to the history (read chronological) aspects of the war that these two-pages actually provide more details. The back of books like this often come up with places you can go to Find out more, but they rarely provide the information is as interesting a way as this book does: it lists memorials around the world and other places to visit, as well as lifting useful web sites.
Of course since we are talking about an Eyewitness Book it is filed with dozens of illustrations showing the people and places, weapons and items, being talked about in each chapter. These images are culled from a dozen museums and libraries around the world, including not only the Library of Congress and the National Archives, but also the U.S. Army and the National Vietnam War Museum. Ironically, I was so into reading what Murray had written about the war that I had to go back and check out the illustrations and their informative captions on a second read through the book. Certainly, "Vietnam War" provides more than an introduction to the subject, covering the key elements. Other books can provide you with more depth on the subject, but as is usually the case the breadth here is rather impressive.

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Vietnam War complements the new look of the Eyewitness series by touring the major battles of the Vietnam conflict.

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