Overview

In this comprehensive history, Stanley Karnow demystifies the tragic ordeal of America's war in Vietnam. The book's central theme is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. Karnow elucidates the decision-making process in Washington and Asia and recounts the political and military events that occurred after the Americans arrived in Vietnam. Throughout, he focuses on people, those who shaped strategy and those who suffered, died, or survived as a result. Panoramic in scope and filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with hundreds of participants on both sides, Vietnam: A History transcends the past with lessons relevant to the present and the future.

Full Product Details

9780786158157

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Reviews

A rich and unusal mixture. [Karnow] has the master reporter's eye for meaningful detail. -- Los Angeles Times This is history writing at its best. -- Chicago Sun Times Even those of us who think we know something about [the Vietnam War] will read with fascination. -- New York Times This is the first 'big' history in English of Vietnam at war, and it is superb. -- USA Today The best journalist writing on Asian affairs. -- Newsweek A landmark work...The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy. -- Washington Post Book World Controlled, comprehensive, and clear. Its strength lies not only in research and analysis, but in Karnow's actual process of thinking itself. -- Christian Science Monitor

Controlled, comprehensive, and clear. Its strength lies not only in research and analysis, but in Karnow's actual process of thinking itself. -- Christian Science Monitor A landmark work...The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy. -- Washington Post Book World The best journalist writing on Asian affairs. -- Newsweek This is the first 'big' history in English of Vietnam at war, and it is superb. -- USA Today Even those of us who think we know something about [the Vietnam War] will read with fascination. -- New York Times This is history writing at its best. -- Chicago Sun Times A rich and unusal mixture. [Karnow] has the master reporter's eye for meaningful detail. -- Los Angeles Times

A landmark work...The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy. -- Washington Post Book World A rich and unusal mixture. [Karnow] has the master reporter's eye for meaningful detail. -- Los Angeles Times Controlled, comprehensive, and clear. Its strength lies not only in research and analysis, but in Karnow's actual process of thinking itself. -- Christian Science Monitor Even those of us who think we know something about [the Vietnam War] will read with fascination. -- New York Times The best journalist writing on Asian affairs. -- Newsweek This is history writing at its best. -- Chicago Sun Times This is the first 'big' history in English of Vietnam at war, and it is superb. -- USA Today

Controlled, comprehensive, and clear. Its strength lies not only in research and analysis, but in Karnow's actual process of thinking itself. -- Christian Science Monitor This is history writing at its best. -- Chicago Sun Times A rich and unusal mixture. [Karnow] has the master reporter's eye for meaningful detail. -- Los Angeles Times A landmark work...The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy. -- Washington Post Book World The best journalist writing on Asian affairs. -- Newsweek This is the first 'big' history in English of Vietnam at war, and it is superb. -- USA Today Even those of us who think we know something about [the Vietnam War] will read with fascination. -- New York Times

Author Information

Stanley Karnow was born in New York and graduated from Harvard in 1947. He began his journalistic career in Paris in 1950 as a Time correspondent. He covered Southeast Asia from 1959 until 1974 for Time, Life, the Saturday Evening Post, the London Observer, the Washington Post, and NBC News and was later an editor for the New Republic. He has written a number of books, including the bestselling Vietnam: A History and the Pulitzer Prize-winning In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines. He lives in Washington, DC. Edward Holland is an audiobook narrator whose credits include Confessions of a Spy, Vietnam, and How to Read a Book.

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