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Vietnam, a history
by Stanley Karnow
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Easton Press (2001)
ISBN: B0006RWGPE
Unknown Binding: 752 pages
Edition: Collector's ed
SKU: 23078
Condition: Collectable Very Goo
Comments: ViKING, 1983. 1ST EDITION. HAS GREAT PICTURES. HARDCOVER W/GILT LETTERING, DUST JACKET and pages are in FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT. Rapid shipping. Overseas by rapid priority air mail
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stanley Karnow offers the defintive history of the Vietnam conflict--a monumental narrative that analyzes, clarifies, and demystifies the tragic ordeal of this unpopular, unwinnable war. Photos.
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Customer Reviews
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Comprehensive but covered elsewhere
Rating  (4)
Date: 2009-01-06
This book is written in a clear style, and it covers the history of Vietnam comprehensively from the earliest beginnings through the end of the war and a bit beyond the war. However, having read other works on Vietnam, including "Fire In the Lake," the "Pentagon Papers" and numerous articles in magazines and newspapers, I found that Karnow did not offer much in the way of information or theories that I had not already gotten from earlier sources. So it is an excellent work for people who don't know a lot about Vietnam already, and who want to read a complete history, but not so good for someone who already has a strong background.
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George Ball had it right
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-11-12
This is an excellent choice for those wanting to know how the US got involved in Vietnam, why we stayed so long, and how the end game played out. That is why I got the book, and I was not expecting to find the earlier history, involving the French, to be very interesting. But I was surprised by how absorbing that subject was. I grew up during the Vietnam War, but didn't follow it very closely, and so this book was amazing to read. I shook my head a lot, and sat there staring off into space amazed at what LBJ set in motion. I also imagined arguing with someone who still thinks we could have "won" the war, how futile that discussion would be. An excellent companion book is the oral history by Chris Appy. It's a perfect complement to this somewhat detached volume.
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Fully Referenced
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-11-01
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Of all the books on the subject of what the people of Vn call The American War, this book stands out. It's written by someone who was actually there but not biased by having fought for one side or the other. Best of all it's fully referenced, Karnow backs up everything he says. It gives an excellent history of Vietnam showing it's history of being occupied, it's heroes from centuries ago (many women warriors) on up through the French and how the USA got stuck into it. You won't go wrong by buying this book.
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Too Much Ancient History
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-10-06
1 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This very large and very detailed book spends WAY TOO MUCH time discussing ancient Vietnamese history. For about half the book, the author goes into exhausting detail about Vietnam's history from the 10th and 11th Century. The reader is bombarded with information about every king, queen, prime minister that ever lived. At times, entire chapters are made up of nothing but unpronounceable names of dynasties, princes, and tribes. Only in the final 2-3 chapters (out of 10-11) does the author finally get into the modern day details about the war. Skip the first half of the book and head right towards the last few chapters.
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Good but lacking and lopsided
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-07-11
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
For a so-called "complete" history of Vietnam, this book was decidedly lopsided in some areas. For example, he spends hundreds of pages with useful and interesting pre-1965 historical background, but then skims over the post-1969 events, which were some of the most crucial. He does the same with the political leaders involved, describing Generals Ky and Khan, even though each of them only ruled for a short period of time, while devoting little time to exploring Thieu's biography, even though he played the dominant role for much of our involvement there. For the Kennedy-Johnson administrations, Karnow provides rich details of the internal debates, politics, and considerations. One gets the sense that the author's contacts ran out after Nixon won the election, so he doesn't really discuss this period in nearly as much depth.
Overall, I would preferred if the author had given us a bit more of a sense of South Vietnam, why it did not fight and was riddled with corruption, the personalities involved, etc. The best parts of the book are undoubtedly when he recalls interviews from vietnamese, North and South, who played key roles, providing fresh information.
This book was a useful overview of the Vietnam War and its roots, but doesn't really provide any new insights or in-depth understanding of Vietnam the country.
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