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hey_hoser's review against another edition
Got to Chapter 5, just too boring for me
hopecaldwell's review against another edition
If you are a history lover who lives for complicated detailed accounts from past administrations, this book could be for you. If, like me, you get bogged down in the innumerable names and obscure details, then I recommend the 3-hr abridged audio version! Either way, this book illuminates how our country became mired in the Vietnam war for so long.
jeremy's review against another edition
5.0
A first rate analysis of how we got into Vietnam and why it was so hard for Kennedy to get out. The book ends with the beginning of the Nixon administration.
I found it hard to put this book down. It has great profiles of the people involved, from minor players like Harris Wofford to major figures like Robert McNamara. I learned next to nothing about Vietnam in school. I thought I knew something from Vietnam learned from popular culture and discussions in newspapers today, but I knew very little.
It was hard not to think of the Iraq fiasco as I read the book. The same kind of blunders both times around, it seems.
I found it hard to put this book down. It has great profiles of the people involved, from minor players like Harris Wofford to major figures like Robert McNamara. I learned next to nothing about Vietnam in school. I thought I knew something from Vietnam learned from popular culture and discussions in newspapers today, but I knew very little.
It was hard not to think of the Iraq fiasco as I read the book. The same kind of blunders both times around, it seems.
tsharris's review against another edition
4.0
A bit repetitive and overlong, but on the whole a brilliant illustration of how American political elites squandered American blood and treasure in Vietnam (made all the more powerful for the ways in which it anticipated the American debacle in Iraq).
jdmcn's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant piece of journalism. Outdated sure, but still amazing.
spaddy29's review against another edition
2.0
Extremely thoroughly researched and an abundance of information about the lead-up to Vietnam. Like others have said, this book was written with contemporary readers in mind. There's a lot of information about people who the author assumes the reader knows already, and you don't find out more about them until their biographical sketches tens or sometimes hundreds of pages later. Organizationally, the book doesn't hold up to modern times because there's too much information that jumps around in time and makes it difficult to keep track of for modern readers. There are probably other texts (that may even use this book as a reference) about this area that are much more cohesive and concise.