Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #138602 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Binding: Hardcover
• 608 pages

Synopsis
In "Vietnam", American author and professor, Christian G. Appy has created a staggering and monumental oral history of the type that is created only once in a generation. The vivid accounts of 135 men and women span the entire history of the Vietnam conflict from its murky origins in the 1940s to the chaotic fall of Saigon in 1975. The testimony in this book, sometimes detached and reflective, often raw and emotional, allows us to see and feel what this war meant to people on all sides - Americans and Vietnamese, generals and guerillas, policy makers and protesters, CIA operatives, pilots and doctors, artists and journalists, and a variety of ordinary citizens whose lives were swept up in a cataclysm that killed three million people. By turns harrowing, inspiring and revelatory, "Vietnam" is not a chronicle of facts and figures but a human history of the war. It makes clear what made the Vietnam War one of the most significant conflicts of the twentieth century and why it continues to generate such bitterly divisive moral and political debate.

The voices in it show us how hard the war was fought, how much it destroyed, how passionately it was protested, and how far it reached into every crevice of daily life in both countries. Those involved speak eloquently, answering many of the toughest questions about the war that, until now, have too often been met with silence.

From the Publisher
The definitive oral history of the Vietnam Conflict featuring civilians, soldiers, protesters, journalists, survivors, exiles and refugees from all sides.

About the Author
Christian G Appy
Christian G. Appy holds a Ph.D. in American civilisation and has taught at both Harvard and MIT, where he was an associate professor of history. He is the author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam and the editor of the series Culture, Politics, and the Cold War. He lives with his wife and two sons in Sharon, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

My Revue
I agree with the fact that this book gives the flavour of the Vietnam era and it does encompass the vast array of participants, both politicaly and militarily. I do feel though that more could have been made of the experiences of the ordinary American GI,s who actualy fought in combat in that war.

Brilliant!
I saw one review on this book when it first came out and knew I had to have it. As someone who has travelled the country and always had an interest in the topic of the Vietnam war, I've been completely blown away by the authors research and story telling ability. It reads less like a text book (as a lot of factual war-based novels do) but more like a work of fiction. You can see the authors interest in the subject projected very clearly through his writing.
I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in all aspects of the topic, regardless of your current knowledge. This book guides you through the entire timeline in a cohesive and interesting way, making the task of actually absorbing the information it contains incredibly easy.
A must read for any war buff or south eastern asia enthusiast.

Vietnam - An Oral History
Quite simply an excellent read. If you want a book that details the various stages of the conflict or individual actions then this book is probably not for you. However, if you want a book that combines individual histories, and which is written in such a way as to give the reader sufficient background information to place the memoir in it's historical context, then this will more than meet your expectations. A thoroughly engrossing, and interesting piece of work.