Description
Book SynopsisThe United States could have won the war in Vietnam if only President Lyndon Johnson had let his air generals do what they wanted...if only we had intervened massively...if only we had pursued our campaign against the Viet Cong infrastructure. These propositions and others, advanced by apologists for the American defeat in Vietnam (many of them the very generals and officials responsible for prosecuting the war), are fast becoming conventional wisdom. In The Hidden History of the Vietnam War, John Prados meets them head on. His straightforward narrative does not aim to be a comprehensive history; instead he focuses on key strategies, events, and personalities in the struggle. Mr. Prados's book draws from a broad range of evidence, including archival documents and official military government reports. By avoiding the atomized individual accounts that have characterized much of the nonfiction on Vietnam, and selecting crucial issues and battle actions, he succeeds in illuminating the high points of the Vietnam experience and puncturing the popular mythologies of the war.
Trade ReviewPerceptive...Prados probes deeply and with knowledgeable insights into the war. -- George McT. Kahin, author of
Intervention
Like sudden shafts of light, these well-aimed essays illuminate all areas of the hidden history of the war...thoroughly exciting and complex. -- Lloyd C. Gardner, author of Approaching Vietnam
The Hidden History of the Vietnam War is a model of lucid writing and fair judgment which tells us things we need to know. -- Thomas Powers, author of Heisenberg's War
